Player Piano Analysis

It has been awhile since we read Player Piano, but I can try to conjure up the memories I do have of the work as a whole since I have forgotten most minor details.

Paul Proteus is one of the most successful people in his society, he is an engineer and designs machines to basically take care of the worlds problems, consequently putting many citizens out of work and forcing them to either become a soldier for an incredibly long enlistment, or a reek and reck, where they are the lowest of lows and are made to fix the problems that not even the machines will stoop down to.

Paul sees how the world has become extremely unbalanced. The novel is about how the world is quickly turning into a machines world, where people are becoming useless. This novel creates a powerful image of a hero confused, with his career and marriage on the line, but willing to throw all of that away for a cause that he knows is the right one.

To me this novel also has that undying mystery of exploration of ones self, it is about the curiosity to push oneself to the edge, that is what Finnerty had done in the novel, and Paul truly was envious of him. He wanted to know what it was like to see beyond what his everyday life was. He wanted to know more than the repetition that had become his life since he was born.

Anita is an interesting character to talk about as well, she represents a large portion of the society not only in the novel but in general. Think about how many people we may know, or know about that we can draw comparisons with Anita. I think many, there are many money hungry people in society, who crave only wealth and the improvement of their own social status. Reputation is number one and all other things like morales and common sense can be set aside. Love is not a real thing, it is only a made up word to fill a void in a conversation.

So while I do believe Player Piano is an overall interesting look at the rise of machines it is also a very practical look at today's society where we are forced to self reflect and find that character within the novel that best represents ourselves.