Player Piano

Within this novel, Kurt Vonnegut utilizes irony as an important aspect of his story line. This irony plays a humorous role within the novel that allows the reader to enjoy the tale more thoroughly while portraying Vonnegut's point. With this said, the reader ends up concluding that while the machines enhance daily life by making it easier, they also took away from any point in living. No one was truly happy except for a select few that were honestly ignorant to what happiness ultimately is. An example of all of this irony that proves Vonnegut's point is on page 271 within the novel. On this first page of the chapter, one can see the ironic situation of the football coach. He is higher up in the hierarchy of the school than the Arts & Sciences teacher. This is clearly a commentary on today's society on how even today, people sometimes put sports in front of academics. The purpose of living is also brought up in this novel. Without realizing it, the more the characters create machines, the more a person's purpose in the world dissapears. Look at Bud from the novel. He created a machine that did his job better than him therefore leading him to be fired because of it. The thing that he loves to do has been taken away from him leaving with nothing to be passionate about. When this occurs, society loses a little piece of what could be a major part of the future. Humanity creating machines is the biggest betrayal in the novel. In the end, Vonnegut uses what he is most strong with in his writing to benefit his novel as a whole. Irony, is the tool that alludes to all things throughout the novel.


So as I am sitting here trying to figure out what I would rate this novel, I realize that I cannot remember whether or not I enjoyed the book. With this in mind, I would probably give this novel a six. Me not being able to remember whether I enjoyed reading it or not means that it was not that fantastic of a book. Yet, if I did not like this book at all, I would clearly still remember that too. This leaves me indifferent with a little bit more of a lean to liking the novel. It was very well written and it was a very easy read. I also liked how Vonnegut used irony as humor which made it more enjoyable. I really cannot think of anything in particular that I did not like about the novel.



pg 195-198: As for a quote, I chose a passage. I found the scene from the Meadows particulary humorous. Yet while being humorous, Vonnegut still managed to get what he was trying to portray across. He used many literary tools within this passage such as repetition and irony. The repetition of what the speaker was saying just showed that technology is preventing and interupting human interaction. The ironic part is what the speaker is actually saying. The speaker is telling the men to converse and make new aquaintances, but the speaker is constantly talking. With its boisterous voice, it is nearly impossible to hold a conversation none the less think straight. This passage also reminded me of Farenheit. In Farenheit, they would put shells in the ears of the people to stop them from having any thoughts. If any thinking went on, the shell would blast the ear with a sound that would create the person to not be able to think straight.

Handmaid's Tale

Within the novel, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, the many biblical allusions are very apparent. A few of them are the Rachel & Leah Centre, Gilead, Loaves & Fishes, and Milk and Honey. One could say that all of these biblical allusions are used for the sole purpose of furthering Atwood's satiric purpose in the novel. The Rachel & Leah enter represent the two sisters from the bible, Rachel and Leah who forced their handmaids/servants to sleep with their husband and to bear children. Ultimately it turned into a competition to fight for their husbands love. At the Rachel & Leah Centre in the novel, the women are taught to accept the idea that their duty to Gilead is provide a child for the family in which they reside with. They sleep with the Wife's husbands as part of the annual ritual. The name Gilead from the novel is a very barren, wasteland devastated by pollution and war. The society however tries to portray that the land is fertile and the best possible place to live in. Gilead from the Bible is a very fertile, desirable region in Ancient Palestine. Both Gilead's contradict themselves and create irony. The novel also replaces names like the bakery or butcher with Biblical names such as "Loaves & Fishes", "All Flesh", "Lilies of the Field", or "Milk and Honey". By renaming even food and clothes shops like this, the society manages to establish references to the Bible in every aspect of daily life. The new names are also meant to abandon old names for for shops that supposedly are "too much temptation" for the citizens. However, these names are highly ironic for they suggest abundance, while food in Gilead is in short supply.

"We were the people who were not in the papers. We lived in the blank white spaces at the edges of print. It gave us more freedom. We lived in the gaps between the stories" (57).

The quote above speaks about the Handmaid's of the novel. These women are viewed as in the way possessions by most. The handmaid's have barely and freedom. They are all the same leaving them emotionless and like a blank piece of paper. They live an invisible life for the most part being that their only sole purpose is to reproduce. The ironic part is that the Handmaid's view the only freedom they have being that they are invisible. The newspaper symbol is a representation of the society in which they reside in. The words are the higher rankings within while the Handmaid's, who basically equate to nothing, are the blank spaces on the edges-- waiting to be used only when necessary.

I enjoyed this novel thoroughly. I had read it last year as part of an English project and even then I found it amusing. For women to sit back and accept being degraded like this is baffling. I also enjoyed Margaret Atwood's use of satire. It helped portray her message. I enjoy novels that cause controversy and this was certainly one of them. It brought light upon certain topics that sometimes get ignored. It was not your typical book one reads for English class. I feel that all English classes should read this. It has more of a powerful message while not being boring at the same time.