In Mattapoisett, gender and ethnicity are not issues, there are no gender roles, men and women share all the work, and men are actually about to suckle the young, while women work in the fields and fight wars. Because there are no gender roles, love is shared by anyone who respect each other, in other words no one classed as homosexual or heterosexual, there are no boundaries concerning love. Mattapoisett is self-sufficient, has no excess noise, infectious diseases, or pollution, and everything is recycled. Yet, this utopian society is not the only society that exists, for the pers must deal with a dystopian society, one that Piercy uses to portray the outcome for today's society if it continues unchecked. For it will be one of waste, pollution, violence, patriarchal, and totalitarian. It is basically the negative aspects of today's society magnified. In this dystopian society, every aspect of life is controlled, just as every aspect of Connie's life is controlled in the hospital. Connie is fighting for her freedom, just as the pers are fighting for theirs.

The citizens of Mattpoisett use their energy for creating fulfilled lives. This emotional well-being is instilled in them from birth. Adults nurture and trust their children, have faith in them, thus the children grow up independent. In fact the entire village minds the young, allowing them to learn from different adults throughout their childhood. Mattapoisett is actually one huge extended family, the true communal utopia. As children become self sufficient and take on societal responsibilities, they are allowed to rename themselves if they so choose.

Piercy's novel has...

It not only depicts the good and bad of society in the future, but on deeper levels, it portrays spirituality and the human soul. Connie is a prisoner of a dispassionate society, who uses and abuses her. Her escape to Mattapoisett allows her to see what life can be like, much like people who claim to have crossed to the "other" side and experience lessons from spiritual guides who teach the true meaning of being human, and that true meaning is love. That is why Mattpoisett is a utopia, because everyone is allowed to love and respect freely with limitations.
Keith Booker points out that most dytopian and utopian literary works only give lip service to the equality of genders, and they are still places where men are men and women are women (Booker 337). Yet Piercy's work is "interesting because of its ability to maintain clear links to the tradition of feminist utopias while at the same time opening important dialogue with the masculine utopian classics and with the traditionally masculine dytopian genre" (Booker 339).

Just as Wells uses his utopian-dystopian society to comment on his present society, Piercy too uses this genre to comment on racial and sexual discrimination. Piercy's protagonist, Connie, is a Chicano-Latino, and has experienced discrimination all of her life, and being female only enhanced the prejudice. Moreover, she grew up in an era in which women had little voice, in fact it was barely a whisper. Luciente was basically Connie's alter-ego, who she dreams of being, a free human being who has choices and above all a voice.

Wells depicts a future of apathy and cannibalism, while Piercy depicts a future of distinct good and bad, and one that is not all that much different from present day, peaceful intellectuals and ignorant excess. Each author tries to send a message to the reader, and that message is one of action, to not let the status quo slide, to make a difference in issues that matter and will effect generations to come.

Works Cited

Booker, Keith M. "The Feminist Dytopias of Marge Piercy." Science Fiction

Studies. 1994. Pp. 337, 339.

Morrow, Ed. "The Man Who Dreamed the Future: The imagination, prognostications, and politics of H.G. Wells." World and I. January 01, 2004. Retrieved October 25, 2005 from HighBeam Research Library Web site.

Piercy, Marge. Woman on the Edge of Time. Fawcett. 1985.

Wells, H.G. The Time Machine. Tor Classics. 1992.