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Baer
Lawson Shepherd is Paul’s second-in-command at the Ilium Works. A deeply competitive man, Shepherd resents that Paul got the manager job, thinking that he should have gotten it himself. For this reason, he hates working for Paul and is eager to get transferred to another branch. But Paul can’t be bothered by Shepherd’s competitive spirit. He even wants to stay on friendly terms with him, since they’ve worked together ever since they both started at Ilium as fresh, impressionable young engineers. Shepherd, however, seems determined to smear Paul’s name with people like Kroner and Baer, going out of his way to tell them that Paul’s nerves have been troubling him. He also makes a habit of visiting Anita and filling her in on everything Paul does that might hurt his chances of landing the open manager position in Pittsburgh. Paul eventually discovers that Shepherd and Anita are having an affair, but Anita shows no remorse. Later, while Paul is on trial for treason, she makes a point of announcing to the press that she and Shepherd intend to marry as soon as possible.
Doctor Lawson Shepherd Quotes in Player Piano
The Player Piano quotes below are all either spoken by Doctor Lawson Shepherd or refer to Doctor Lawson Shepherd. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
Some people, including Paul’s famous father, had talked in the old days as though engineers, managers, and scientists were an elite. And when things were building up to the war, it was recognized that American know-how was the only answer to the prospective enemy’s vast numbers, and there was talk of deeper, thicker shelters for the possessors of know-how, and of keeping this cream of the population out of the front-line fighting. But not many had taken the idea of an elite to heart. When Paul, Finnerty, and Shepherd had graduated from college, early in the war, they had felt sheepish about not going to fight, and humbled by those who did go. But now this elite business, this assurance of superiority, this sense of rightness about the hierarchy topped by managers and engineers—this was instilled in all college graduates, and there were no bones about it.
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Chapter 6
Quotes
When Paul thought about his effortless rise in the hierarchy, he sometimes, as now, felt sheepish, like a charlatan. He could handle his assignments all right, but he didn’t have what his father had, what Kroner had, what Shepherd had, what so many had: the sense of spiritual importance in what they were doing; the ability to be moved emotionally, almost like a lover, by the great omnipresent and omniscient spook, the corporate personality. In short, Paul missed what made his father aggressive and great: the capacity to really give a damn.
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Doctor Lawson Shepherd Quotes in Player Piano
The Player Piano quotes below are all either spoken by Doctor Lawson Shepherd or refer to Doctor Lawson Shepherd. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
Some people, including Paul’s famous father, had talked in the old days as though engineers, managers, and scientists were an elite. And when things were building up to the war, it was recognized that American know-how was the only answer to the prospective enemy’s vast numbers, and there was talk of deeper, thicker shelters for the possessors of know-how, and of keeping this cream of the population out of the front-line fighting. But not many had taken the idea of an elite to heart. When Paul, Finnerty, and Shepherd had graduated from college, early in the war, they had felt sheepish about not going to fight, and humbled by those who did go. But now this elite business, this assurance of superiority, this sense of rightness about the hierarchy topped by managers and engineers—this was instilled in all college graduates, and there were no bones about it.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6
Quotes
When Paul thought about his effortless rise in the hierarchy, he sometimes, as now, felt sheepish, like a charlatan. He could handle his assignments all right, but he didn’t have what his father had, what Kroner had, what Shepherd had, what so many had: the sense of spiritual importance in what they were doing; the ability to be moved emotionally, almost like a lover, by the great omnipresent and omniscient spook, the corporate personality. In short, Paul missed what made his father aggressive and great: the capacity to really give a damn.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
