James Seth

B5: Founding and Finding Utopia

INTRODUCTION

          One of the prominent themes of utopian literature and history has been travel, attributed to its convention of the journey. Throughout the course, we have analyzed protagonists that have traveled from their motherland to either discover Utopia or to create Utopia. In some cases, travelers have accidentally stumbled upon a utopian community, such as Raphael in Thomas More’s Utopia or Julian West in Looking Backward. However, I have noticed that utopian literature often focuses on two very different initiatives: assimilation or colonization. The former can be applied to novels such as Ernest Callenbach’s Ecotopia, where the protagonist attempts to conform to the Ecotopian community in order to retrieve information. In class, we discussed what was called “the new journalism,” a type of journalism that promotes an intimate understanding of a culture by locating oneself within the culture and creating a personal exchange. Research postings and in-class web reviews on communes and utopian communities emphasize assimilation and collectivity, rather than totally independent living. However, utopian communities in literature and history also have colonization narratives, which can present a different set of characters and a different plot sequence. In founding narratives, a group of individuals is often recognized for their efforts in establishing the community, and the principles and beliefs of these few, or perhaps even one person, are held to the highest degree. These founders are, in many ways, the heroic protagonists whose mission has been modeled by the community. In this essay, I will discuss the ways that founding utopian narratives use dystopian conventions as opposed to finding narratives (narratives of discovery), which rely on utopian conventions.  Using Plymouth Colony and Ecotopia as primary examples, I intend to show how the dichotomy depends on the type of narrative, when the utopian narrative occurs, and what people or events are underscored by the author or narrator.

FOUNDING UTOPIA: THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PLYMOUTH COLONY

          While historical utopian communities were founded by collectivist principles, the retelling of those seminal events often becomes a story of heroic individualism. The founding of Plymouth Colony was not merely a story of travel and settlement; in many ways, it was a story of survival. In William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation, inclement weather and natural disasters threaten to destroy the colonists’ ships. Bradford states that “they were encountered many times with cross winds, and met with many fierce storms, with which the ship was shroudly shaken, and her upper works made very leaky” (59). If sailors “committed themselves to the will of God,” they would be rewarded (59). While in Looking Backward, material rewards come in the form of ribbons, rewards in the founding texts are predominately internal. In addition, few utopian novels address natural disasters, perhaps since themes of survival connect to notions of competition and uniqueness, as well as Darwinism.

Utopian founding narratives are often narratives of freedom and liberation, which directly connects to themes in dystopian fiction, where the protagonist is freed from oppressive forces. In Ayn Rand’s Anthem, Prometheus and Gaea are liberated from totalitarian rule and free to establish their own community after settling in the house from the Unmentionable Times. The Declaration of Independence states that when “it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another” that “a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” In my research post on La Reunion and Fourierist utopias in Texas, I explain that Charles Fourier was “a proponent of socialism, community living, women’s rights, freedom of sexuality, and what was called by L Goldstein as ‘the liberation of human passion’ (98).” Although Fourier believed in communal living, he believed in sexual freedom and independence from oppressive institutions, specifically marriage. Just as the Puritans of Plymouth Colony were liberated from England to seek religious freedom, so too were Fourierist followers in Texas liberated by exploring “human passion” and abandoning convention and traditional gender roles.

Bradford’s narrative uses religious symbolism to distinguish the saved from the damned—who are all a part of the same traveling group—and in a way, uses the conventions of the dystopian novel to portray characters who reject harmonious living. Bradford recalls a “very profane young man” who was “haughty” and “would always be contemning the poor people in their sickness” (59). According to Bradford, “it pleased God . . . to smite this young man with a grievous disease” and “was himself the first that was thrown overboard” (59). Rather than being a story of conversion, this is a story of liberation. One of the dystopian conventions listed on the course website is “liberation of inmate to outsider or revolutionary.” In the same way that the Plymouth founders rejected their homeland, a cycle of liberation persisted within the community. Despite whatever narrative is attempted by the writer, historical utopian texts will portray the negative side of human nature, whereas utopian literature often assumes that the community will not participate in selfish or unruly behavior.  In fact, the episode with the young man reminded me of Satan’s rebellion in John Milton’s Paradise Lost, as both characters are mercilessly cast out of what is (ironically) envisioned as paradise. Where the “haughty” young man is demonized in Of Plymouth Plantation for his insincere attitude, he would perhaps be the model hero for a dystopian novel, such as Ayn Rand’s Anthem. Despite his wrong doings, the young man, like Prometheus, is a “proud” character that chooses not to conform to society.

