Assignment

Katie Raney

Utopian Studies: A Source for Enlightenment

Essay One

At the beginning of the semester, my understanding of utopian and dystopian literature was limited. I had read no actual utopias, and previously had a pessimistic view about actual historical utopias. However, over the weeks, I have gained insight through the readings and the class discussions. Through our studies, I have better learned to define utopias, seen advantages of studying dystopias and utopias in the classroom, learned about historical utopias, and I have seen that the quest for utopia will continue living on.

First, I have learned how better to define utopias and dystopias. Though traditionally I would have considered a utopia as a “perfect society,” after discussing the issue in-depth I see that it is not so easy to define. According to Felicia Byrd in the 2009 seminar, “The difficulty of definitions is that there are no absolutes. There is no pure example of utopia,” which I think is one of the reasons that make utopias so difficult to define. I think that I have come to embrace the idea that utopias are “experiments” aimed for perfection. Within all of the utopias we have discovered, I keep coming back to the expression “one person’s utopia is another’s dystopia.” This was evident in Herland in which Terry looked to escape the “world of perfection” at every moment he could. Even in the end of More’s Utopia, the narrator reacts to the knowledge of the Utopians in a positive way with Raphael, but secretly he admits that several laws of the people “seemed very absurd” to him (More 84). It truly seems that utopias might never be attainable simply because everyone has a different view of what a utopia should really look like. It was interesting to see how equality was an idea that the cultures seemed to value in the utopian literature; yet, within Anthem and the Giver, “equality” seemed to be the opposite of what these characters wanted.

Though difficult to define, one clear advantage for utopias as literary study has been the interest that students have expressed in it. Through hearing other teachers discuss the excitement that their students have for it and reading some of the research posts about it, I can see that just giving students something they are interested in learning about has a clear advantage to it. Within dystopias, the conflict, feelings of isolation that the protagonist has, and the abuse of authority, are all things that teenagers can relate to, making dystopias an interesting read for them.

Even though dystopias may be of a natural interest for them, I also think teaching utopias have value, as the students could be challenged to discuss if they think the utopia that they are studying really “works.” Though sometimes they are limited because they are primarily didactic, I think students would gain benefits in looking at specific ideas that different utopias hold and using their own critical thinking skills to evaluate whether or not they think they would work well in society. For example, In Looking Backwards, Julian seems to have an issue with the fact that one man may do twice as much work as another and still receive the same pay; however, Dr. Leete responds that all men are giving “their best service” (61). It would be interesting to debate matters like these in a classroom setting to see what students really think.

Though I have learned much about the literary utopias and dystopias and how to apply them within my class, I have also learned about historical utopias or dystopias. After reviewing the objectives this evening, I realize that I have learned much in regard to this aspect. First, if I had been seeing objective 3b on the first day of class, “Are utopian impulses limited to socialism and communism, or may free market capitalism also express itself in utopian terms and visions?” I am without a doubt that I would have had no real idea what it was discussing. However, not only do I know what it means, I can think of specific examples as to how it relates to some historical utopias and dystopias. For example, for the Web Review that I had in the second week of class, I was able to present over the Oneida Commune. Though this utopia did aspire to certain ideas of communism, they were also quite capitalistic, developing their own flatware company, Oneida, which is still in existence today! This was also seen in other communes where people still attempt to use free market capitalism to make gains for their commune such as seen in the Twin Oaks community and their hammocks. Though they do have communal living, they are not above using the market to make gains.

The fact that so much dystopian literature is being published, and the fact that communities like Twin Oaks still exist, demonstrates the idea that the utopian impulse has not gone extinct as objective 3c asks. If anything, in the wake of a world full of problems, the quest for perfection continues. Due to this desire, it is our responsibility to keep learning about utopias and dystopias in order to try and do our part to make society a little more utopian for everyone. 

Looking at Genre and Convention in Utopia, Herland, and Looking Backward

Essay Two

In the introduction of Herland, Ann J. Lane pens, “The society to be transformed must first be known.”  Here, she describes how one must first learn about a society in order to assess its flaws and correct them. This quote relates well when discussing works in the utopian genre and their conventions.  Objective 1b asks, “What genres join with or branch from utopia?” After reading several utopias, one genre that I cannot help but seeing is satire, a genre pointing out problems in society in order to promote change. In Thomas More’s, Utopia, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s, Herland, the authors offer their ideas for the perfect society as a way of pointing out the flaws that are found within their own modern day civilizations. These works of fiction also reinforce the idea that one of literature’s main goals is to “inform.” Through these satirical works, readers are informed about some ideals in society that should undoubtedly be changed. More desires to change ways that his British government operates, while Perkins Gilman desires to make a statement about the equality of the sexes. Also, within the utopian genre, one content convention that has stood out to me has been the individual vs. the community. Julian West from Looking Backward discovers what it is like to move from an individualistic society to a more communal world. Through this movement between worlds, he demonstrates the individual vs. the community convention.

