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Chapter 22
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
Although he’s supposed to leave the island, Paul goes to the bar. Everyone looks at him when he enters, making it immediately clear that they all know (or think) he’s been fired. The bartender won’t even serve him, since the alcohol is intended for employees. Paul insults him before turning to leave, but—much to his surprise—the bartender doesn’t shrug off his comment like people normally do. Instead, he calls Paul a “saboteur,” which everyone knows is the worst thing someone can call another person. Paul punches him in the face, sending him to the ground, but then the bartender chases after him and knocks him out.
Even if he doesn’t agree with the idea that managers and engineers belong to an elite class, Paul is used to acting like everyone respects him. He doesn’t like the class division that exists in the country, but this doesn’t necessarily mean he’s ready to give up his privileged position in society. This is why he’s surprised when the bartender doesn’t ignore his insult; he’s used to people treating him with awe and respect. Now, though, everyone at the Meadows sees him as a “saboteur,” as if he has betrayed the entire way of life that the company represents. In this moment, then, everyone’s commitment to the company overshadows the simple idea of treating others with compassion, as Paul’s coworkers (who previously celebrated him) suddenly turn on him.
Themes
Paul wakes up on a dock. Ed Harrison is there with a glass of whiskey for him, figuring he’d probably want something to take the edge off. Kroner apparently told him to bring Paul the whiskey and the message: “it’s always darkest before the dawn, and every cloud has a silver lining.” To make Paul feel better, Harrison adds that the bartender has a terrible nosebleed and that he can’t stop sneezing.
Paul doesn’t have very many allies at the company, so it’s meaningful that Harrison reaches out to him. Paul is quickly learning that the corporate world is cutthroat, especially for people who aren’t in positions of power. Now that he has fallen from the good graces of the company, very few people—except, apparently, Harrison—are willing to show him any kindness at all.
Themes
Although Kroner sent him, Harrison seems genuinely concerned for Paul’s well-being, asking what, exactly, he did to find himself in this position. Touched by the young man’s “integrity,” Paul tells Harrison not to “put one foot in your job and the other in your dreams.” He tells him to either quit right now or give himself over to this corporate life. It’s simply too difficult, he says, to lead this existence if you’re not fully committed to it.
Paul knows how hard it is for people to think for themselves instead of just immediately accepting whatever the company tells them to think. This is why he thinks Harrison has “integrity.” Whereas seemingly everyone else at the company has already written Paul off as a “saboteur,” Harrison is willing to give him the benefit of the doubt by asking what he did to deserve this treatment. This suggests that Harrison is a free thinker, and it’s possibly because of this that Paul warns him about trying to make it in the corporate world—people who think for themselves won’t be happy there.
Themes
Paul gets on the boat to take him away from the island. As it pulls away, he gets emotional about leaving, suddenly feeling as if he’s bidding a final farewell to his “home.” On the island, a group of drunk young engineers stumble out of the bar singing a song about the oak tree that symbolizes the company’s vitality—and then, from the boat, Paul hears Berringer’s voice yelling out that the tree has been vandalized. Somebody, Berringer shouts, has ripped off the tree’s bark. He yells that it must have been Paul, the “stinking saboteur.” A PA system comes on and a voice sounds out in the darkness: “Beware the Ghost Shirt!”
Paul’s unexpectedly emotional departure serves as a good reminder that he has spent a long time at the company. Although he hasn’t always been happy at his job, the corporate lifestyle is really the only thing he’s ever known. It therefore makes sense that he would see the company as his “home,” despite the fact that he doesn’t even like his job. On another note, it’s unclear if the announcement over the PA system is an actual warning from the company—telling the employees to watch out for Ghost Shirt Society members—or if somebody from the Ghost Shirts has taken over the microphone. Either way, what’s clear is that somebody other than Paul has it out for the company. The revolution that Lasher predicted, it seems, has arrived.
Themes
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