In the Lives of Puppets

Rather than provide an easy answer to the question of what it means to be human, Klune’s novel presents an idea of human nature that is full of paradoxical attributes and, above all, potential. The author doesn’t shy away from humanity’s negative attributes. The novel is set an unspecified number of centuries in the future after humans have used machines to wage war against one another. Ultimately, humanity was so destructive that the machines they built became convinced that the only way for the planet to survive was to destroy their creators—a setup that places the story in the realm of dystopian science fiction. In Chapter 11, Giovanni’s recording recounts some of the pernicious faults that led to humanity’s undoing: “They feared each other. Themselves. They judged others for not looking like they did. Selfish, cruel, and worse—indifferent” (155). Based on humanity’s history in this novel, part of what it means to be human is destruction, selfishness, and callousness.

Klune posits that despite all of its flaws, there is still beauty in humanity, referencing moments in the story’s imagined history where people acted with grace and goodness. Giovanni observes, “Some devoted their lives to lifting each other up […] even as others did their level best to raze everything to the ground” (155).