Looking Backward is a Utopian novel written by Edward Bellamy. The story is about Julian West, an American who falls into a deep hypnosis induced sleep only to wake up hundred and thirteen years later. When he wakes up, he is still in the same location but in a totally transformed world (Bellamy 11). He has also been changed into a socialist utopia. The book illustrates Bellamy’s views about changing and improving the future hence, bringing out four major themes; advantages of a socialist system, perils of the stock market, use of credit card and engaging the industrial army to curb some occurrences. In his novel, Bellamy uses the term evolution to signify major changes in technology and economy. His views on economy and technology contrast Charles Darwin’s theory: Origin of Species. In this theory Charles acknowledges the 19th Century as an economic century and extends his politico-economic views of progress to the whole realm of vegetable and animal life.
Darwin’s theory on Origin of Species is crucial in understanding Bellamy’s novel because Bellamy critiques what is expressed in Darwin’s theory. Bellamy reflects the Utopian critique of social Darwinism where he tries to come up with positive alternatives in relevance to the Capitalist ethics of greed and Darwinian struggle for survival (Bellamy 4-26). The novel reflects future America where evolutionary love will operate without struggle for materials. These products focused in the utopian imagination were ridiculed by the social Darwinists. Bellamy’s novel downplays struggle for the fittest by encouraging evolutionary love and emphasizing on the role of cooperative human culture in evolutionary development. Therefore, while Bellamy tries to come up with a better world, Cha...
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...eir male counterparts. Darwin’s theory helps us understand the manner in which women were perceived and what sort of change Bellamy proposes to change this perception. It helps us understand the benefits and drawbacks that are likely to ensue as a result of Bellamy’s perception on who women are.
Bellamy views spiritual evolution as the underlying value in bringing unity. He proposes that spiritual evolution will lead to love where one perceives his neighbor as a brother and kill the enmity brought about by unhealthy competitions. He advocates for Christian socialism through Mr. Barton’s sermon. This contradicts Darwin’s theory and which defends competition and encourages capitalism.
Bibliography
Bellamy, Edward. Looking Backward:2000-1887. New York: Random house, 1917.
Darwin, Charles. origin of Species. London: John Murray, 1989.
People have always wondered what the future will be like. Certainly Edward Bellamy did when he wrote the novel, Looking Backward (1888). Bellamy uses a man named Mr. West as the main character in this novel. He opens by telling who he is and what his social standing is. West is a young man, around the age of 30, and is fairly wealthy. At the beginning, he tells us about his fiancé, Edith, and the house he is having trouble building for her. The trouble comes from the fact that the workers keep going on strike due to financial reasons, which prolongs the completion of the house. The biggest hint to the end of the novel comes from when he tells the reader that he suffers from insomnia. West must be put to sleep through a trance in his bedroom, which is an entirely padded room in the basement of his home. When people sleep they often dream, which leads one to believe they can predict the ending of the novel.
Gamble first seeks to refute Darwinian perspectives of male superiority. In referencing the “superior degree of development” (Gamble 74) of “female in all the orders of life below mankind” (74), Gamble demonstrates an explicit understanding of Darwin’s rhetoric strategies. By countering Darwin’s argument on the same level of evolutionary science and societal class, Gamble challenges ideals on the essential characteristics of women. Gamble’s intimate understanding of Darwin’s theory sets her as an equal to Darwin. Gamble furthers this response by alluding to Darwin’s own “law of equal transmission of characters to both sexes” (76) in the development of females. Gamble’s use of Darwin’s own argument effectively bolsters her own ethos, a point critical to reaching a society still dominated by males. This parallel structure not only suggests a fallacy in Darwin’s reasoning, but one in the social dogma of male supremacy. However, it is Gamble’s novel point on highlighting those very differences that is crucial to her defense of women. Gamble cites the “distinctive characters” (77) of women including “perception and intuition” (77), along with “greater powers of endurance” (77) as unique traits of women. While aforementioned and subsequently dismissed by Darwin, Gamble’s
The world is advancing so rapidly today, it seems that it will never stop growing in knowledge and complexity. In the novel “The Time Machine” by H.G. Wells, The Time Traveler, as Wells calls him, travels hundreds of thousands of years into the future through time. He arrives at a world that, at first glimpse, is peaceful and clear of any worries. As The Time Traveler explores the world, he discovers that the human race has evolved into 2 distinct forms. Although the world appeared to be the Garden of Eden, it was, in reality, the Garden of Evil. Wells uses three aspects of the futuristic world to illustrate this: the setting, the Eloi, and the Murlocks.
