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Chapter 14
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Player Piano, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Technology and Progress
Happiness, Self-Worth, and Passion
Class Division and Competition
Corporate Life vs. Human Connection
Summary
Analysis
Paul meets Doctor Pond at the farm and immediately falls in love with the property. The entire place is rustic and feels like it’s from a completely different time period. As they walk around, Pond tries to dissuade Paul from buying the place, constantly suggesting fancy houses he could show him—houses that would be a better fit for someone of Paul’s status.
Doctor Pond thinks it’s inappropriate for someone of Paul’s status to live in a run-down, old-fashioned farmhouse. But this is exactly why Paul wants the place, hoping to escape his corporate life. Still, Pond’s belief that Paul shouldn’t live somewhere so simple or inexpensive demonstrates society’s expectation that people in powerful positions should live in accordance with their status. In other words, it doesn’t even occur to Pond that someone would want to leave behind corporate success—showing that it’s unheard of for someone to do what Paul’s doing.
Themes
Paul ignores Pond’s attempts to dissuade him from buying the farm. He isn’t even discouraged when he meets Mr. Haycox, the surly Reconstruction and Reclamation Corps member whose job it is to look after the property. Haycox firmly believes in the project of preserving the farm’s old-fashioned charm, but he doesn’t like the idea of somebody like Paul buying it. Either way, though, he reminds Paul and Pond that he is the place’s caretaker no matter who owns it—according to Haycox, this, too, was in Gottwald’s will.
It is exactly because the farm will always stay the same that Paul is interested in it. If this means Mr. Haycox has to stay on as its caretaker, it’s unlikely Paul will bat an eye. The mere fact that Mr. Haycox takes care of this land by himself perfectly aligns with Paul’s vision, since he sees the property as a place that rewards grit and hard work, two things that are sorely lacking from his current life.
Themes
