Self-importance in a society that replaces people...??Thank you Vonnegut!

ANALYSIS

Irony. Irony. Irony. In Kurt Vonnegut's Player Piano, it's difficult to miss the irony that practically oozes off each page. More specifically, his depiction of "improved" American society and its inhabitants are perhaps the most ironic. This is a society driven by mechanization and efficiency. Engineers are the elite, everyone else of marginal intelligence better get back to their side of the river. Yet, even the engineers work day-to-day on their devaluation, as they attempt to rectify human imperfection by creating machines that will soon replace them all. What I find so ironic about this situation is the fact that although this is a society which admits and deplores imperfection in humanity, a great majority of individuals advertise their massive self-importance. Doctor. Doctor. Doctor. MR. is a loathed title in this society. Yet with this title of Dr. comes the subconscious acceptance that man is inferior to machine. The individuals of this society place such emphasis on their titles, yet it is those who possess these higher titles who are contributing to their ultimate obsolescence. The title basically envelopes the main theme of the novel. Player Piano. A piano that plays itself, no mistakes, music left unmarred by human error. How do you achieve perfection? Easy, create something that will no longer need its creator. The elite "improve" society by taking out human influence. There is an extreme dichotomy in society between the elite of society(Kroner, Shephard, etc) and the reeks and wrecks. What is ironic about this dichotomy is that their difference in IQ's(the sole basis of hierarchy) is what determines whether or not they are permitted to create technology to replace themselves.

QUOTE

"He stared at President Jonathan Lynn and imagined with horror what the country must have been like when, as today, any damn fool little American boy might grow up to be President, but when the President had had to actually run the country!"(120)
First of all, I love this quote. It's so sarcastic. How many times have your parents told you that you can grow up to be anything you want to be? Astronaut, doctor, and yes, even president. In this passage Haylard expresses relief that this concept has virtually been abolished. The President is merely an actor with a massive salary; he represents the common man only in appearance and speech(hence his less than intelligent oratory skills). The elite justifies the hierarchy in society by asserting that they are working for a better world for all of society. The president assures that the EPICAC will do wonders for the "plain folk," being the "greatest individual in history." The president serves as a reassurance to the reeks and wrecks that they are not entirely obsolete, that they are still represented in society. Haylard's comment, however, demonstrates the true opinion of the elite. The President is just an actor; expressing that such a man does not actually carry any authority. The elite of society consider themselves so superior to the masses that they believe that it is in their power to grant reassurance and allow for a comfortable life for them but not to allow them to have any real power in society.

Rating:

I love this book. Even though it's another dystopian novel and the transformation of the protagonist again seems slightly fruitless, I thought the ending was appropriate. After all the planning and progress, the people again revert to working to replace themselves with technology. Vonnegut's dark humor and sarcasm is admittedly hilarious(and somewhat depressing). The ending is somewhat tragic. They fail miserably at overturning society but Finnerty and Paul concede to Lasher's assertion that all that really matters is that for the record, they tried. Essentially their acceptance of failure is their greatest rebellion. This society is not accepting of failure. They will most likely spend the rest of their lives in jail, scorned by society, but at least they tried. I think the ending is necessarily anticlimactic, demonstrating that the true heroes are the individuals who act knowing they are going to fail.

The Handmaid's Tale: Obsession with death

Analysis: A predominate theme presented in this book is life juxtaposed to death. This is a society obsessed with procreation. It centers around birth and life, yet a majority of its citizens beg for or are obsessed with death. Offred forces herself to think of Luke and her daughter as dead in order to overcome the pain of knowing they are existing independently of her. Soon her best friend Moira is dead to her(or perhaps is dead in actuality). She herself, to some degree, almost wishes to die, to escape from societal imprisonment. Offred is surrounded by the prospect of death throughout the story. The handmaid before her had hanged herself because of the misery endured in conformity and secrecy. Throughout the novel she is haunted by this girl and the prospect that her future may reach the same dead end(no pun intended...grants?). There are also instances where Offred contemplates stealing a kitchen knife to stab the Commander with; at another point she stuffs a match in her mattress to perhaps set the house on fire. The irony of this society lies in its promotion of creation but subsequent obsession with destruction. Ofglen, perhaps her only identified ally, killed herself, sparing Offred. Offred is thankful that Ofglen killed herself for her sake, but for some reason, instead of lamenting over the death, Offred merely states "I will mourn later." I think while this society pushes for communion between the wives and handmaids and serving Gilead with a prideful sense of duty, the end result really was almost a numbing, a dehumanization. These people become numb to the sight of people hanging from the wall. Offred forces herself to become numb to the idea of Luke's death. They must all forget the past and embrace the future. Mourn later, mourn never. The women become drones, mere vessels for impregnation. Don't think. Don't feel. Have a baby. That's Gilead. I find it ironic that this society pushes for the creation of life so vehemently, yet death is everywhere(most of it orchestrated by the government itself). It is a society that supposedly values the creation of life beyond all else, yet it murders perceived enemies of the Republic in mass, and tortures(Moira and the feet thing) its citizens into submission.

