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Doctor Ewing J. Halyard
Doctor Katharine Finch is Paul’s secretary at the Ilium Works, where she’s the only female employee. Paul sees her as more of a “symbol of rank than a real help”; in other words, he thinks that just having a secretary makes him seem important, even if he also believes that a machine could do her job more efficiently. Still, she often covers for Paul when he decides to leave work early—something a machine clearly couldn’t do. Katharine is in a relationship with the gifted manager Bud Calhoun, who’s always hanging around in her office, which is attached to Paul’s. When Bud is replaced by a machine that he himself invented, Katharine is distraught and eventually shows her contempt for the system by joining the Ghost Shirt Society (along with Bud) and helping them plan a revolution against the machines.
Doctor Katharine Finch Quotes in Player Piano
The Player Piano quotes below are all either spoken by Doctor Katharine Finch or refer to Doctor Katharine Finch. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 1 Quotes
“It seemed very fresh to me—I mean that part where you say how the First Industrial Revolution devalued muscle work, then the second one devalued routine mental work. I was fascinated.”
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“Actually, it is kind of incredible that things were ever any other way, isn’t it? It was so ridiculous to have people stuck in one place all day, just using their senses, then a reflex, using their senses, then a reflex, and not really thinking at all.”
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“[…] Hangovers, family squabbles, resentments against the boss, debts, the war—every kind of human trouble was likely to show up in a product one way or another.” He smiled. “And happiness, too. I can remember when we had to allow for holidays, especially around Christmas. There wasn’t anything to do but take it. The reject rate would start climbing around the fifth of December, and up and up it’d go until Christmas. Then the holiday, then a horrible reject rate; then New Year’s, then a ghastly reject level. Then things would taper down to normal—which was plenty bad enough—by January fifteenth or so. We used to have to figure in things like that in pricing a product.”
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Doctor Katharine Finch Character Timeline in Player Piano
The timeline below shows where the character Doctor Katharine Finch appears in Player Piano. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...important wires at the plant. Paul uses the intercom system to ask his secretary, Doctor Katharine Finch, when she’ll be finished typing his speech, which he’s supposed to deliver at the...
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Instead of focusing on Paul’s speech, Katharine is flirting with a manager named Bud Calhoun. Slightly annoyed by this (and thinking that...
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Katharine tells Paul through the intercom that a machine is malfunctioning in Building 58. Normally, Doctor...
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Back at the office, Katharine gives Paul his typed speech and praises him for his wise words. She especially likes...
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Katharine asks if Paul thinks there will be a Third Industrial Revolution. He doesn’t know, but...
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Before he goes into his office, Katharine hands Paul a design Bud made before leaving. He looks it over and realizes that,...
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Chapter 8
Paul arrives at Ilium Works to find Katharine distraught at her desk. Bud’s there, too, and he’s dejectedly looking at the floor; he...
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Katharine and Paul try to brainstorm new jobs for Bud, but they know it’s not up...
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Katharine receives a call and tells Paul that Finnerty is at the gate. He hasn’t come...
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Chapter 18
...with Shepherd. This catches Paul off-guard. “I’ll be jealous of Shepherd when you’re jealous of Katharine Finch,” he laughs, but she takes immediate offense, taking issue with the idea that someone...
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Chapter 30
...Society meeting are from Homestead, but he recognizes a few people like Bud Calhoun and Katharine Finch. There is also Professor von Neumann, who used to teach political science at Union...
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