LITR 5737: Literary & Historical Utopias
Midterm Submission 2005

Devon Kitch

We and I in Utopia

Arriving at, or embarking toward, Utopia, is essentially an idealistic fantasy that can neither be wholly achieved in practice nor will it reach the state of perfection that lies within the mind or our literary texts.  However pure its intentions, an entirely Utopian community involves extensive cooperation that people have not been trained or accustomed to giving.  Each individual, regardless of their seemingly self-less and understanding nature within the group, has their own special view of what Utopia should amount to be.  Thus, each individual will strive toward this personal Utopia, making decisions and contributions that reflect their own goals rather than the collective goals of the group.  The Utopias we have seen in Herland, Looking Backward, and Anthem, as well as the presentations about the Oneida community, Latter Day Saints, and Dancing Rabbit provide a broad spectrum of ideas, both literary and historical, on which we can begin our search for Utopia.

It is within the human nature, especially in America, that we find a desire to push forward, to strive for excellence, and to live the best life that we can.  These are ideals that have not fit into the literary representations of Utopia.  In a Utopia, you work together, you think in “we” rather than “I”.  You don’t desire Gucci shoes and Prada perfume.  You desire a roof over your head and food on the table.  In reference to objective 3d, how can we possibly form a unifying Utopian concept in a country with such extreme diversity?  Perhaps we originally began as the Utopia of a few men and women. Perhaps the founding fathers believed they had created a Utopia in their land of the free and home of the brave.  Perhaps, like in Anthem, we have destroyed the Utopia and created a counter-utopia.    

With this comes the insatiable desire to live in a community without crime, without pain and suffering, and without greed, a community in which our children can safely play and our windows and doors remain unlocked.  We do not realize that these desires are some of the main components for Utopia.  However unattainable, Utopia is an ideal, like the ideal condition of perfect harmony and peace that is nirvana.  We wish for it, but we do not wish to make the drastic changes necessary to reach it. 

Looking Backward suggests that large-scale, worldwide social reform is the key to reaching Utopia.  The people are free to live as they choose, purchase what they want, and choose their vocations; however, they must choose to live within certain boundaries, shop in stores that sell identical merchandise, and hope that their desired vocation needs additional employees.  These things are tolerated in exchange for guaranteed wages and a comfortable way of life but they ultimately discourage individuality.  In fact, the individual becomes the sole property of the government, “When the nation became the sole employer, all citizens, by virtue of their citizenship, became employees, to be distributed according to the needs of industry” (57).  This rationale dissolves unemployment issues and creates more desirable working conditions, perhaps just in Bellamy’s mind, but no man is inclined to be the property of any government.  Through this Utopian world the individual is lost, trading their freedom of choice for stability. 

Bellamy’s ideas seem to effectively address many obstacles that are common to the Utopian society, but he fails to detail the ways in which man’s stubborn independence was forced from him.  The concept of the “we” government and the “we”-centered individual is common in Utopian novels, but they never detail the process of reaching a “we” consensus.  Bellamy also fails to give us the key to a “we” society, leaving us on the outside of his perfect community.  He gives the impression that the transition to a community centered society was not easy, but neither did it encounter a harsh opposition, as if they merely phased out the capitalists and brought in the socialists.  Out with one political party and in with another.  In one quick motion men are healed of their selfish desire for capital.  The doctors are happy to be equal to the waiters, and the women are satisfied with wearing the same clothes as their neighbor.  Human nature, the “I want, I need” is immediately shifted to “We want, we need”; in fact, they almost entirely eliminated “want”.

Gilman’s Herland gives us a Utopia that was drastically forced into existence by the loss of the males and a strong desire to live.  They too have adopted the “we” mentality, but on a smaller scale.  They are geographically confined to a small space that is estranged from the outside world, creating the need for a community minded existence.  If they are to survive they must work together as one big family for the greater good of the group.  Like Looking Backward, competition is eliminated by this “we” concept of striving for the success and survival of the group. In Herland, this is made easier by the absence of males, or the absence of sexuality, but largely by the fact that outsiders remain outside of their community.  They are able to maintain their identity because new ideas and customs are not being introduced.  Likewise, the Japanese would not be obsessed with Western culture if there was no western culture to be obsessed with.  Gilman begins with a relatively small society in hopes that her ideas can slowly be fused into the rest of the population.  Herland becomes the more successful representation of Utopia because it does not have to change people’s cultures and identities.  Bellamy’s major fault lies in the fact that he does not account for the immense number of cultures that make up our country or world, rather, he forces everyone into uniformity.  Herland’s success lies in the following statement:

“If I feared at first the effects of a too intensive system of culture, that fear was dissipated by seeing the long sunny days of pure physical merriment and natural sleep in which these babies passed their first years.  They never knew they were being educated.  They did not dream that in the association of hilarious experiment and achievement they were laying the foundation for that close beautiful group feeling into which they grew so firmly within the years.  This was education for citizenship” (109).

The citizens of Herland were raised collectively, to think collectively, and to live collectively.  They only know what has been taught to them, that the wellbeing of the group is of the most importance.  Though the women of Herland possess the “we” complex, it is not so stifling as the “we” of Looking Backward and the “we” that will be seen in Anthem.  Herland is still far-fetched, it is a more comfortable fit than Looking Backward. 

