Edward Bellamy's assumptions about human nature and society in Looking Backward

¶ … Bellamy's own assumptions or presuppositions about human nature, social institutions, history, and ideal social relationships. Analyze his assumptions in some or all of these areas."

Introduction to the Book

Looking Backward: 2000-1887 (1945/1888) by Edward Bellamy filled the empty space felt by the Americans of that era, desiring the utopian substance of society without the presence of "Associationism." Though the book is not predominantly notable as the writer's invention, it addresses the longings of the people struck by socio-economic frights and breakdown through the proposal of a Paradise-like society wherein warfare, starvation, and hatred were removed from the community. The story embodies the amazement of Julian West, a person who wakes up after sleeping for 113 years in Boston, 2000 A.D. The book revolves around the author's portrayal of a society formed after a revolution that liberated the people from the terrors of capitalism. In this idealized version of the future, individuals and nations had abandoned the separate groupings and wishes of the former frenzied era in order to establish a communitarian utopia characterized by a singular party for the nation.

Analysis of Edward Bellamy's assumptions through his work

Edward Bellamy's perception of the equilibrium between individuality and community is apparently ambiguous. The ideals of proliferated and centralized warehouses, public kitchens and communal laundries offer substantial remembrance of Bellamy's socialistic presuppositions that allow the autonomy to benefit from private empowerment on individual basis.

On the other hand, individuals were secluded and observed by an ingenious and concealed mechanism of the government. Edward Bellamy confirmed the power of controlled observation presented by the mechanism to note the actions and activities of people when he stated, "it is easier for a general up in a balloon, with perfect survey of the field, to maneuver a million men to victory than for a sergeant to manage a platoon in a thicket." (Bellamy, 1945, p.181).

For instance, the currency that was privately apprehended was substituted by the governmental credit card. This way, each transaction was added up next to an allowance agreed upon in public. Consequently, there was a constant consciousness of the relationship between the individuals and the state. This portrayed Bellamy's ideology on social relationships and human nature.

A second case in point offered by Bellamy that shows his presumptions on social institutions and ideal social relationships is his description of the common dining house:

Going up a grand staircase we walked some distance along a broad corridor with many doors opening upon it. At one of these, which bore my host's name, we turned in, and I found myself in an elegant dining-room containing a table for four. Windows opened on a courtyard where a fountain played to a great height, and music made the air electric." (Bellamy, 1945, p. 151)

Every room in Looking Backward symbolizes an area that is equipped and made orderly by the government for the inhabitants. Bellamy's suppositions of a totally balanced society can be realized from the fact that every individual family was classified and quantified by numbers in his utopia. Every action and practice was recognized and noted by the state through an incessant look-out (Abrash, 1991).

Nevertheless, Edward Bellamy's presumptions fell short of a thoughtful analysis. In his liberation of individuals and safeguarding of human rights, Bellamy lost his grip on the basic element of collectivism in his utopian collectivist community. It is apparent that Bellamy's fabricated society rests upon an institution of isolated individuals, since less is told on the practical working and functioning of the society. An example of this is the telecommunication system setup in Bellamy's world that destabilized and weakened social interaction. Seemingly, hardly any one used to go to concerts and very few people went to churches as the purpose was served through telephonic, counseling, sermons and entertainment (Abrash, 1991).

Conclusion

The governmental system in Bellamy's collectivist presupposition is neither lenient nor oppressive. Its social system is neither authoritarian nor autonomous. What stays behind by means of administrative services is decision making and its execution, which is a technical exercise (Rhodes, 1967, p. 40).