What theme is homer presenting when Odysseus has his men tie him so that he will ignore the call of the sirens

the answer is irony!

21 balloons is the story of professor william sherman's travels.

in 1883, he set off from san francisco for a balloon ride over the pacific and was found a month later floating with 21 balloons in the atlantic ocean. this seemed an astounding feat and everyone wanted to know what had happened.    

professor sherman was loyal, however, and said he would tell his tale first to the western american explorers club in san francisco, of which he was a member. this built up suspense for several chapters before he began to tell of the wonders of his adventures and the amazing island of krakatoa, an island which had just been blown up by a volcano.  

the residents of krakatoa are all millionaires who live under a "gourmet government" of their own devising. we get to see all the incredible adventures that creative people with unlimited resources would create according to the author.

a few things can be inferred from the excerpt. one thing is the fact the husband and his partner are so comfortable/intimate with each other they don't feel the need to use proper english with one another. another thing is the character has a different relationship with their mother than they do with the husband.