Question (SPOILER!) about the events in the book

[Leonard]

The crux of the story was the solidifying of the world's oceans so I'm pretty sure the airplane was just a plot device to introduce the ice-nine to the ocean, thus advancing the story.

[Fred]

that doesn't answer the question, though. definitely a plot device, but was it brought about by the dictator? i think i read this in 1978 or something, and i don't remember that particular detail.

[Leonard]

Fred wrote: "that doesn't answer the question, though. definitely a plot device, but was it brought about by the dictator? i think i read this in 1978 or something, and i don't remember that particular detail."

He asked whether the plane was part of the dictator's plan OR if the pilot lost control solely by accident. I speculated that it was by accident, thus answering his question.
I'm pretty sure there was no mention of the dictator post-disaster. Seeing as how most of the world's population died, I would venture to guess that the dictator did not survive. Also, he didn't seem to be so nefarious as to usurp the world through humanity's extinction. I am also sure that he was not aware of ice-nine's effects, let alone its existence.

[Fred]

you remember better than i, and that does answer the question. thanks for clarifying. i know this is a quick read, maybe i should go back and revisit.

[Tom]

A couple of observations about points made in this thread:

1. I didn't feel like the crux of the story was the solidification of the world's oceans. It seemed the point of the novel was to shine a light on amoral science being directed toward development of weapons of mass destruction.
2. The dictator absolutely knew what Ice9 was and what it did. Each of the Hoenikker children made their fortunes by exploiting the technology.
3. The plane crash was accidental but not an anecdotal plot-device. I think the point was to show how the best intentions of men cannot protect us from ourselves. Even though the party found the Ice9 in time to save it from being introduced into the ocean during the burial at sea, another event outside of their control caused the catastrophe. In this way Vonnegut is telling us that we cannot engineer a means to end the world without the expectation that it will eventually be put to that use, knowingly or otherwise.

[Anthony]

Tom wrote: "A couple of observations about points made in this thread:

1. I didn't feel like the crux of the story was the solidification of the world's oceans. It seemed the point of the novel was to shine a..."

Very well said. All three points are right on the money.

[Adam]

I remember when I first read the novel... The dictators body was frozen and they planned to leave it until next day and burn it in a funeral fire. You knew something was going to go wrong at that point. I'm glad it was an out of control plane that did it because I imagined the ending was going to be farcical. I actually felt hesitant about reading the rest because a part of me was worried the main character would suddenly turn into John Cleese and get himself into a frantic argument with some solders who knew nothing of ice 9 and insisted on burying the body at sea. :P

[Ken]

Good points. The main theme of the novel was that humans cannot be trusted with any level of technology, because we have so many petty desires and motivations, yet cling to the belief that we can somehow control both ourselves and external forces.

[A.J.]

And to think that the good intent to "get rid of mud" was where the technology began. Nature tries to be in balance...

[Ken]

A.J. wrote: "And to think that the good intent to "get rid of mud" was where the technology began. Nature tries to be in balance..."

One of the characters that inherited the Ice-9 from his father was willing to risk ending the world just to get laid. That's how unreliable we are, because it's really not that farfetched.