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.
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