            Rand’s Anthem is an astounding rebuttal to the idea of Utopia, invoking the idea that what may seem a Utopia to one individual may not be so for others.  Prometheus is a true individual, a spirit that can not be stifled and conformed by society.  He could not be beaten into submission, for his thirst for knowledge was insatiable.  He is the reason why Bellamy’s Utopia could never exist.  There will always be one man or woman who does not buy into the sales pitch and who cannot be forced to submit.  Anthem is a fair representation of a Utopia that has given too much power to the few, resulting in a government whose decisions may not be questioned and an individual that does not exist.  The “we” concept for a single individual is at its strongest in Anthem, for Prometheus refers to himself as “we” and “our”.  The group mentality has been driven so far into the minds of the citizens that the word “I” does not exist.  The people in society do what they are told, when they are told, and how they are told; free will is lost.  Ironically, Prometheus escapes into the forest with the Golden One, seemingly to create another Utopia, one without the faults of the latter.  However, his newly realized egotism hints at his desire for power, “And the day will come when I shall break all the chains of the earth, and raze the cities of the enslaved, and my home will become the capital of  a world where each man will be free to exist for his own sake” (104).  Prometheus places himself as the center of this new community with his home being the capital and he being the “king” the “savior” who will deliver the others from their stifling lives.

            Anthem is an effective counter-Utopia because it completely rejects the ideas of sameness and community that are inherent to the other Utopian novels.  She challenges the view that men and women must be told what to say, do, and feel, so that society can prosper.  Bellamy’s Utopia could likely transform into a counter-utopia, the pieces are in place and need only to be moved by one person to create a social upheaval.  As we have seen in our historical presentations, the idea of Utopia works better on paper than in practice, though it does, in some ways, work. 

            To continue the idea of the “we” in Utopian societies, the Oneida community focused on the collective needs of the group rather than the individual.  Their practices were Utopian in their own minds, but may have appeared strange and rigid to those outside of the group.  The success of their Utopia may be largely attributed to their leader, since they dwindled in numbers once he was gone.  It seems that their core strength was fragile as the group was not strong enough to stand alone without a leader; their success depended on having someone enforce their way of life, to tell them how to live and give them structure.  They shared money, housing, and partners, but where not allowed to form emotional attachments from sexual relationships.  Their idea of Utopia greatly differs from the sense of community inherent to Herland and Looking Backward.  These cultures wanted to focus on the morality and benefit to society that each individual posed, whereas the Oneida community seemed to be ruled by the whims of one man, for the greater benefit of one man.   

            In contrast, the Latter Day Saints have managed to evolve from a sort of Utopian beginning, into one of the country’s most widely spread religions.  Their culture was based on their beliefs and continues to focus on them.  The Mormons have faced their own tribulations and questions from outsiders but they have evolved to meet the needs of their people.  They do not live together in a perfect little Utopian community, but each individual tries to instill their values wherever they happen to go.  This helps bring a little bit of Utopia to the masses, rather than keeping themselves locked in a small community.

            Dancing Rabbit is more of an environmentally aware ecotopia that challenges its inhabitants to abide by the laws of nature.  The community only uses products that are biodegradable and can return to the ground when their necessity has passed.  They are not driven by similar religious ideals, rather, their Utopia is inspired by a desire to preserve the earth.  They are united by this belief that people should strive to live in harmony with earth and its natural resources.  The inhabitants of Dancing Rabbit build houses of plaster and hay bales, recycle human waste into fertilizer, grow organic fruits and vegetables, and use a community kitchen and car.  They work together as a group in all their endeavors, but all of their money is not community money.  Dancing Rabbit seems to be a modern-day Utopia, a group of people who, however small, desires to make a difference in their surroundings.  They do not stifle the individual or wear a uniform.  The merely try to do what they can with what they have.  Perhaps the only way to reach Utopia is to find a few friends who share your beliefs and build your own community.  Utopia’s must allow for the differences in each individual.  In fact, for Utopia to even slightly work, there would probably have to be one state for each idealistic belief and religion in the country, then you’d be forced to move to the state that represents your belief.  It’s ridiculous, but our country that boasts its freedom and independence from all corners of the world would never settle on one way of life and one belief system.  The fire in the melting pot would have to be extremely hot.   

            In reference to Objective three, Utopia is a wonderful idea that invokes images of nature, harmony, and peace; however, it has never been truly achieved and maintained in practice.  The communities that began as Utopias, continue to exist in name only, having long ago tossed aside their practices and belief systems due to laziness or the group’s need to evolve.  The Latter Day Saints however strong their beliefs and however strong their numbers do not live in a Utopian community, and cannot be counted as so.  The novels we have read paint opposing views of Utopia, the beautiful and the horrid seem to co-exist.  Where there exists a Utopia, there exists one aberrant individual, one opposing spirit that will struggle against the culture that birthed it.  Even the women of Herland could not completely dissolve the undesirable characteristics from each member of its society.  And, if it cannot be completely achieved in fiction, it can neither be completely achieved in the real world.  As history would suggest, the Utopian communities struggle for survival and usually dissolve; however, the most important thing we can learn from history is that, despite the vast number of failures, people have never stopped trying.  They don’t stop trying because Utopia is an idealistic fantasy that lies within their minds and must be attempted by that individual.  Utopia has never been wholly reached, but what seemed to be science fiction a hundred years ago, has already come to pass.  Who am I to say that utopian ideas will not spread and become a standard way of living?