The first example of the people’s unwillingness to accept new ideas, such as Darwinian theory, is towards the beginning of the book when both sides of the prosecution arrive in Hillsboro. The town is parading up and down the streets chanting, “give me that old time religion”, and “down with Darwin”. The irony of this is that none of them have read Darwin’s book, for example, when E.K. Hornbeck was talking to Eliza, the Bible salesman. Eliza said, that he, “can’t neither read nor write”, so he could not have read Darwin’s book, but yet he is calling Hornbeck a “sinner, and “evil-utionist” for believing in its ideas. None of the town’s people on Mr. Brady’s side of the trial have read, The Evolution of Species, not even Mr.Brady himself. Nevertheless, they will not accept the idea or take it into consideration. It is the town’s peopl...
The “Roaring Twenties” was a time period known for its innovation. Skirts got shorter, teens got bolder, and Prohibition was in full swing. These changes also gave way to a time period full of religious conflict. “In [religious] minds, Prohibition had always been about more than alcohol. It represented an effort to defend traditional American values against the growing influence of an urban, cosmopolitan culture” (Gillon 152). Charles Darwin had published his book, The Evolution of Species, in 1859 and The Descent of Man in 1871, detailing the evolution of man from ape-like creatures. When A Civic Biology, a biology textbook containing information on evolution, was published in 1914, teachers around the country began using it in their courses. By the twenties, these books had sparked all sorts of new ideas regarding the origin of man as well as opposition due to the creature from which he claimed we evolved and to the disagr...
In order to comprehend the present state of these two forces, it is necessary to analyze more completely the meanings of Social Darwinism and Social Welfare. Every since Charles Darwin published the Origin of the Species in 1859, social scientists have attempted to explain human behavior as a product of natural selection. In the 19th century, Social Darwinism held that history was about the "survival of the fittest" and "superior" social groups were evolutionary more fit to rule the world. Social Darwinism was at the heart of many pernicious theories of the past century, including scientific racism and eugenics (Goldfield, et al, 1998, p. 721).
In Charles Darwin’s life he had helped make a significant advancement in the way mankind viewed the world. With his observations, he played a part in shifting the model of evolution into his peers’ minds. Darwin’s theory on natural selection impacted the areas of science and religion because it questioned and challenged the Bible; and anything that challenged the Bible in Darwin’s era was sure to create contention with the church. Members of the Church took offense to Darwin’s Origins of Species because it unswervingly contradicted the teachings of the book of Genesis in the Bible. (Zhao, 2009) Natural selection changed the way people thought. Where the Bible teaches that “all organisms have been in an unchanging state since the great flood, and that everything twas molded in God’s will.” (Zhao, 2009) Darwin’s geological journey to the Galapagos Islands is where he was first able to get the observations he needed to prove how various species change over t...
Although Edward Bellamy's twentieth century society in Looking Backward appears to be the perfect utopia, it could never exist. The very factors that Bellamy claimed contributed to the society's establishment and success are, in reality, what would lead to its failure. The twentieth century society lacked the possibility for advancements in technology while at the same time lacking competition and appropriate incentives. Even if we ignore these faults, we observe that when Bellamy created his society for Looking Backward, he made several false assumptions about human behavior and failed to realize that the only way his society could be imposed would be involuntarily.
