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A Window into Thinking During The Gilded Age in the Book Looking Backwards by Edward Bellamy

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In the latter chapters, Julian gains a love interest. He falls in love with Edith Leete, the daughter, who turns out to be Edith Bartlet's great-granddaughter. Edith Bartlet was his former fiancèe. In the 19th century, anarchism was a growing movement that scared many people including Julian. Dr. Leete describes how it was in fact the wealthiest who funded them, so people would be afraid of reform. However, this was not enough because social change was not instigated by labor or political parties but by the vow by mankind to persevere and conquer the old order and usher in the new. Mr. Bellamy contrasts the anarchist and socialist movements in order posit the latter in a more favorable light. An important issue resolved the …show more content…

They both profess their love for each other which consoles Mr. West, but that night he encounters an eery dream. It is about him waking up in back where he was at the beginning of the book. He reads of all the horrors and atrocities in the newspaper and that night goes to Ms. Bartlet's parent's house for dinner. By trying to convince the wealthy folks at the table of the awfulness of today's poor and how it could be so much better, he only distresses them, and he is kicked out. In this dream, he loses all hope for humanity, but then he wakes up and realizes that the 21st century is real and where he belongs. He can be an ambassador to the past and work as an educator, giving a unique perspective of the 19th century. The Gilded Age was a time a of great prosperity but also great corruption. Many advances in technology and industry took place during the time period. The transcontinental railroad was built, the steel industry was expanded, and oil took off. These developments allowed for the US to experience an industrial revolution, but not all was well. Most of the wealth generated during this time concentrated itself into the hands a of a select few who were able to weasel their way to the top of their industry. One example is John D. Rockefeller, who with wealth adjusted for inflation, amassed a fortune of around $700 billion. The way the these men obtained their wealth was an issue for many during the

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