Question: This question has come from a conversation at loggerheads. I can't find the answer online.
There are two positions on which is the correct expression to use when starting a job.For the example, I've used a job as a plumber.

Person A states "John becomes a plumber today"
Person B states "John has started working as a plumber today".

My understanding is that person A, while it is used in causal conversations is incorrect because it suggests a changing into something when they haven't changed, they added something to who they are. A job.
Can someone please advise which is formally correct and if using becomes is still incorrect use of the word or how they fit together.

Answer: 
Considering this is the part you're talking about:

> 
> I stopped watching for ridicule, the scorpion's tail hidden in his words. He said what he meant; he was puzzled if you did not. Some people might have mistaken this for simplicity. But is it not a sort of genius to cut always to the heart?
> 
> 
> 

I believe the narrator is trying to say that he has stopped watching for any hidden intent in the words of the person he/she is talking about (presumably Achilles). *That he speaks directly, striking at the heart of what he wants to say and does not attempt to beat around the bush or try to get his point across in an indirect manner*. Used in a manner similar to "cutting to the chase" in a way.
"To cut to the heart" could mean different things in different contexts. For example it could be a poetic way of saying "When you attack someone, you hurt them very badly", or perhaps, using the metaphor "the heart of the problem" (meaning the most important aspect), "When you analyse a problem, you immediately see the most important aspect of it".

So, the author is saying that the ability to **always** do this is a **sort of genius**, ie requires exceptional skill and is a very rare ability.

In this case, it appears that the problem that he "cuts to the heart of" is "to communicate very directly and with the utmost truthfulness".