Max Dinger in The Endless Myth: An Outsider Who Bears Reason and Reality
In the novel The Endless Myth, Max Dinger is a crucial character who observes the story and its world from a position entirely different from that of the protagonist Messiah Christ and the heroine Maria Priest. He is portrayed as someone who cannot fully believe in myth, yet cannot completely escape it either. This article examines Max Dinger as a character and explores the philosophy and worldbuilding embedded within The Endless Myth through his perspective.
Who Is Max Dinger?
Max Dinger is not a man who accepts gods or salvation without question. He consistently faces reality head-on, judging events through rationality and lived experience. In a world dominated by myth, his attitude marks him as a clear anomaly.
He is neither a hero nor a saint, nor someone chosen by destiny. He participates in the story simply as a human being capable of doubt.
As an operative of Solomon, an anti-Devil scientific organization, Max is tasked with raising the destined woman, Maria Priest, from infancy. This role, too, is presented as an unavoidable fate.
A Symbol of Reason That Resists Myth
Within The Endless Myth, faith represents order, while doubt is treated as chaos. Against this backdrop, Max Dinger consistently maintains the following stance:
He questions myth
He challenges the very premise of salvation
He values results over words
Max is not a revolutionary seeking to destroy myth. Instead, he is a figure who continually asks, “Why do we believe?” This position injects tension and realism into the narrative.
A Structural Contrast with the Messiah
While the protagonist Messiah Christ is consumed as a symbol, Max Dinger refuses to become one until the very end.
The Messiah is forced to bear meaning
Max attempts to keep his distance from meaning itself
Through this contrast, The Endless Myth succeeds in portraying both the perspective of the chosen and that of the unchosen.
His Distance from Maria Priest
Where Maria Priest stands on the side of faith and myth, Max Dinger observes that structure from the outside. He neither denies nor worships her, choosing instead to treat her as a single human being.
This sense of distance is exceedingly rare in a world where people are reduced to roles by myth.
Even so, while maintaining that distance, an unconscious paternal instinct gradually emerges within him.
The Role Max Dinger Plays
Max Dinger is not the driving force that propels the plot forward. Nevertheless, he fulfills several vital functions:
He articulates the distortions of the world
He exposes the violence inherent in myth
He gives voice to the reader’s perspective
Because Max exists, readers are not forced to accept myth uncritically.
Conclusion: A Man Who Is Not Swallowed by Myth
Max Dinger is a character who never relinquishes reality, even within a world governed by belief.
He does not seek salvation through faith
He refuses to become a symbol
He continues to think as a human being
He is not a hero. Yet in a world where myths never end, Max Dinger embodies the idea that continuing to doubt is itself the strongest form of resistance. As a member of a scientific organization, he acknowledges only what can be supported by scientific evidence.
The World That Was Never the Same - Endless Myth version１
The World That Was Never the Same - Endless Myth version２
