looking backward writing style Flashcards
Allegory
Allegory
One of the most famous elements of Looking Backward is the coach allegory in the first chapter. In an allegory, the writer tells a story, or parable, in which the people, things, or events described have a different meaning; that is, they are symbolic of the lesson or explanation the writer is giving. Bellamy compares the society of the nineteenth century to the image of a “prodigious coach” to which the masses are harnessed and driven by hunger, while the elite sit on top trying not to fall off and lose status.
Diction
Diction
Bellamy’s diction—that is to say, his manner of writing and of the speech of his characters—is nineteenth-century prim and effusive. His book on the year 2000 might still be read as widely as George Orwell’s 1984 if its language were easier for a modern audience to read. Other notable writers of Bellamy’s time largely used ordinary language, but perhaps Bellamy’s proper New England upbringing was too deeply imbedded in his manner of speaking for him to make the transition. It is ironic that a writer who wanted to save the masses could not write in the language they used.
Didacticism
Didacticism
Bellamy’s style is didactic, in that Looking Backward was intended to be morally instructive. Although the reforms that led to his utopian society were in government and industry, it is obvious that Bellamy believed that the elimination of poverty and greed would result in a completely moral and humanitarian society. Dr. Leete tells Julian West, “The only coin current is the image of God, and that is good for all we have.” In effect, then, Bellamy was telling people that they needed to live a morally sensitive life such as the one he described, and that his proposed reforms were a means to achieve this heaven on earth.
Genre
Genre
Looking Backward is a utopian novel. The first and perhaps greatest example of utopian literature is Plato’s Republic. The term utopian, however, originated in 1516 with Sir Thomas More’s book Utopia, which is about an imaginary place with an ideal political state and way of life. Since then, all such books have been called “utopian,” and most use the structure of an adventurous traveler finding some remote country. The fact that there have been many different versions of utopia illustrates that one person’s concept of paradise is not necessarily synonymous with that of another person. Further examples include: New Atlantis, Francis Bacon, 1627; News from Nowhere, William Morris, 1891; and Lost Horizon, James Hilton, 1934.
Point of VIEW
Point of View
Bellamy uses a first person point of view in Looking Backward so that the narration will seem more like a real story being told by someone who lived through the experience. Since Bellamy was espousing his own views on socio-economic issues, it was probably also easier for him to use “I” because the message of the story was coming from him, not the character.
Setting
Setting
Bellamy sets Looking Backward in Boston, but a Boston one would find hard to recognize because it is the city as Bellamy imagined it in the year 2000. Therefore, although the reader is given a recognizable name and a few familiar landmarks, the setting is a city of Bellamy’s own creation. It includes magnificent public buildings, covered sidewalks during inclement weather, virtually no crime, and no chimneys. Material prosperity was evident because Bellamy needed to show the success that nationalism would bring.