Keith Henson a writer in evolutionary psychology once said that “Evolution acts slowly. Our psychological characteristics today are those that promoted reproductive success in the ancestral environment.” Evolution was first introduced by a naturalist by the name of Charles Darwin. Darwin had written an autobiography, at the age of 50, On the Origin of Species (1859) explaining how species evolve through time by natural selection; this theory became known as Darwinism. “Verlyn Klinkenborg, who writes editorials and vignettes on science and nature for the “New York Times”” (Muller 706) questions Darwin’s theory in one of his essays he wrote called Darwin at 200: The Ongoing Force of His Unconventional Idea. Both articles talk about the theory of Darwinism, but the authors’ use different writing techniques and were written in different time periods. Darwin himself writes to inform us on what the theory is, where as Klinkenborg goes on to explain why Darwinism is just a theory. Today, evolution is still a very controversial topic among many. It comes up in several topics that are discussed everyday such as in politics, religion and education.
Darwin was a product of his time and with his time came the ideas of sexism and racism which were clearly integrated into his theories. There are some facets of Darwin’s theory about the differences in men and women which can be explained by biology but overall, it is clear that his theory is based on the sexist ideas prevalent in the 1800s. Women are expected to be caring, selfless, maternal, and submissive while men are expected to be dominant, aggressive, successful and confident. Most of Darwin’s theory relating to the differences in men and women can be explained by social expectations which have shaped what is acceptable in society.
Most people believe that Social Darwinism is a term that can only be applied to people’s race, and for most well known social Darwinism theories this is true. The basis of these theories is always revolved around the term survival of the fittest. Darwin works where to do with animals and how animal species have ada...
In the eight chapter of the Blank Slate, Pinker unveils the three misconceptions individuals tend to relate with evolutionary theory: Eugenics, Social Darwinism, and Prejudice; and how it impacts society from adolescents into adulthood. Eugenics references species biological differences can create discontent and may force individuals to enhance society via biological methods. Social Darwinism addresses how groups might differ based on socioeconomic status, achieved status, wealth is a result of natural composition and cannot be categorized as inequality or prejudice. Lastly, Prejudice which argues the rationale behind discriminating a certain group of individuals simply because they are biologically different from others. These three “evils”
Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection is viewed by many as one of the most significant and influential ideas ever conceived. However it took Darwin 20 years to publish his book ‘the origin of species’, one of the primary reasons for this was that he feared the implications his theory would have on the world. Although the theory of evolution greatly enhanced and progressed science as well as deepen human understanding of nature, it came at a cost. The theory led to the development of Social Darwinism, which further created a variety of different sociological and political ideologies. One of the most prominent of these was the idea of eugenics, which emphasized improving the genetic quality of a race through artificial selection. The eugenics
Darwin challenged the traditional ways of thinking by presenting his theory of biological evolution. Prior to the discoveries of Darwin, it was believed that every creature on earth was divinely and created specifically by God. Darwin’s theory presented that all life started from a single species. Part of this species would then randomly develop characteristics that were not found in some of the other members, and the adaptations would enable the species to survive or hinder it from surviving. Over time these changes would result in many completely different species that struggled for survival. The only creature that would survive would be the one that is most adapted via the random evolutionary changes. Changing the ways of thinking about religion, Darwin refuted the traditional thinking of religion as he provided scientific evidence stating how what many had thought to be true to actually be false. Darwin had also led to a shift in the thinking of human behavior. Darwin’s theory was later applied to the human race, as many saw competition between both countries and companies. Known as Social Darwinism, it stated that only the “fittest” would be able to survive while the others would not. Leading to an imperialist point of view, it portrayed countries that were not a European power weaker, because they were not the fittes...
One of the aspects that causes Darwin’s essay to differ from Gould’s is the targeted audience. Writing to a particular audience certainly affects the tone used in the essay. In this case, even though Darwin and Gould both claim the validity of evolution, they aim at different readers. As illustrated in “Natural Selection,” Darwin, focusing on the doubtful audience, maintains a neutral tone, and ...