Thomas More’s, Utopia, makes several points to inform readers about the harm that a selfish, tyrannical authority and selfish group of the citizens might inflict upon a nation. As the book opens, the book’s main speaker, Raphael, notes that the prince of a nation has either the power to give life or bring death when he pronounces, “for the springs both of good and evil flow from the prince, over a whole nation, as from a lasting fountain” (More 5). This comparison that he makes between a prince and a fountain urges rulers to make “good” decisions that will bring health to the nation. However, he is well-acquainted with the realities of the selfishness of rulers as he states that “they are generally more set on acquiring new kingdoms, right or wrong than on governing well those they possess” (5). This is emphasized even further when Raphael reports that the chief jobs of ministers to the prince are to figure our “by what art the prince’s treasures might be increased” (19). These statements illustrate More’s own desire to have a country in which the ruler would work for the good of the people rather than his own selfish desires. Yet, kings are not the only ones that are out for themselves in More’s world. He also critiques other citizens out for their own good. For example, Raphael verbalizes that “luxury likewise breaks in apace upon you, to set forward your poverty and mister; there is an excessive vanity in apparel, and great cost in diet” (10). Here we see that British citizens are indulging in luxury and vanities while neglecting the poor.

Both the selfishness of the rulers and the selfishness of the people lead Raphael to discuss a utopian society where everyone seems to be content and not purely out for their own good. Rather than having selfish motives, within Utopia, “no town desires to enlarge its bounds” and some rulers even prefer to be called “fathers” (29, 61). Even the Prince himself, chief ruler of Utopia, wishes to have no distinguishing characteristics from himself and other citizens, a principle seen when Raphael states that the Prince “has not distinction, either of garments, or of a crown” (More 61).  These Utopian rulers are seen more as equals, desiring the good of all Utopians. Not only are the rulers portrayed this way, citizens are “content… with fewer things,” because there is not “anything that can tempt a man to desire more” within Utopia (37). Instead of indulging in luxury and excess, the Utopians prefer being content with what they have.

These ideals of equality and contentment between the Utopian rulers and citizens are utilized by More to inform English citizens about the desire for wealth and power in their contemporary society, establishing it as a satire.  It seems natural that More might have some of these ideas about the political state of things within that society, especially after learning in Alicia’s web review that Henry VIII had him beheaded for saying things that did not agree with him, thus illustrating further the need for a change.

     Herland is another example of a satire that points out issues that the author’s society was facing. After hearing Nicole’s web review of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, it seems fitting that Gilman would write a book about a society of woman that were self-sufficient. After having a father who abandoned her and her mother when she was a young age, combined with going through divorce, Perkins Gilman would want challenge the societal idea that men were necessary for survival and urge women to take a stand.

Even though that may have been a standard in her “real” world, Perkins Gilman refutes the claim that men are needed in her novel. When first flying into Herland, Van remarks, “why this is a civilized country!... There must be men,” an assumption that many probably felt in her day and age (Perkins Gilman 11). Yet, we learn that the women are able to create an orderly world that is “clean” with “well-built roads” where even the “vines are trained” (11, 13). They create a society in which they have assessed what is useful for survival, and they eliminate the things that are not, such as keeping birds but having cats to “destroy mice and moles and all such enemies of the food supply” (49). The women’s clothes are designed for function, and they only use “hats for shade when working in the sun” (50). They have the strength to do rigorous outdoor work, even defeating the men visitors, and they are well-educated.  Within their society, there is no poverty, and there is no war. Interestingly, not only are the women able to do everything that the men are able to do, they are even able to complete the one task in which it seems like it would be absolutely necessary to have a man: reproduce. Yet, their ability to reproduce on their own only further reemphasizes the idea that Gilman believes women are not completely dependent on men. All of these things demonstrate how women not only survive in a society without men, but they thrive.

