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Summary
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Player Piano, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Technology and Progress
Happiness, Self-Worth, and Passion
Class Division and Competition
Corporate Life vs. Human Connection
Summary
Analysis
There are three sections of Ilium, New York: the area where managers and engineers live, the area where all the machines are kept, and—finally—a place called Homestead, where everyone else lives. The Iroquois River separates Homestead from the other parts of Ilium, and people rarely cross the bridge from one part of town to the next.
The opening description of Ilium, New York, establishes the intense class division at play in the community. The managers and engineers are separated from the rest of society, suggesting that these jobs come with a certain amount of prestige. The fact that people on either side of the Iroquois River rarely interact further illustrates this sense of separation in Ilium. Furthermore, the town’s third section, which is made up entirely of machines, indicates that this society is quite advanced. And yet, there’s still some obvious class division, implying that technologically advanced societies aren’t necessarily very socially advanced.
Themes
Ten years have passed since a devastating war. During this war, managers and engineers were able to keep the economy afloat by inventing and building machines to replace the many laborers who went off to the battlefield. This mechanization was a great success, allowing businesses to operate almost entirely without actual workers—a business model that has persisted even after the war. These days, managers and engineers proudly like to say that “know-how won the war.”
This section reveals that Player Piano exists in a near future—one in which a war (perhaps World War III) has profoundly altered the way the United States functions. This helps explain how managers and engineers have become a prestigious class, since their knowledge about machines (their “know-how”) is what helped win the war. However, the strides these managers and engineers made during the war have long-lasting effects, considering that the mechanization they helped build has changed the entire workforce. This means that anyone who worked as a manual laborer before the war has been replaced—a sure-fire way to create tension between the working class and the upper class.
Themes
Doctor Paul Proteus, a 35-year-old engineer-turned-manager, sits in his office at the Ilium Works petting a cat. Everyone in Ilium thinks Paul is destined to be as successful as his father, Doctor George Proteus, who was the country’s first “National, Industrial, Commercial, Communications, Foodstuffs, and Resources Director”—a position just as important as the president of the United States. Despite everyone’s high expectations, though, Paul doesn’t feel particularly intelligent or remarkable, and he hasn’t felt this way for quite a while.
The title that Paul’s father used to hold is comically long. It’s so over the top, in fact, that it calls attention to its own absurdity, suggesting that people like Paul’s father are overly celebrated in the corporate context of this society. Paul’s father was even as powerful as the president of the United States, emphasizing just how seriously the country values corporate success. Paul, on the other hand, doesn’t seem particularly suited to this corporate life, considering that he doesn’t feel worthy of—or perhaps even interested in—a position like his father’s.
Themes
Paul strokes the cat in his lap, which he found by the golf course near Ilium Works. He snatched her because mice have been eating important wires at the plant. Paul uses the intercom system to ask his secretary, Doctor Katharine Finch, when she’ll be finished typing his speech, which he’s supposed to deliver at the Country Club that night. The mere fact that Paul still has a secretary is outdated, since during the war most managers and engineers made do with machines as their helpers—an arrangement that was ultimately more efficient and cheaper than using human secretaries.
Paul’s preference for a human secretary over a machine suggests that he has a different way of looking at the world than the people around him. Whereas other high-ranking workers simply use the most efficient tools available, Paul has apparently chosen to do things the old-fashioned way by having Katharine as his secretary—a sign that he sees value in human labor, even if that means compromising on efficiency.
Themes
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Instead of focusing on Paul’s speech, Katharine is flirting with a manager named Bud Calhoun. Slightly annoyed by this (and thinking that a machine would be much more efficient), Paul looks out the large window in his office, staring at a stretch of land where years ago Native Americans defended themselves against violent settlers and colonizers. On these grounds now lie the huge buildings full of machinery that make up the Ilium Works. The factories are busy at work creating industrial parts like refrigerator mechanisms and motorcycles and televisions. And beyond Ilium, Paul can see Homestead, where the descendants of important early Americans still live.
Although Paul chooses to have a human secretary, he’s still concerned about efficiency. This implies that, while he might not completely share the values of his productivity-driven society, he does still have the mindset of a corporate manager whose job it is to make things run smoothly. As he looks out the window, the land that he sees—whether he recognizes this or not—is a physical reminder of all the change that has taken place over the years. More specifically, the land is a reminder of the toll on human lives that the country’s so-called “progress” has taken. After all, early Americans massacred Native American tribes in order to steal this land, meaning that the success of the United States is founded upon injustice—a good indicator that the current system is probably also unjust.
