Vonnegut envisions a plutocratic America where the

aforementioned periphery has been made obsolete, where a corporate

oligarchy supersedes the presidency in authority. An example of

this structure is the absent father of the main character Paul

Proteus, George Proteus, who was before his death the National

Industrial, Commercial, Communications, Foodstuffs and Resources

Director, a position which might have been below the presidency at

that time , but the scales have tilted towards total domination by

those who fuel the economy, i.e. the corporations. The

‘unenlightened’ Shah, spiritual leader of Bratpuhr who is visiting

America to learn about the great American society, shakes his head

and calls it “Communism” (21), which it is, with the exception that

there is no Communist Party. In its place is the oligarchy of the

corporations which the government allows to prevent inefficiency.

I argue that the hegemonic masculinity, or the masculinity of the

patriarchy, provides both motivation and justification for the men

who are constructing the totalitarian state of Player Piano. I will

furthermore look at the effects, on both society and the

individual, of a hegemonic masculinity.