Player Piano

 

When you think about the future of the world and how the world’s industrial revolution has ruined our society, who better to think of than Kurt Vonnegut and his book Player Piano.  I have read a number of Vonnegut’s books, and yes I think he is an “acquired” read, not for everyone.  He has an incredible ability to tell a story that pushes the reader to think.  Are we really better off in this world (at the rate we are going)?  In Player Piano, the protagonist Dr. Paul Proteus, a graduate of Cornell University, and the son of a famous inventor, is challenged to stay in the 1% or help humankind.  Proteus has moved up the ranks of his father’s company (his father has since passed away) and is vying for the unenviable manager of production of the Pittsburgh office, a better option than Illium, an upstate NY small town (I love the references to all of the upstate NY locales in Vonnegut’s books).  The company has been successful in creating machines for everything, well almost, at the expense of jobs for the men and women of the society.  At this point Vonnegut is presenting what our society has faced – the creation of the 1%.  In this case, the 99% lose all ability to roam freely through society, though they do get a small base pay and all health benefits (and great machines for their homes, which did the works of humans).  Proteus has everything a man could want, except he wants to live in nature, not put men out of work, and leave the 1%, much to the angst of his wife.  The story illustrates the demise of the human condition and the life we have come to expect – the all-American dream.  Proteus struggles in making his decision, especially as he is presented with further career trajectory.  Proteus escapes the 1%, but at a cost – his marriage and his ability to have all the luxuries that the elite receive in this society.  When he makes the final decision, the underground movement claims him as their leader and he then faces the task of evading the police and other 1%ers.  I really enjoyed how Vonnegut paints our society and how the decisions we are making now have a detrimental effect on the future of our society.  Proteus is presented as “everyman” who has to make a decision that he realizes will have lifestyle consequences, but he will be living by his own guiding principles.  The story written in 1952 is more real today than I am sure was the case at the time of the publication.  Vonnegut proves his instincts for our future, with the hope that there are other Paul Proteuses out there ready to make the right decisions that will impact the greater good.  Good read for twenty-somethings who hopefully will make similar choices for the greater good.