Themes
Katharine tells Paul through the intercom that a machine is malfunctioning in Building 58. Normally, Doctor Shepherd would fix this, but since he’s out sick, Paul has to handle it himself. He passes Bud Calhoun on his way through Katharine’s office, telling Bud to draw up a design for a mechanism that will send out a signal to help his new cat find mice. He only gives Bud this assignment because it’s annoying that Bud is always hanging around, but the idea immediately animates Bud, who Paul realizes probably will have a good design by the time he’s back from Building 58.
Paul’s annoyance with Bud suggests that he doesn’t think people should spend their work hours interacting with one another. This is a very efficiency-oriented mindset, as Paul seems to think Katharine and Bud should focus exclusively on their work, not on flirting with each other. But this isn’t to say that Paul is obsessed with productivity—it’s just that he’s in the habit of thinking like a manager. Still, he recognizes that Bud will probably come up with an ingenious invention by the time he’s back, implying that Paul knows it’s possible to do a good job while also engaging in some genuine human connection.
Themes
On his way to Building 58, Paul passes a group of enthusiastic young engineers and resents their cockiness. He tells himself he wasn’t like that when he first came to work at Ilium 13 years ago with his friend Ed Finnerty and their colleague Lawson Shepherd. Paul doesn’t like the way these young engineers act so important, even if people in Ilium tend to view engineers, managers, and scientists as an elite class. This mentality began during the war, when people with “know-how” were highly valued for their ability to create the machines that helped win the conflict and keep the economy in place. Back then, managers and engineers didn’t really see themselves as elite, though that’s how society treated them. But now everyone who goes to college comes out feeling entitled and important.
Paul’s reaction to the young engineers solidifies the idea that automation has led to stark class division. An inflated sense of self-importance has led managers and engineers to see themselves as a superior class. Of course, the novel acknowledges that automation played a crucial role in helping the United States thrive during wartime, but it also implies that things have gone a little too far. Even Paul—a manager and former engineer himself—can recognize this, which is why he resents the young engineers, seeing them as embarrassing examples of how his own social circle has become too self-satisfied.
Themes
Arriving at Building 58, Paul feels at peace among the humming machines. The building itself is the same building where Thomas Edison used to work—it’s a little run down and outdated, but Paul fought for it to be preserved because he likes its historical importance. He often wonders what Edison would think if he could see how far technology has come, finding this idea reassuring. After all, life is better than it ever has been, thanks to society’s great technological strides.
Again, Paul is torn between two mindsets. In some regards, he recognizes the value of technology and productivity, enjoying the idea that a great inventor like Thomas Edison would be astounded by all the advancements society has made. In other ways, though, Paul appreciates the old-fashioned way of doing things; not only does he have a human secretary instead of a machine to help him, but he also advocated for Building 58 to be preserved even though it’s outdated. Overall, though, he seems to want to convince himself that society’s technological progress is a good thing, assuring himself that life is better than it was before—a possible attempt to believe that he’s doing something of value by working at an industrial plant.
Themes
Sometimes, though, Paul wishes he had fought in the war. He thinks about all the action on the battlefield and wonders if experiencing carnage would have made him appreciate his life all the more. Maybe, he thinks, this would help him feel like his job was useful and worthy of respect. As it stands, though, he has recently been feeling deflated about the corporate world and its petty problems.
Paul’s lack of enthusiasm about his job confirms that he’s not all that committed to the corporate lifestyle. What he lacks, it seems, is a sense of purpose in his career—or, more broadly, in his life. This is why he wishes he’d gone to war, assuming that fighting for a cause would help him feel like he’s done something meaningful. Paul’s thoughts confirm that he isn’t fully invested in the supposed value of technological advancement. Otherwise, he would feel fulfilled by his job.
Themes
Paul takes a moment to enjoy the inner workings of Building 58, thinking about the many laborers who used to toil toward greatness in this very building. The machines in here are set to stop in three days, at which point Paul will receive new instructions from his superiors and then order Shepherd (his second in command) to reset the machines according to how many new refrigerator parts are needed—a number determined by a large “computing machine” called EPICAC.
Everything in this future version of the United States is streamlined and efficient, requiring very little oversight. The only thing Paul needs to do is relay orders to Shepherd, who will then program the machines to follow those orders. With such little effort required to keep the country’s entire production line moving, it’s no wonder that Paul feels unfulfilled by his job—there’s hardly any actual work involved, so it’s unlikely that he would feel like he’s doing something valuable!
Themes
Stroking the cat as he walks through Building 58, Paul wonders if Shepherd is really out sick. He’s probably having meetings with important people so that he can get transferred away from Paul. The two men have known each other since they first started working at Ilium Works with Finnerty, who was promoted to an important job in Washington. Meanwhile, Paul was given the most important job in Ilium, humiliating Shepherd and stoking his undying sense of competition. Whether or not Shepherd gets transferred is out of Paul’s control, but he hopes, for Shepherd’s sake, that it happens.
