60 pages 2 hours read

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Player Piano

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1952

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Themes

Industrialization and Humanity’s Loss of Agency

Humanity, in Player Piano, constructs for itself a socioeconomic system so precise, so unmoved by emotion, that humanity has, in essence, written itself out of the action of the country. It’s important to note that humans created the machines, which take over almost every aspect of life because the end of the novel suggests that perhaps humans are fated to wipe themselves out this way. In the wave of such automation, there exists nothing for humanity to do anymore, so they’re given meaningless jobs to pass their time while they collect pensions. The ones lucky enough or bright enough to be engineers or managers seem to also be on the way out, as machines are finding ways to replace almost every human point-of-contact in all industries—even the writing of literature.

While the novel is set in the future, the commentary it allows is about the present—or, more precisely, the mid-to-late 20th century. Many of the industrial changes and shifts that seem so apocalyptic are simply extensions of what Vonnegut saw happening in the United States during that time. The novel then suggests that we are in this industrial dystopia already, and that maybe there’s no way to escape it.

Related Titles

By Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Study Guide

logo

2 B R 0 2 B

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

2 B R 0 2 B

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Plot Summary

logo

Breakfast of Champions

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Breakfast of Champions

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Plot Summary

logo

Deadeye Dick

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Deadeye Dick

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Study Guide

logo

Epicac

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Epicac

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Plot Summary

logo

Fates Worse Than Death

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Fates Worse Than Death

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Study Guide

logo

Galapagos

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Galapagos

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Study Guide

logo

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Study Guide

logo

Mother Night

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Mother Night

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Study Guide

logo

Slaughterhouse-Five

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Slaughterhouse-Five

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Study Guide

logo

The Sirens of Titan

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

The Sirens of Titan

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Study Guide

logo

Welcome to the Monkey House

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Welcome to the Monkey House

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.