Class Division and Competition Theme Analysis

In Player Piano, the country’s obsession with efficiency has led to very divided social conditions, since the population has been grouped into two categories: those who are of use to the economy and those who are not. This structure makes sense for a nation that prioritizes economic productivity, but it creates tension between the elite and everyone else. For example, certain opportunities are only available to people with high IQ scores, leading to resentment among people who aren’t intelligent in the traditional sense. This IQ-based system of categorization makes sense from a business standpoint, but it sends a harmful message to anyone who isn’t deemed smart enough to hold an important job: namely, that they’re useless and insignificant. Meanwhile, powerful managers like Paul are forced to prove themselves to their superiors time and again, always fighting to stay afloat in the competitive atmosphere of the corporate world. Company officials see this competitive spirit as a healthy way of increasing productivity, but it just fatigues and annoys Paul, driving him further away from the company. It’s clear, then, that the emphasis on efficiency in this futuristic United States has not only led to an inhumane system of job placement, but also to division and resentment across all levels of society, creating widespread—and unnecessary—social strife.

The country’s system of categorizing people is extremely demoralizing. James Lasher points this out to Paul and Finnerty, noting that the use of IQ tests to determine a person’s value to the economy is a great way to stir up discord. It is, according to Lasher, “grade-A incitement to violence,” since anyone who doesn’t have a high IQ will naturally resent the smarter citizens who have better jobs. After all, this system implies that “the smarter you are, the better you are.”

In addition to making people feel inferior, this system is rigid and unforgiving. Lasher speaks to this when he notes that the entire IQ-based system is “built on more than just brain power—it’s built on special kinds of brain power. Not only must a person be bright, he must be bright in certain approved, useful directions: basically, management or engineering.” This implies that even intelligent people are excluded from powerful positions if they don’t show an aptitude for a very narrow, specific field. In other words, very few people can join the elite class of valued workers—a fact that is surely dispiriting to anyone who isn’t lucky enough to possess the very specialized intelligence deemed valuable to the economy. 

Because this system of categorization makes it so difficult for people to succeed, it’s unsurprising that it leads to significant backlash against the upper class. The Ghost Shirt Society—a group of anti-automation revolutionaries—mounts a large-scale attack on the country’s power structures, but resentment of the elite also shows up in smaller, more everyday circumstances. For instance, when Doctor Halyard gives the Shah of Bratpuhr a tour of Ilium on behalf of the State Department, a member of the Reconstruction and Reclamation Corps (a public works organization) spits in his face. This happens as Halyard drives by in a limousine while the laborer works on the side of the road. The juxtaposition between the luxury of Halyard’s career and the difficulty of this man’s job is quite glaring, as Halyard’s limousine calls attention to the obvious disparity between the fortunate upper class and everyone else. What’s more, the worker’s disdain for Halyard—whom he doesn’t even know on a personal level—reveals that this unequal societal structure has led to intense animosity.

Society’s fixation on efficiency and productivity also creates internal division amongst the elite class of managers and engineers. Paul experiences this firsthand, since the company he works for intentionally stokes the fires of competition. The purpose of this is to encourage employees to work harder, but the whole competitive atmosphere feels draining to people like Paul and Finnerty. In fact, Finnerty even decides to quit when he receives his invitation to the Meadows, a yearly corporate retreat where a select number of employees are invited to participate in various competitions. Finnerty tells Paul that, when he got his invitation to the retreat, “something snapped.” “I realized I couldn’t face another session up there,” he says. “And then I looked around me and found out I couldn’t face anything about the system any more.” Although the company’s competitive spirit might seem playful and good-natured, the mere thought of engaging in these competitions depresses Finnerty. Indeed, the idea of attending the Meadows drives Finnerty to quit, suggesting that this emphasis on competition actually hurts the company instead of benefitting it.

Another problem with this competitive spirit is that it pits people against each other, and this division makes its way into multiple aspects of the job. For instance, when Paul first started at Ilium Works, he was equals with Finnerty and Shepherd. Right away, though, Shepherd made it clear that he saw Paul and Finnerty as rivals, which is why he has been ruthlessly competing with Paul for the past 13 years. He even tries to ruin Paul’s name by speaking badly of him to the bosses. It’s therefore obvious that he’s not engaged in friendly competition; he just wants to succeed at Paul’s expense.

This individualistic, cutthroat mentality is a symptom of society’s tendency to prioritize the smartest people over everyone else. According to this societal structure, the most skilled, intelligent people should have the best jobs. And since Shepherd thinks he could do Paul’s job better than Paul himself, he feels emboldened to do whatever it takes to succeed. By spotlighting Shepherd’s ruthless attack on Paul, then, the novel demonstrates that the division in this society isn’t limited to the rift between the lower and upper classes—rather, this divisive mentality brings itself to bear on everyone, regardless of their status.