Kurt Vonnegut is perhaps best known for his works such as Cat’s Cradle and Slaughterhouse-Five, but his first work Player Piano is another effective cautionary tale that depicts the drawbacks of an automated society with an overabundance of machinery and technology. The work is centered around Dr. Paul Proteus, the highest-paid man in Ilium (present-day New York). He lives a good life, but is self-conscious of the lower class people eyeing his wealth. Over time he comes to realize that his life has no purpose and is no longer fulfilled by it. Quitting his job to join a revolution, they fail and become martyrs. The work uses him to “criticize as well as portray the artifacts and gadgetry lauded and perpetrated by American faith and energy”
