Ambiguity In The Novel: Player Piano By Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut, an American writer who brings the techniques of science fiction, relies on the criticism of the moral ambiguity of the corporate world, while balancing with humorous scenes and characters. ‘Player Piano’, the first novel of his, published in 1952, describes a ‘dystopia’; a totally mechanized society, where automation brings a negative impact on people’s life. The author takes a satirical stance on automation in which the society is run by machines instead of people. The story is set in the near future after a war, probably the third world war. Most citizens of the U.S. fought overseas during the war, while the managers and engineers were left and facing a depleted work force. As a result, they’ve developed automated systems
When the story comes to an end, the revolution turns out to be a failure. Even though machines were relentlessly destroyed by the revolutionists who were out of control, the workers began to repair the remaining machines. People applauded when the orange juice vending machine started to work out. As a matter of fact, they are rebuilding the conditions that allow the upper class, (engineers and managers mostly) to gain power again. When Paul witnessed that moment, he says that people are recreating the “same old nightmare”. As the main protagonist of the story says, it stresses out the flaws of human being; we are repeating the same mistakes over and over again and it’s just a matter of the intensity. At any rate, we are slowly reoccurring the problems of automation, and there will always be an upper class that tries to take control. Furthermore, Vonnegut creates a character from the outside country, basically an ‘outsider’, the Shah of Bratphur. Unlike other characters who are directly influenced by the American capitalistic ideology, the Shah brings keen and straightforward observation of the society. The Shah is going through a trip to America with his guide, a government official, Halyard. Onetime, they observe workers from the Reconstruction and Reclamation Corps, and the Shah calls the workers ‘slaves’. Soon, Halyard corrects the Shah by labeling them as “the average men”. The different viewpoints from each characters reveal how capitalistic ‘class’ system has shaped one’s view of the world. Yet, the comments made by the Shah points out that the systems and ideologies are sometimes carried out in a quite different manner in the actual world. Plus, the marriage life of Paul and Anita reveals the ‘mechanized’ relationship. Anita, Paul’s wife, puts all her effort to help Paul climb the corporate ladder. And