Furthermore, Perkins Gilman wanted to challenge women to take a stand against men which is evidenced through her work. Even the way that Herland was formed, demonstrates a possible challenge for women in that day. The women of Herland must kill “their brutal conquerors” instead of “submitting” (55). It is as if their creation story describes what Perkins Gilman desires women in her day to accomplish. Terry is even included in the story to represent that male resistance and maybe even the “brutal conqueror,” which would certainly make sense after reading the horrific rape scene in which he tries to force his own manly expectations on the women. However, even this attempt at brutality is overcome, which Perkins Gilman may be using to illustrate the idea of persevering under male persecution.

Perkins Gilman creates a utopian women society to satirize the common view in her day that men were needed; however, through showing what industrious women can do, she challenges this assertion, informing her readers that women can show fortitude and endurance to create a perfect society.

Though genre is an important thing to assess while reading utopian literature, it is also essential to pay attention to content conventions. One particular content convention that was seen in several of the novels was the idea of the individual vs. the community. From the beginning of Looking Backward, Julian portrays this idea perfectly. He opens the novel making it clear that “each class or nation lived by itself, in quarters of its own” (Bellamy 10). While he and his fiancé lived on “the top of the coach,” he could do nothing but hold grievances “against the working classes… on account of the effect their strikes [had] in postponing [his] wedded bliss” (13). Even the underground chamber that Julian builds showcases the individual, separation that the classes held in his original world. One thing that really shocked me as I was reading was how Julian told no one about the chamber except for Sawyer and Dr. Pillsbury; even Edith was unaware of it and its location. These things point to the strong individualism that was showcased in 1887; yet, when Julian plunges into the future, it is a world that is desires the welfare of everyone.

In Julian’s new reality, the individual is set aside for the good of all of humanity. As Dr. Leete explains, just being part of the human race entitles one to life. When Julian questions the idea that all men “have the same share,” Leete responds with “his humanity” as being “the basis of his claim” on his credits (60). All men are now “members of one class” enjoying the same benefits (103). They are working for the good of the whole community, and all things created are made for everyone. The metaphor of the private umbrella works very well to show the contrast between these ideas. Within Julian’s original time, “everybody lived for himself and his family… holding his umbrella over himself and his wife”; yet, in the new world, there is one umbrella covering the walkways so that people can walk through rain together without getting wet (99-100). Often within the utopias that we have read, there is a mindset of doing things as a group for the good of the whole, rather than doing things individually for the good of one’s self. 

In conclusion, satire is a specific genre that branches from the studies of utopia literature. This is evidenced in More’s Utopia and Perkins Gilman’s Herland. In addition to discussing genre, the content convention of the individual vs. the community is seen within Bellamy’s Looking Backward. Though utopian societies may be unattainable, we can certainly learn from some of their ideas in hopes of making our society a better place.

Special Interest: Literacy within Anthem, 1984, and The Giver

Essay Three

Throughout the different selections that we have read this semester, I kept noticing the common theme of education, which seems to be a special interest that I have developed and have researched throughout the course of the semester. Before the semester started, I had read a few dystopias, but I was not greatly familiar with the subject. One of the dystopias that I had read was George Orwell’s 1984. The novel opens with the main character Winston sitting in his apartment after he has just purchased a diary. Similarly, when I read Anthem, I found it interesting that this book’s opening statement is, “It is a sin to write this,” as if we pick up at the beginning of a diary or journal that the main character is keeping. Both of these things made me want to focus on the idea of reading and writing within dystopian, building on objective 5b. What does utopian / dystopian literature instruct us about education? Throughout the course, I have re-read The Giver and portions of 1984 to help me remember what those texts said about literacy. Interestingly enough, in Anthem, 1984, and The Giver, there seems to be a connection of a repression of literacy in all of these works. To explore this even further, I have been exploring how the repression of literacy leads to the decline of critical thinking. This has been a special interest for me throughout the course, even one that I developed further through my first research posting.

     In Ayn Rand’s Anthem, Equality 7-2521 discusses the lack of reading and writing that occurs within the community; yet, he is unable to stop himself from the learning process.  After discovering his underground lair, he cannot help but to begin writing. Though he knows that it is wrong, he feels the need to write. This leads him along in his process of learning. One of the first things that Equality 7-2521 decides to do after being in his lair is steal manuscripts from the Home of the Students. Two years pass by in which Equality 7-2521 is able to read freely from the manuscripts. After these two years, Equality 7-2521 declares that “in these two years we have learned more than we had learned in the ten years of the House of the Students,” illustrating the amount of learning that can take place simply through reading (Rand 36). It should also be noted that within the two years, there is no mention that the manuscripts having been stolen, demonstrating how citizens in the House of Students were neglecting the reading of these materials. In addition to this, Equality 7-2521 says that “Manuscripts are rare,” showing the lack of reading material that the citizens have.

