Player Piano

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1952

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-5

Chapters 6-11

Chapters 12-17

Chapters 18-25

Chapters 26-35

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Discussion Questions

Essay Topics

Why can the Shah of Bratpuhr not understand the difference betweenTakaru (slave) and the “averageman” in the United States? What does this suggest about the “averageman,” and American society?

What are three instances where Paul Proteus’s agency was stripped from him before he could act? Why does Paul have a hard time finding any agency?

Finnerty discusses how perfect the world be for an engineer, if not for “people always getting tangled up in the machinery.” What does he mean? In what ways do human beings mess things up for the engineer’s utopian vision?