One of the biggest issues I’m having with this novel is reconciling the concept of the utopian society Bellamy presents us with. By definition, a utopia can be described as an ideal or visionary system of political, social, or moral perfection. By its very nature, a utopia is impossibly idealistic and impractical. Because Bellamy chose to use this utopian model as a vehicle for presenting his ideas on social and economic reform, he is vulnerable to the strengths and weaknesses of the medium itself. This is the same problem that Bellamy foresaw, that his audience might not be entirely receptive to his critiques of the way they live their lives, and it is the reason why he chose to structure the novel in the way that he did. In Looking Backward, Bellamy’s voice is thinly disguised as Dr. Leete, explaining and trying to convince both Julian and the reader of the advantages of society in the year 2000.
Bellamy was aware that his audience would be shocked by some of the very radical ideas he was presenting, and did the best he could to soften the blow. In order to alleviate the harsh critiques Bellamy presents, he often notes that it was ignorance that caused such inefficient and illogical systems. Because reading and book ownership were part of the culture of the upper class, they would have been the main audience Bellamy would be writing to. Throughout the novel he continues to refer to the lower echelon of 19th century society in negative terms, highlighting their poverty and brutality, and thus appealing to his main readership of upper class society members in that they would no longer have to deal with the scum of the lower classes.
Bellamy also uses the framing of the novel to emphasize and further his argument. Julian West is transported to the 21st century via hypnosis. Although Bellamy may have chosen hypnosis simply because it was a popular phenomenon at the time, the implications of such a liminal state are interesting to explore. As we discussed in class, perhaps this method of sleep represents the mental state of mind of the general public of the 19th century as Bellamy perceives it. It is as if the people are asleep, unaware and dormant in terms of their political and social involvement and concern. He hopes that with this novel, he will reawaken them to the economic, social, and political issues and the implications they have on the future of the nation. In ending the novel with a nightmare of returning back to the 19th century, Bellamy hopes the readers will be awakened from the trance of his utopic world convinced of the social and political reforms he presented.
What kind of a utopia is Bellamy presenting? Although Bellamy goes to great lengths in his attempt to present a ‘perfect’ future in order to expose the problems of the 19th century and possibly solutions, he fails to explain how such a radical evolution would occur. What is the significance of this? Is his creation realistic? Does Bellamy himself believe it to be possible to attain such a society? How persuasive is the world he creates for both his audience of the 19th century and readers today?
