the game directly to the president. According to Sutter, any player can contribute to the perfection of the machine and become rich. Despite the fact that "the Big Boss," a greedy hypocrite who professes concern for the players and distributors of his machine, tells Arthur that his idea to add a "Tilt" mechanism to the game has already been adopted, Arthur becomes more determined than ever to find the innovation which will bring him wealth and prestige.

It is significant that the word "Tilt" is in English (the play was written in French). English is mentioned sarcastically as the language of the pinball machine and America is presented as the epitome of a society dazzled by mechanized novelties and driven by the thirst for material gain. In this more limited and concrete sense, the image of the machine reflects the domination of contemporary society by predatory business enterprises. In addition, English as a foreign tongue has the capacity to mystify the players, and, much like the obscure rituals of a religion which the devout worship blindly, the language of the machine plays a part in captivating the public. Mr. Roger, the obsequious private secretary of "the Old Man," knows nothing about the operation of the business but is considered an asset to the Corporation because he speaks English; he has compromised all his ideals in order to stay in the service of the high priest of the pinball machines. The theme of religious mystification is amplified by "the Old Man" when he jokes about the "Tilt" mechanism as offering death and resurrection for only ten francs.

After Arthur's initial rejection, he is encouraged by Annette, who has become equally anxious to break into the organization, to submit another invention to the president: the visual motif of a rocket heading toward a moon would enable the player to follow the progress of the game much better than the sight of numbers lighting up. This invention reveals a frame of mind which Sutter recognizes as dangerous: men tend to waste their time aspiring to grandiose and vague goals rather than living and acting in face of the realities of the present.

However, Sutter himself does not adhere to this moral precept. He tries to escape the grip of the organization by accepting a position as head of an orphan home far from the frenzied life of the city. This dream to live surrounded by the innocence of children and the calm of nature does not materialize and Sutter eventually finds himself poverty-stricken and obliged to write tracts against the Corporation in order to survive. He is a solitary being whose son was drowned at the age of fourteen and who strives futilely to find again the mutual affection and understanding which he experienced with his son. As an embodiment of the theme of human solitude Sutter is not at all convincing; he is not enough of a stereotype to become comical, and his sorrow is too gratuitous to be tragic. By the same token, Mr. Roger is clumsily and incoherently sketched as the Intellectual who is guilty of prostitution of values.

"The Old Man" turns down the idea proposed by Annette and Arthur on the grounds that the players will not accept anything as simple as one visual motif; they want dozens of complex gadgets to distract and disconcert them. Arthur grows more and more irrational in his behavior, while, at the same time, his reasoning becomes more closely attuned to the insane world of the machine. He finally joins the Corporation and suggests the elimination of one set of flippers from the game. As in the game of life, Adamov seems to be implying, the players not only desire to be bewildered but also to feel a perverse joy in finding themselves powerless to direct the course of the ball.

The world of the pinball machine begins to collapse around Arthur as the play nears its end. Annette has become the manicurist of "the Old Man" and evolved into a callous and hysterical opportunist. She dies the victim of an accident which symbolically occurs in front of a pinball arcade. The Corporation is threatened by nationalization, is plagued by mechanical failures in the machines, and its president dies raving madly about the need for production of myriad models of the game without regard for quality.

The last scene of the play presents a final vivid image portraying the absurdity of men's endeavors on earth. Arthur and Victor, now old men, are playing ping-pong. They fight over the rules—an echo of their quarrels concerning the validity of Arthur's inventions—and they ultimately discard both net and paddles. The volleys become wilder and wilder until Victor leaps for one of Arthur's throws and falls dead. Arthur is left alone and panic-stricken on stage.