Effects of Industrialization: On Player Piano and Brave New World

Modernism is a term describing an experimental styles and forms of art during the beginning of

the twentieth century. In that period, there are books written to portray and foreshadow the downward

side of the society that contrasts with the upcoming American Dream, in 1931, which, according to

Cambridge Dictionary, is the belief that everyone in the United States has the chance to be successful and

happy if they work hard. In order to have this perfect life, people try to develop more advanced

technologies and machineries. These modernism books allow readers to explore the negative possibilities

of the “happy and successful life” that everyone wishes to have by using futuristic world where there are

high technology gadgets and tools, drugs that make human becomes happy and more. Kurt Vonnegut’s

sophisticated novel, Player Piano, and Aldous Huxley’s hypothetical novel, Brave New World, portray

the effects of industrialization on human being’s life which lead to sexism and dehumanization, and

inequality among social classes.

Firstly, the books illustrate that as the world become more industrialized and advance there are an

uprising on sexisms and dehumanization. As a matter of fact, humanity keeps altering through time, and

the perspective of human being is also changing. In these two books, Player Piano and Brave New World,

Vonnegut and Huxley have explored different aspects of the impacts of industrialization on sex and

gender roles in the society. In Player piano, Vonnegut demonstrates sexism through the character’s

position and opinions of other characters in the novel. There are only two main female characters, and the

occupations of these women are housewife and secretary. It can be seen in the book when Anita, wife of

Paul Proteus who is an engineer working as a manager in the Ilium Work, said “I’m sick of being treated

like a machine! You go around talking about what engineers and managers do to all other poor, dumb

people. Just look what an engineer and manager did to me!”(Vonnegut, 1952, p.249) This shows that in a

world where there are demand of bright engineers and managers women are being view as lesser, and

treated like they have no soul and life. Men are too obsessed with their life and the machine which will

make their life become more civilized and convenient. These people believe that they are the brighter and

smarter one, and women are being view as the less smart one in the society. These men shape how life of
women should be, and how should they behave. They restrict the opportunities in life, and lessen the

value of women’s life. Furthermore, women are also being portrayed as object for sex and are being able

to buy by money. Vonnegut mentions “‘Or marry someone who’s bright,’ said Finnerty. ‘Sex can still

better down all sorts of social structures—you’re right,’ Lasher agreed. ‘Big tits will get you in

anywhere,’ said Finnerty.”(Vonnegut, 1952, p.93) to show that men are valuing women as object which

can be brought easily by wealth and social status which is similar to machine that can be build easily by

engineers. It reflects on the industrialization that when people are able to get what they want easier than

they tend to devalue them. The way women are illustrated allows the reader to understand that men are

the higher class of the society and having control over women as they are to other things. These two

evidences show that women in the society are being degraded by men.

Comparing to Player Piano, Brave New World shades light on the dehumanization of people in

the society instead of sexism and gender discrimination. It emphasizes on the meaningless relationship

that people had and how valuable virginity and sex are. This is the effect of industrialization since people

are relying less on the ethics, cultures and religious beliefs but more on themselves and the new

technology. People are taking relationship unserious, and they lessen the value of commitment. Huxley

mentions “‘I once had to wait nearly four weeks before a girl I want would let me have her.’ ‘And you felt

strong emotion in consequence?’ ‘Horrible’ ‘Horrible; precisely,’ said the Controller. ‘Our ancestors were

so stupid and short-sighted that when the first reformers came along and offered to deliver them from

those emotions, they wouldn’t have anything to do with them,’” to show that in a world, which there are

advance technologies where unsexual reproduction happens, people are degrading themselves

down.(Huxley, 1932, p.38-39) This shows that when people are able to reproduce themselves without

having sex they are relying less on the ethics, cultural norms and religious beliefs. Furthermore,

industrialization affects the definition of romantic relationship between couples. In Brave New World,

people define romantic relationship as sleeping with each other but not having emotional connections

toward each other. This happens because the purpose of having sex is changed. People do not have to live

together to nurture their baby, so they do not need any romantic relationship to stay together as a couple
or any feelings that would attach them together. It reflects on to the society that people are just enjoying

the feelings of having sex and the happiness without concerning about any ethics. The more industrialized

people are the more unethical they become since they have to worry about nothing, and how people think

because they will end up being alike to each other and living in the society where people are careless

about any morals or righteousness. This caused by the comfort and convenient that machines and

technologies already provided for them. Even though the two books show different aspects of the impact

from industrialization on gender roles, the root causes of these problems come from the convenient and

development of technological industries which allow people to rely less on themselves.

