Fred Berringer Character Analysis in Player Piano

Fred Berringer is a young engineer who’s eager to make a name for himself at Ilium Works. Although he barely graduated college, Kroner gave Berringer a job because he comes from a long line of respected engineers and managers. Hoping to assert himself as someone worthy of respect, Berringer challenges Paul—the reigning checker champion—to a checker game at an important company dinner. When Paul sits down to play, Berringer and his friends wheel out a giant machine that his father built called Checker Charley—a machine that calculates the best move a player could possibly make. Paul objects to this, but everyone urges him to play. Berringer acts smug and confident, but this attitude fades when Checker Charley starts losing to Paul. Soon enough, smoke pours from Checker Charley’s insides, and then the machine catches fire. Berringer is distraught, saying that Checker Charley was his father’s pride and joy, but Finnerty (who placed bets against the machine) is overjoyed, eventually saying that he noticed before the game began that the machine had a loose connection. Berringer doesn’t take this loss in stride, instead acting petulant and bitter. He later joins forces with Shepherd to undermine Paul by smearing his name at the company.

Fred Berringer Character Timeline in Player Piano

The timeline below shows where the character Fred Berringer appears in Player Piano. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

A group of young engineers stands in front of Paul. Their leader, Paul Berringer, isn’t very intelligent, but he comes from a wealthy family and is the son of... (full context)

...the checker board, confident that he’ll win once again. However, he loses his confidence when Berringer and his friends wheel out a large, human-sized box called Checker Charley: a checker-playing machine... (full context)

...hum, Checker Charley dies, and everyone except Paul and Finnerty looks distraught, feeling terrible for Berringer and his father’s precious machine. (full context)

Beside himself, Berringer accuses Finnerty of tampering with Checker Charley before the game, when he inspected the machine’s... (full context)

...out the door, Finnerty congratulates Paul on his win, but Anita begs him to give Berringer and Shepherd their money back. She complains that it isn’t fair for Finnerty to keep... (full context)

...let Finnerty continue his romp through the grounds without a guard. He even says that Berringer is listening in, just so he can confirm—if anyone asks—that Paul authorized this. Finnerty, Shepherd... (full context)

...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... (full context)