Gender Marriage and the Cold War The futuristic visions presented by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (Player Piano) and Robert Heinlein (The Puppet Masters) provide the reader with differing perspectives marriage and gender. Both narratives are presented by men; moreover, both Paul Proteus and Elihu, are married (or soon to be) Both of these books were written during a time of great turmoil in American history. The nation was just beginning to recover from the devastation of World War Two, and trying to go back to negative social patterns of the past. "Trying" is the operative word, because men, women, and minorities had been g