"I stand a moment, emptied of air, as if I've been kicked. So she's dead, and I am safe, after all. She did it before they came. I feel great relief. I feel thankful to her. She has died that I may live. I will mourn later"(286).

In class Mr. Klimas mentioned that here Ofglen represents a Christ figure(dying for the sake of others).I found this passage interesting first of all because of the irony which it portrays that exists in the society, but also because the way Atwood presents Offred's thoughts. "So she's dead, and I am safe after all. She did it before I came. I feel great relief. I feel thankful to her. She has died that I may live. I will mourn later." Ok. This passage contains almost no emotion. The fact that Offred has to state "I feel great relief," instead of saying "I breathed a great sigh of relief. I was going to live!", shows that perhaps she isn't as relieved as she wanted herself to be. Perhaps she almost longed for death, for an end to it all. She is numb. Atwood depicts this numbness by making the sentences short and concise. Her words are almost robotic. I am thankful. I will live. Yay. Most people would react in a more expressive ways a result of the great conflict of emotions; the knowledge that someone has died for your sake isn't something necessarily something easy to cope with. Yet, Offred is almost indifferent, she says what she thinks she should be feeling at this moment, yet she is void of emotion.

I enjoyed reading this book, but I don't think I liked the book as a whole. The premise was interesting, but as many of you know, I'm not a fan of the ending. Atwood's ending is creative, but I felt that she ended it too abruptly; I was just disappointed. I wanted to know definitively what happened to Luke, Offred, and their daughter. I don't want it be left to the reader to determine what happened. I WANT ANSWERS! I mean I think the ending...works and I can see why she chose to end it this way, but I still don't like it. The book was well written and an interesting concept, and of course it is allusion invested, but overall, I was disappointed in the ending and found the book anticlimactic.

That book that I forgot we read but happens to be one of my favorites:)

Analysis: A predominate theme in Ayn Rand's works is the ramifications of socialism. She takes the philosophy to the extreme, depicting a society where everyone is assigned a certain job to serve the collective "WE". It is a society where the individual is corrupt and worthless. Everyone is equal. OR ELSE. "We are nothing. Mankind is all...We exist through, by and for our brothers who are the State"(21). Socialists hate competition and advocate cooperation, as seen in this novel. By condemning the use of any special talents that would give one individual an advantage over another, the society is theoretically guaranteeing equality and banishing inadequacy. This concept, while exemplified in WE as well, is greatly emphasized in the short story Harrison Bergeron by Vonnegut that we read in class. The idea of playing loud noises in an intelligent individual's ear in order to dilute their intelligence to an average, "healthy" level, coincides directly with Rand's assertions. Rand emphasizes that socialism is merely a vehicle for the less endowed to hinder the strong, in this case, the intelligent. Of course the society depicted in Anthem is an exaggerated version of socialism, however, Rand stretches these fundamental principles of socialism in order to stress the clear degradation of the individual in such societies. There is no incentive to transcend the masses because any hint of independent thinking is deemed treason against your fellow brothers, as is seen when Equality 7-2521 presents his discovery of electricity to the scholars. Rand uses this instance to show his final disillusionment with the society and to create an incentive for him to disengage from his brothers who do not appreciate his genius because it is not his place to think or create independently. All men are not created equal, but forced to be equal in order to assure "happiness" to those who would otherwise feel obsolete in comparison with the more gifted. Differences cause distractions from the state. A sense of self-pride would only result in selfish ambition( and we all know we can't have that!). Rand presents this warped society in order to capture the flaws of a socialistic society, which often alienates the hardworking and gifted in order to cater to the masses.

"For the word "We" must never be spoken, save by one's choice and as a second thought. This word must never be placed first within a man's soul, else it becomes a monster, the root of all evils on earth, the root of man's torture by men, and of an unspeakable lie. The word "We" is as lime poured over men, which sets and hardens to stone, and crushes all beneath it, and that which is white and that which is black are lost equally in the grey of it. It is the word which the depraved steal the virtue of the good, by which the weak steal the might of the strong, by which the fools steal the wisdom of the sages"(Rand 97).
This passage is the embodiment of the entire novel. I love Rand's comparison of the word "we" to the pouring of lime to form the statue of conformity, forming a perfectly formed statue from the mold society. The passage creates a sense of suffocation, as the lime stifles individualism and forces the individual into the grey of submission. I love Rand's depiction because it makes this fear of conformity concrete, creating a tangible fear of oppression. Essentially, this quote emphasizes the importance of ego and the danger in relying upon the collective to dictate your actions and emotions, so that everyone who wasn't created equal will be MADE so.


I read this book over the summer and absolutely loved it. I was so excited(I'm a dork...what can I say?) because it went along with Fahrenheit 451 so exactly, then of course we read it in class. I found Rand's use of the word "we" interesting and different, and I was astonished at how short the story actually was. It is such a profound and infinite philosophy, yet Rand is able to capture the idea eloquently in 105 pages. I suppose in comparison to the other distopian stories we've read so far, I like the ending of this book immensely more than that of WE or The Handmaid's Tale because it provides the reader with hope for Equality 7-2521 to start a new colony, whereas in We D-503's progress in rebellion unravels completely and in the Handmaids Tale it remains uncertain whether or not Offred actually survives.