Secondly, in both books, Player Piano and Brave New World, Vonnegut and Huxley communicate

that the separation of social classes and caste and the inequality in the society are resulted from the

industrialization. In a world that is moving forward by technology, machine and innovative ideas, people

are still being separate into different social classes and does not have the equal rights in the society.

Huxley and Vonnegut, even though convey the same message about the effect of industrialization on

social structures and inequality, have different perspective on the cause of these results. On one side,

Vonnegut’s novel, Player Piano, portrays that people are being separated into two groups after the

industrial revolutions, and these two group consist of the engineers and managers, and the others which

does not work with the machine or manage the factory. The higher ones do not care about the living

conditions of the lower ones and believe that they are useless in the society. This can be seen when

Vonnegut mentions “‘Son, Doctor? Oh, oh of course—my son. You said you were going to talk to

Matheson about him didn’t you? What did the good Matheson say?’ ‘I haven’t talk seen him yet. I’ve

been meaning to, but the opportunity hasn’t come up.’ The man nodded. ‘Matheson, Matheson—beneath

that cold exterior, there beats a heart of ice. Well it’s just as well. There’s no need to talk to him now. My

boy’s all set.’”(Vonnegut,1952, p.88) In the text, a man was asking Dr. Paul Proteus, manager of the

Ilium Work which is a machine company in New York, to help his son get the work. This textual

evidence shows that after the industrialization people are being separated into two groups. The higher

group, engineers and managers, does not care much about the being of the lower group, other
occupations. This is influenced by the differences in abilities, and the higher group think that they are

better than those other since they are the one controlling the machines which are serving all of the

population. Moreover, it also portrays that those who are in higher class of the society have more

opportunities and chances to get higher education and better jobs than the others. This is the reason that

people are being separated into two distinctive groups since it is a cycle of rich people getting better

education and opportunities and the poor getting worse. On the other side, Huxley portrays the inequality

in society by using the caste systems which is created by the world controller or the hatcheries controller,

so they can manage the world easier. In the story, baby that are being fertilized from the hatcheries and

being separated into different groups, or caste: Alpha, Beta, Delta Gamma and Epsilon. The children in

each groups are being treated differently according to their group. They will be growing up to do different

types of work. Huxley writes “‘...all wear green, ‘said a soft by very distinct voice, beginning in the

middle of a sentence, ‘and Delta children wear Khaki. On no, I don’t want to play with Delta children

wear Khaki. Oh no, I don’t want to play with Delta children. And Epsilons are still worse. They’re too

stupid to be able to read or write. Besides, they wear black, which is such as beastly color. I’m so glad

I’m a Beta,’” to emphasize on the caste system.(Huxley, 1932, p.23) With the advancement in

machineries, technologies and medicine, people are living their best life without any worries or sadness

and enjoying their life with the people in their same caste. The separation helps the controller to control

the world easier. However, people may always be happy with the caste they belong in. They may have

desire to be in a better caste or a lower caste since they are still human. The effect of industrialization

causes the unfairness to the people themselves and it only benefits those who are more influential to the

world. These two books explore the endless inequality of social structures that is the effect of

industrialized world which causes benefits to only some groups of people.

To conclude, industrialization may have brought lots of advancements to the society, but they

also come with drawbacks such as sexisms, dehumanization, and inequality in the society. Even though

Vonnegut and Huxley have different styles of writing and portray both similar and different issues on the

effect of industrialization. The purpose of writing these two book are to convey and warn humanity about
the dangers that may come with advancement of technologies, machineries and medicine. With these

books and the awareness from news and social media, humanity will not become alike to the world in

either Player Piano or Brave New World.

References

Huxley, A. (1932). Brave New World. London: Vintage

Vonnegut, K. (1952). Player Piano. New York: Delacorte Press