Paul’s thoughts about Shepherd reveal his own easy-going nature—at least when it comes to job-related competition. He’s perfectly aware that Shepherd has it out for him, but he doesn’t mind. In fact, he actively wants the best for Shepherd, suggesting that he prioritizes his relationships with people over things like status and power in the corporate world.
Themes
Paul opens the malfunctioning machine—called “lathe group three”—and inspects its inside. It has a loop of tape, where the precise motions of a master machinist have been documented so that the machine can imitate the man’s movements. This is old technology. Paul himself helped create it when he first arrived at Ilium Works 13 years earlier; he, Finnerty, and Shepherd went out to one of the “machine shop[s]” and identified the machinist with the most skill. The man’s name was Rudy Hertz, and he was honored to be chosen.
This is the first time in the novel that it becomes clear how, exactly, the country’s technological advancements have impacted actual people. By building technology that can recreate the movements of a master machinist (someone who makes or fixes machines), managers and engineers have essentially rendered physical laborers like Rudy obsolete. Furthermore, the fact that this process is no longer considered cutting edge spotlights just how quickly technology has advanced. (As a side note, contemporary readers might find this technology amusingly outdated, since digitization has largely replaced the use of tape—a reminder that Player Piano was written in 1952, even though it’s set in the future.)
Themes
After Paul, Finnerty, and Shepherd recorded Rudy’s movements, they took him out for a beer. Although Rudy didn’t understand the technology, he was extremely excited to be recognized for his skill. Paul doesn’t know what became of Rudy—all he knows is that the machine based on the man’s craftsmanship can create as many industrial parts as Paul tells it to.
It’s unclear whether or not Rudy fully understood that the machine he helped Paul and his coworkers create would eventually put him out of a job. For the time being, he simply enjoyed being celebrated for his work—a sign that feeling useful and appreciated often means a lot to people.
Themes
Paul closes the machine. Nothing is wrong with it; it just needs to be upgraded. It will produce some faulty parts, but the company will just have to live with that until it gets replaced. Paul thinks about how a machine like this should be in a museum, not a factory. There was once a time when the tapes in these machines were so valuable that they had to be locked up. Now, though, the country enforces “antisabotage laws” so intensely that it’s unlikely anyone would be able to get to the machines in the first place.
The “antisabotage laws” referred to in this section hint that the country is very concerned with protecting its technology—technology that keeps the entire economy afloat. The government values these machines so much that only people like Paul—a powerful manager—are even allowed access to them. This further emphasizes the separation between the different social classes, since keeping non-engineers away from the machines implies that they aren’t important enough and can’t be trusted.
Themes
As Paul walks back through Building 58, an automatic cleaning machine comes down the aisle. The cat in Paul’s arms jumps to the floor and tries to stare down the machine, but it doesn’t change course. Instead, it runs over the cat, swallowing it whole. It then shoves the cat down a chute leading to a little cart outside. By the time Paul gets outside, the cat has escaped the cart and is climbing the large fence surrounding the building. Paul calls out to it, but it’s no use—the cat touches the armed wire at the top of the fence, sets off an alarm, gets electrocuted, and is sent hurdling through the air. The dead animal lands in a smoking heap on the ground.
The cat’s disastrous death is a good illustration of the drawbacks of complete automation. Because the cleaner is a machine, it doesn’t recognize the cat as a living being. As a result, it plows right over it! Although machines might be more efficient than human laborers, this scene demonstrates the drawbacks of this kind of efficiency, suggesting that mechanization has sacrificed important things—like, for instance, the human ability to use judgment and reason.
Themes
Back at the office, Katharine gives Paul his typed speech and praises him for his wise words. She especially likes his comment that the First Industrial Revolution “devalued muscle work,” whereas the Second Industrial Revolution “devalued routine mental work.” Paul shrugs this off, saying that he didn’t come up with that idea; a famous mathematician said it in the 1940s. Still, Katharine is impressed, saying how astonishing it was that people used to spend their days doing the same repetitive motion until it was time to go home. Paul agrees, saying that manual labor was very expensive and extremely unreliable.
When Katharine talks about manual labor, she emphasizes the drudgery of mindless repetition. This perspective completely discounts the idea of craftsmanship, ignoring that it’s possible for people to take pride in physical labor and, thus, feel rewarded by their work. In this highly streamlined, automatized society, any task that could be completed by a machine has been “devalued”—even “routine mental work” no longer has a place in the workforce, since machines can supposedly fill the roles of people whose jobs don’t require complex thinking. It’s a little ironic that Katharine is so convinced by this point, since her job as a secretary falls into this category of “routine mental work,” at least according to the other managers at Ilium Works, all of whom have replaced their secretaries with machines. Nonetheless, Katharine somehow manages to convince herself that it’s a good thing that the two Industrial Revolutions made routine work obsolete and pointless, apparently believing that efficiency is more important—more valuable—than anything else.