This repression of literacy seems to result in a lack of innovation and critical thinking. For example, the citizens are stuck with outdated, archaic knowledge. Within the school system, the students learn that “the earth is flat and that the sun revolves around it,” ideas that were dismissed hundreds of years ago because of more modern innovations (23). Furthermore, the students learn “how to bleed men to cure them of all ailments,” another idea that has been refuted with medical advancements (23). Additionally, the citizens in the world of Anthem are found unable to produce new innovations in technology which is shown when Equality 7-2521 introduces their “newest” invention, found one hundred years ago: the candle (24). However, after beginning to read and write, Equality 7-2521 gains the critical thinking skills needed to begin actual productivity which is demonstrated when he is able to create electricity. Though he had natural intelligence, without reaching out to read, write, and learn on his own, he would have been stuck in his assignment of Street Sweeper for years, only doing what the Elders asked of him. This link between reading, writing, and critical thinking is also shown in the knowledge that we have of the previous civilization. It seems that in the previous time, people were well-read and also had critical thinking powers enabling them to invent modern technologies. When The Golden One and Equality first find their way into the home that they will enter and then live in, they see “rows of manuscripts, from the floor to the ceiling,” and Equality admits that they had “never…seen such a number of them” (91). This is illustrating that in one person’s house from the previous age there are a vast number of books. However, books are not the only thing that they see. They also see light bulbs, proving that this society was not primitive or stuck in their old ways. Arguably, it was their ability to read and think which led them to make such innovations.

Finally, it is through reading that Equality really discovers himself, or his ego, as Rand describes it. He records, “It was when I read the first of the books I found in my house that I saw the word ‘I.’ And when I understood this word, the book fell from my hands, and I wept…I wept in deliverance and in pity for all mankind” (98). Here readers see the value that reading has upon Equality.  Through his literacy, he is able to find knowledge and himself, and it even inspires a love for the rest of mankind.

     A similar idea is found running through Orwell’s 1984. As previously mentioned, Winston, the protagonist of Orwell’s novel is seen keeping a diary. Though he says the process is not illegal, “since there were no longer any laws,” he does state that “if detected it was reasonably certain that it would be punished by death, or at least by twenty-five years in a forced-labor camp” (Orwell 6). Winston records several things in his diary throughout the novel. One is the party motto which states, “Ignorance is strength” (26). Here we see how the Party within the novel wants to manipulate its people into remaining uneducated and ignorant about real matters. Yet, Winston continues journaling for several months, leading to a process of self-discovery. Through journaling, he is able to remember things in the past, things that the Party longs for him to forget, and over time, he even develops a plan to resist the Party and the infamous Big Brother. He acknowledges later in the novel, after getting caught, that the diary had a key role in his rebellion: “The first step had been a secret, involuntary thought; the second had been the opening of the diary. He had moved thoughts to words, and now from words to actions.” This is almost identical to Equality’s sentiments when he says, “It is a sin to think words no others think and to put them down upon a paper no others are to see” (Rand 17). Both of these quotes demonstrate the power of thinking and putting those words onto paper. Inevitably, as one begins to think and write, it seems that this will lead to action.

In The Giver, another interesting notion of literacy pops up when Jonas first enters the Receiver’s office. He enters the Giver’s office and notices some minor differences; however, he says that the most “conspicuous difference was the books” (Lowry 74). He goes on to say that within each household they only contain: “a dictionary, and the thick community volume… and the Book of Rules,” but that is it. When seeing the Giver’s books he says that he “had never known that other books existed,” and that “there must have been hundreds- perhaps thousands- of books” within the Giver’s office. Jonas and the Giver are the only two people to know about these books, and they are also the only ones that know the truth about the community. As Jonas gains more knowledge through his time with the Giver, he is able to think for himself, develop a repulsion of euthanasia and all of the rituals of the community, and eventually, get away. 

This special interest made me wonder if actual historical dystopias had repressed literacy, which led me to pursuing my first research post. In this post, I research the education system within Nazi Germany and noticed that there seemed to be a real lack of emphasizing any type of education other than physical education and a total lack of developing critical thinking skills. Through the learning done within this research post, much of the information will be beneficial when my students and I complete our “Holocaust Literature” unit.

Overall, this special interest that branched off of studying what dystopias teach about education helped me to connect the dots between repression of literacy within 1984, Anthem, and The Giver. Studying these works has given me confidence in pulling in works such as 1984 or Anthem into my classroom to show students the danger in not developing critical thinking skills.