PLAYER PIANO

Player Piano:

Player Piano, author Kurt Vonnegut's first novel, was published in 1952. The story takes place in a near-future society that is almost totally mechanized and automated, eliminating the need for human laborers. This widespread mechanization creates conflict between the wealthy upper class—the engineers and managers who keep society running—and the lower class, whose skills and purpose in society have been replaced by machines.

Plot

The novel follows Doctor Paul Proteus, an engineer at the Ilium Works. The novel takes place in an America of the future where computers run everything and do everything, making people almost afterthoughts. Paul seems to be on his way up the ladder of success in this techno-utopia -- a perfect wife, a fast-track position at the Ilium Works and a shot at a major promotion . But, he is plagued with doubts about what modern life has become. Through a strange series of events, Dr. Proteus joins a revolutionary organization called the Ghost Shirts and even becomes its leader. The Ghost Shirts are inspired by the past, when people mattered more than machines, but their revolution collapses with brutal irony. Paul and his companions surrender when they discover their followers have become obsessed with making new machines from the wreckage of the machines they have just smashed.

The novel is an example of soft science fiction, with an emphasis on sociological themes rather than the technology that makes this world possible.

Explanation of the novel's title

The name comes from the musical device called a player piano, a piano that plays without human intervention, according to holes previously punched in an unwinding scroll.

Characters in Player Piano:

Paul Proteus

the novel's protagonist, is the head of industry in Ilium, New York. He is caught in the middle of the conflict, forced to choose whether to continue his work and move on to a future of fame and success, or become the figurehead leader of a rebellion against the machine society. His father was an influential and important figure in the transition to an automated society and thus Paul finds himself in an interesting position. He is to be given a big promotion: to head Engineer at the Pittsburgh plant, the biggest center of production in the Eastern United States. His boss, Kroner knew his father and had always groomed Paul for success, which complicates matters for Paul as his father died when he was young and he doesn't want to disappoint the father figure who is trying to help him.

Anita

Anita is Paul's wife. She was a "regular" person, as they refer to her in the novel, in that is she didn't score well enough to get a job as an Engineer or go to college; had Paul not married her she would have been living in Homestead. She is described as an attractive woman with a desire for her husband's career advancement, to a fault. However, she can not bear children, although she and Paul married quickly when it seemed she was pregnant.

Kroner

Kroner is Paul's boss and one of the most important men in the country. He treats all of his underlings as if they are his children and he even refers to his wife as "mother" when speaking of her to Paul. He's overtly sexist and believes the system of automation in place is the best thing for the country with every fiber of his being.

Ed Finnerty

Ed Finnerty is Paul's old best friend. They had come up through the Engineering ranks together and they had grown close. Their friendship waned when Finnerty took a high ranking position in Washington, D.C. and they lost touch. 'Finnerty' as he is called throughout the book had always been somewhat of a nut, never caring what others thought of him in the least, and his poor hygiene is discussed at length in the start of the book. It is Finnerty that first plants the seeds of revolution in Paul's mind.

Rev. James J. Lasher

Lasher was in a bar that Paul happened to go into to buy scotch and struck up a conversation with him. When Paul went back the next day with Finnerty, the two hit it off and began swapping revolutionary ideas almost immediately.

The Shah of Bratpuhr

The Shah is the spiritual leader of the Kolhouri, a sect with six million adherents. He is led on a tour of the United States to learn from the most powerful nation in the world how to improve the lives of the people in his mountain kingdom.