Themes
Still talking about the inefficiency of manual labor, Paul points out that personal problems always made their way into the production line. If employees had a hangover, trouble at home, a grudge against the boss, or any other stressor, these issues tended to appear in the products they made. Plus, maintaining workers’ happiness was a huge drain on company resources. And each year, employees would become increasingly distracted as the holiday season approached. The “reject rate” of the products always skyrocketed around this time, and there was nothing the company could do about it.
What Paul describes is the regular toll that work takes on people. His society has addressed these issues not by trying to solve them, but by completely replacing human laborers with machines. Prioritizing efficiency above all else, companies have given up on squeezing productivity out of people. Humans are inconsistent and emotional, so it makes sense that a society obsessed with productivity would prefer machines over actual people in the workforce.
Themes
Katharine asks if Paul thinks there will be a Third Industrial Revolution. He doesn’t know, but guesses that if there were a third, it would probably include machines that entirely devalue human thought of any kind in the workplace. Paul, for one, hopes he won’t live to see this happen.
As Paul has previously stated, the Second Industrial Revolution introduced machines that made it unnecessary for human workers to engage in “routine mental work.” Now, Paul imagines a future in which machines come along and make it unnecessary for humans to engage in any kind of thought while at work. This, of course, would put everyone out of a job, even managers and engineers like Paul. This is possibly why Paul doesn’t want to live long enough to see this change. On a broader level, his hesitancy to embrace this idea of the future also reveals his misgivings about progress in general, as he clearly worries about where all this advancement is headed.
Themes
Before he goes into his office, Katharine hands Paul a design Bud made before leaving. He looks it over and realizes that, just as he expected, Bud has thought up a perfect machine for detecting mice. Impressed, he goes into his office and secretly drinks a shot of whiskey.
Bud’s invention is proof that human thinking is still valuable in the workplace. At least at this point, a machine couldn’t come up with this design for a mouse-detection unit. This intelligent design therefore illustrates the value of human reasoning. And yet, the irony is that this kind of human creativity is exactly what will probably lead to full mechanization one day, since smart, inventive engineers like Bud will surely create the very machines that end up replacing them.
Themes
Paul’s wife, Anita, calls and reminds him that Kroner and Baer will be at the Country Club dinner that night. Kroner is the manager and Baer is the chief engineer of the Eastern Division, of which Ilium Works is just one part. It’s up to them to choose a person to fill an important position as the manager of the Pittsburgh Works—because of this, Paul doesn’t welcome the news that they’ll be at dinner. He is happy, however, when Anita tells him that his old friend Ed Finnerty has made a surprise visit from Washington and will be staying with them.
Although he’s somehow climbed his way to a powerful position, it’s apparent that Paul isn’t all that invested in his career. He doesn’t get excited that Kroner and Baer will hear his speech, even though this is an opportunity to impress them and, thus, secure a promotion. This implies that he’s not particularly interested in advancing through the company. Anita, on the other hand, is invested in Paul’s career, considering that she calls him to talk about the dinner and remind him that his bosses will be present. Her enthusiasm, however, isn’t enough to change the fact that Paul is preoccupied with seeing his old friend—a sign that he values human connection and relationships over corporate success.
Themes
Anita—who can’t stand Finnerty—subtly tries to draw Paul’s focus back to impressing Kroner and Baer, and Paul assures her that he’ll be nice to them in an attempt to get the Pittsburgh job. This satisfies Anita, though she’s still worried because she heard through the grapevine that someone told Kroner that Paul doesn’t even want the job. Paul refutes this, insisting that he has been very clear with Kroner about wanting the promotion—still, though, Anita seems worried.
The fact that people are talking about Paul not wanting a promotion suggests that his lack of enthusiasm is very obvious. With this in mind, Anita’s worries seem justified, especially since Paul is more interested in seeing Finnerty than impressing his bosses. With his slight skepticism about the corporate world, it’s very likely that he hasn’t been acting like someone who wants a promotion. This sheds light on a lurking tension in his relationship with Anita. Whereas Paul seems unmotivated to climb the corporate ladder, Anita is eager for him to advance.
Themes
Anita tells Paul to come home early for a drink to relax his nerves before the dinner. He agrees, and on his way out of the office, he tells Katharine not to mind the warning light indicating that lathe group three is malfunctioning. It is, he tells her, “beyond help.”
The malfunctioning machine in Building 58—lathe group three—hints at the idea that even technology can’t keep up with itself. Although lathe group three once replaced the need for human laborers like Rudy Hertz, now it’s almost obsolete itself. If even a machine can’t keep up with society’s technological progress, it’s hard to imagine how human workers could possibly stay competitive and relevant in the workforce.
Themes
