LITR 5737: Literary & Historical Utopias

Final Exam Submission 2007

Gordon Lewis

Topic A1

Utopian and Religious Literature

Fate, Faith or Luck.   When my daughter was a medical resident and participating in hospital rounds with a teaching physician, they came into a room where there was a patient with a treatable illness whom had been administered the correct treatment and still died.  The physician asked the residents, rhetorically, why had this patient died, and when none of the residents could answer, explained that sometimes whether patients do or do not do well has to do only with an explanation (depending on your belief) that it was fate, faith or luck.

This aspect of human existence has always fascinated mankind and is frequently the theme of both religious and utopian literature.  Since the earliest ages of recorded literature men have sought for explanations of life in the gods or in fate and the fates were often controlled by the gods.  This search for both explanations of life and a concomitant belief that a more perfect life could be established either here on earth, or in an afterlife, or both, not only dominates religious and utopian literature, but also influences other genres including political writing, travel literature, science fiction and other literatures that feature novel ideas.  Given this universal quest for an explanation of life that involves religious elements, it is certainly a reasonable assumption that this quest appears inherent in the nature of mankind.

What unifies this literature is the repetition of common motifs and themes that include a faith that there is a promised land either in this world or the next, or both, and a belief that some groups are fated to participate, or will have the luck to participate in this utopian existence.  One of the common themes is the existence of a ‘Garden of Eden.’  The Garden of Eden story appears in the Judeo/Christian Old Testament Book of Genesis 2:8-10, “Now the Lord God

planted a garden eastward in Eden . . . and out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food . . . .  A river watering the garden flowed from Eden . . . .”  The ‘Garden of Eden’ story also appears in other early literature including Hesiod, “The fruitful earth unforced bare them fruit abundantly . . .” and in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, “The earth itself, without any compulsion, untouched by the hoe, unfurrowed by any share, produced all things spontaneously . . . .”

This theme of an abundant land continues in both ancient literature and modern literature, fiction and historical.  In the Old Testament Book of Exodus 3:17, “I have promised to bring you . . . into a land flowing with milk and honey.”    Travel to the Americas often evokes Eden themes.  Christopher Columbus, in his letters describing the lands he has discovered used the garden imagery as follows, “. . . very lofty mountains, beyond comparison . . . all are most beautiful, of a thousand shapes . . . filled with trees of a thousand kinds and tall, and they seem to touch the sky.  And I am told that they never lose their foliage . . . some were flowering, some bearing fruit . . . And the nightingale was singing and other birds of a thousand kinds . . . and there are large tracts of cultivatable lands, there is honey. . . .  Espanola is a marvel.” 

The Eden theme is recurrent in more recent literature as well.  Perkins in her novel, Herland, describes the trees in the forest as, “food-bearing, practically all of them . . . .  The rest, splendid hardwood” (14). Bellamy’s Looking Backward, although an urban setting in Boston, incorporates elements of a beautiful world in his description of the new Boston.  He writes, “Miles of broad streets, shaded by trees . . . large open squares filled with trees along which statues glistened and fountains flashed . . . architectural grandeur unparalleled . . . . (25).   In Ecotopia, Callenbach continues the Eden theme with his statement, “Ecotopians eat better food than any nation on earth . . . .” (21).

The Exodus story and the writings of Columbus share the motif of a travel narrative and Herland and Looking Backward share a motif of travel through time.  This idea of traveling through time or space or both is a frequent shared concept in utopian literature that is an element of reaching the Promised Land.

Another element that frequently accompanies the faith in the Promised Land is the belief in a higher order of humanity that will occupy the land.  In the early Christian community the believers lived as in a commune, “selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as had need” (Acts 2:45).  This commune concept was at first copied by the Pilgrims. Bellamy writes of “the rise of the race to a new plane of existence . . . .” (106). The travelers in Herland note that, “Here was evidently a people highly skilled, efficient, caring for their country . . . .” (18).  This higher order of humanity leads utopian authors to the conclusion that equal compensation for all is a possibility because with a higher order of altruistic men, all will work equally ‘because he is a citizen’ and is thereby sufficiently committed to the society that he do his fair share of the work.

This altruistic view of mankind has almost always been unrealized in the actual application of utopian ideals in historical communes.  As has been discussed in class during presentations of historical utopian communities, actual utopian communities usually fail or adapt to the reality that there is a genuine shortage of these ideal altruistic men.

The integration of utopian and religious thought and its influence upon society can be demonstrated by tracing one concept as an example.  In the New Testament Book of Matthew 5:14, we read, “You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hid.”  John Winthrop used this scripture in 1630 in a sermon to the Puritans describing the utopia he believed that Boston could become.  Numerous politicians have referenced this sermon, and the phrase “A city set on a hill” has particularly been referenced by President Reagan in several of his most important addresses in which he was stressing the point that the United States can be the type of country that will be emulated by others, a type of utopia.  This theme has been reinforced again in Toni Morrison’s Paradise.

A critical analysis of Paradise by Ann Maria Fraile-Marcos stresses that the all black town of Ruby is built as a mirror that both reproduces and inverts the ideals that have been identified as “American,” particularly those ideals that were established by the New England Puritans and now are perceived as part of the American identity, literature and culture.  Marcos, in particular, references the Winthrop sermon and the “City on the Hill” allusions.