Unlike Herland and Looking Backward, where resources, goods, and capital are controlled by the public or the nation, Plymouth Colony had private ownership among the community after nearly three years of settlement. Though the colony originally had a communal system, starvation forced the community to keep their own goods and sell what remained. Again, the dystopian theme of survival leads to social and economic success. In the excerpt on the course website, Bradford openly rejects the ideas of Plato, scorning “the vanity of that conceit of Plato's and other ancients applauded by some of later times; and that the taking away of property and bringing in community into a commonwealth would make them happy and flourishing; as if they were wiser than God.” Bradford believed in the value of individual property, and in referencing Plato’s followers, he recalls those “young men, that were most able and fit for labor and service” that “did repine that they should spend their time and strength to work for other men's wives and children without any recompense.” Further attesting to Bradford’s obsession with economic matters is Michelle Burnham’s argument that “any reader of Bradford’s text knows that his most overt and anxious concern is not Plymouth’s place within the grand sweep of history” and that “Of Plymouth Plantation tells a detailed and complicated story of economic mismanagement and loss” (695). In Anthem, the millennial event, when Equality discovers his individuality, occurs internally and not externally. In the same way, the millennial event that allowed Plymouth Colony to survive was the shift away from a communal economy, rather than a fantastical event from the heavens. While a change in economy may not have been a “second coming,” it was a necessary change in behavior that reacted to the world around them, a reaction connected with survival that is often not often emphasized in other utopian works.

FINDING UTOPIA: ASSIMILATION AND NEW JOURNALISM IN ECOTOPIA

          By “finding” utopia, protagonists in utopian fiction do not merely discover utopia, but also find themselves in utopia. In Ernest Callenbach’s Ecotopia, William Westin is the first American journalist to enter and report on Ecotopia. As a visitor, Will is curious about the Ecotopian ways of life, particularly their aversion to monogamy, automobiles, waste, and television. Though he is initially uncertain about its way of life, Will becomes enamored with Ecotopia and eventually immigrates into one of the white communities. In his personal journals, Will constantly tries to reconcile his American views with the mindset of the Utopians. After the radiation levels in the air increase, Will writes that “There is a widespread tendency to blame technological disasters on Americans, so I haven’t been made to feel terribly welcome in the last few hours” (72). In this instance, Will is defensive about his American background and is not yet fully aware of Ecotopia’s environmental efforts. However, Will’s attitude changes once he realizes the kind of damage that American has, in fact, done to the environment and the justified blame of the environmentally-conscious Ecotopians. Will notes in later reports that “Ecotopian thinking has moved uniformly toward power sources which . . . can be tapped indefinitely without affecting even the local biosphere” (112). Rather than being cynical or defensive, Will seems more accepting the more that he understands their culture.

          In Ecotopia, Will engages in what was called the New Journalism movement in the 1960s and 1970s, which began with writers such as Truman Capote, Hunter S. Thompson, and Joan Didion. Didion’s book Slouching Towards Bethlehem is a series of short works that act both as informational articles and entertaining short stories. Often, these works will attempt to inform readers while also telling emotional or personal stories about the journalist. In the novel, Will writes informative articles meant for publication, as well as personal anecdotes and discoveries. He writes candid statements such as “These people are horribly over-emotional,” and he reveals many sexual episodes with his Ecotopian lovers. In terms of adaptation, Will adjusts to his environment particularly well with concerns related to gender and sex. In the chapter “Women in Power: Politicians, Sex and Law in Ecotopia,” Will states that women are “a substantial majority of the population in Ecotopia” and political groups such as the Survivalist Party and the Progressive Party condemn “outdated and destructive male attitudes toward individualism, productivity, and related issues” (91). Women choose the father of their children, and they have full control over this matter. Though Will has trouble reconciling his Ecotopian love affairs with his American conventions and America’s emphasis on monogamy, he adapts and revels in the “free love” politics of Ecotopia. Similarly, assimilation with respect to gender and sex is also a dominant theme in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s Herland, as Terry feels challenged by a world inhabited by independent women who do not require mastery, while Van and especially Jeff are more welcome to the politics of Herland.

FINAL OBSERVATIONS

          A final thought on the difference between utopian finding and founding narratives is the notion of sacrifice. In utopian finding narratives, no great sacrifice is made to achieve a utopian lifestyle since the utopia is already fully functional. When visitors enter, they are expected to cooperate, rather than toil. In Ecotopia, Lorna states, “Our point of view is that if something’s worth doing, it ought to be done in a way that’s enjoyable—otherwise it can’t really be worth doing” (73). Compare this sentiment with the sacrifice of the Puritans, the founding fathers of America, the African American community during the Civil Rights Movement, and particularly the sacrifice of Christ. In all of these instances, the founders, rather than the followers, are the individuals who sacrifice their lives to create what they believe will better humanity. Though Will sacrifices his identity as an American, his life is made better, and he chooses to assimilate without risk of harm or persecution. Rather, he adopts the view that sacrifices do not need to be made, a point that underscores much of Ecotopia’s views concerning the environment. For Ecotopia, sacrificing natural recourses is the worst possible crime; for founders of utopia, sacrifice is necessary to achieve the utopian dream.

Works Cited

Bradford, William. Of Plymouth Plantation. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: Norton, 2008. 

Burnham, Michelle. “Merchants, Money, and the Economics of "Plain Style" in William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation.” American Literature - Volume 72, Number 4, December 2000, pp. 695-720.

Callenbach, Ernest. Ecotopia. New York: Bantam, 1975.

Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. Herland. New York: Pantheon, 1979.

Jefferson, Thomas. The Declaration of Independence. Utopias Course Website. http://coursesite.uhcl.edu/HSH/Whitec/texts/UtopTexts/foundingutopias.htm

Rand, Ayn. Anthem. New York: Signet, 1961.