This “City on a hill” example demonstrates how completely utopian and religious concepts have been infused into the fabric that constitutes American culture.  Political writing, fiction, history, travel narratives, science fiction and other elements of literature have all incorporated aspects of utopian and religious literature.  It has been instructive to study the characteristics of utopian literature as a means to trace the veins of these concepts through the culture.

Topic B2 Millennialism (the following essay continues the theme of the essay above)

Millennialism Themes in Utopian and Religious Literature

Another element common to both religious and utopian literature is the theme of millennialism, a narrative that usually incorporates an apocalyptic event, or at least an event that precedes the ushering in of a new age.  The New Testament Bible of the Christian faith contains the apocalyptic narrative that most dominates western civilization.  It begins in the Book of Matthew where Jesus appears to predict that his second coming will occur sometime during the first century.  In Matthew 16:28, Jesus is quoted as saying, “. . . there shall be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”   The New Testament Book of Revelation written by the apostle John is the Christian apocalyptic narrative.  In Rev 21:1 he writes, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.”

This theme of the second coming of Jesus and a new millennialism has dominated religious writing through the ages and is a prominent part of utopian literature.  The Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, and Seventh-Day Adventists have particularly stressed the theme of the apocalypse and the new millennium.  Donny Leveston in his class presentation on the Mormons made the point that the Mormon Church began in an “apocalyptic era.”  Joseph Smith, in 1835, announced that Jesus would reappear in 1891.  More recent Mormon predictions date the beginning of the new millennium as the year 2000.  William Miller, founder of a prominent end-times movement, predicted the Second Coming would occur in 1844.   The name of the Seventh Day Adventist church evokes their belief in the imminent Second Coming.  This church evolved from the Millerites and has made many predictions of the end time. The Jehovah’s Witnesses settled on 1914.  In 1143, St Malachy prophesied that there would be 112 more popes, and the current Pope Benedict is the 111^th.  Even Sir Issac Newton, father of modern physics participated in this activity and predicted the world would end in 2060.  The current favorite date for the beginning of the new millennium is 2012.

A new millennium is also a topic frequently referenced in utopian literature.  In Looking Backward, Bellamy writes, “Only a century has passed . . . but many a millennium in the world’s history has seen changes less extraordinary (26).  Later in the text, in chapter 26, Mr. Barton preaches a sermon resplendent in millennium references.  He preaches, “The enfranchisement of humanity . . . may be regarded as a species of second birth of the race . . . the return of man to God . . . the heavens are before it” (190-91).  In Herland, Gilman dates her story as having a history of about two thousand years (55).

Possibly one of the best examples of incorporating millennium imagery in literature is Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I have a Dream” speech in Washington in 1963.  Like the Second Coming of Christ, there is a day of fulfillment anticipated.  It is a dream that is rooted in the American dream, and it is altruistic, “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed . . . .  I have a dream . . . the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”

In his 2005 Millennium essay, Robert Ausmus writes, “millennialism transforms utopian works and movements.  Plots are transformed, characters come to life, and readers and observers become more aware and involved in these processes.  A result is that literary works and historical movements become more sophisticated and relevant.  An advantage of millennialism is that it gives a venue for discussing issues as opposed to just learning about them.”

I did not anticipate when I began this study of utopian literature that I would identify the significant impact utopian literature has had upon our society.  Utopian literature has impacted laws and legislation, widespread opinion on matters of public concern, other genres of literature and has been a significant voice in the literature of ideas.  My view of this genre has been changed substantially because of this study.

Work Cited

Bellamy, Edward.  Looking Backward. 2000-1887.  New York:  Signet Classic,

            2000.

“A Brief History of the Apocalypse.”  22 June 2003.  23 June 2007.

            < http://www.abhota.info/end1.htm>

Columbus, Christopher.  “From Letter to Luis de Santangel Regarding the First

            Voyage.”  The Norton Anthology of American Literature.  Nina Baym, ed.

            New York:  W. W. Norton, 2003. pp. 26-27.

Euchner, Charles C. and Fowler, William M.  “Embracing that ‘City Upon a Hill.”

            Rpt from Boston Globe, 4 September 2002.  30 June 2007<http://www.

            ksg.harvard.edu/opeds/2002/city_hill_euchner_bg_090402.htm>

Fraile-Marcos, Ana Maria.  “Hybridizing the “City upon a Hill” in Toni Morrison’s

            Paradise.”  MELUS (Winter 2003).  30 June 2007

            <http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2278/is_4_28/ai_n6129662>

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

King, Martin Luther.  “Selections from Martin Luther Kings’s “I have a Dream

            Speech” at the March on Washington.”  28 August 1963.  21 June 2007

            <http://coursite.uhcl.edu/HSH/Whitec/LITR/5737/research/kingdream5737.

            htm>

More, Sir Thomas.  Utopia.  Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications, 1997.

Rand, Ayn.  Anthem.  New York: Signet, 1995.

“Saturn’s Golden Age.”  29 May 2007<http://www.varchive.org/itb/goldage.htm>