Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward

We are told the familiar story of how elite rule decayed and a liberal society arose as a society that was individualistic, egalitarian, entrepreneurial, and voluntary, However, Appleby makes everything seem fresh and anew in these pages, as the combination of out-of-the-way stories unearthed from the autobiographies as well as Appleby's own insight puts the familiar story in a vastly different light. I was especially intrigued by an argument she made about the new careers that became available in post revolutionary America. The unprecedented reality to rise in the world brought a new kind of generalized identity in to the world. Whether they made their way in publishing, preaching, the military, art, commerce, or among any number of many different paths, their stories all took a common form: They all wrote about the anticipation of opportunity that was awakened in a society overflowing with new opportunities. people rose to these expectations early in life, often bypassing youth altogether, although they did tend to receive help from a fellow patron. More often than not, these people felt that in the end they had done it themselves, looking up at others rising in the world around them. It is because of this that they had become to think of themselves as a type, that they were the sort of person whom succeeded through hard fought personal effort, as Appleby herself states "A kind of freemasonry of the aspiring took shape," (p.127). And it was this type, that defined America starting with this

The novel depicting a negative utopia, 1984, was written in relation to the events happening in the year 1948. The Second World War and the Holocaust were major events that this audience could relate to 1984. While readers of the novel today feel that it holds little relevance to the world in the 21st century, it contains many elements that compare to 2015. 1984 shows relevance today in 2015 through the telescreens, the news, and by the rationing systems. Although 1984 had a lot of relations to the year 1948, it still has a large impact on events happening in today’s world.

George Whitefield is an individual like no other. He’s an individual who made a mark on history. He was an average person who lived to make a major difference and would be one of the most well known individuals to take part in the Evangelical Awakening of the 1700s. It was a time when you saw God’s hand in the world like never before.

The thoughts and ideology shared by the novelist suggest that the federal government was responsible for the conversion of the nation to an opulent barracks. The theories shared by Bellamy are influential since their validity seems to have been accepted by various non-economists. In a statement made by Bellamy, he claimed, “in the United States there was not, after the beginning of the last quarter of the century, any opportunity whatever for individual enterprise in any important field of industry” (Bellamy 76). Through this statement, Bellamy assessed the future possibilities that surrounded the United

Have you ever wondered what a perfect world would be like? To you it could mean no more war, no more poverty, every person of every race and gender being treated exactly the same. However, to someone else their idea of a perfect world could be the complete opposite of what you would want. In Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy, and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury the idea of a perfect world is not just an idea anymore, it becomes reality. Nevertheless, both books “perfect world” are completely different from one another. The theme of both books is to try and find that perfect world, and maintain it. While there are many may differences between the two, the underlying truth still remains the same.

Accurately established by many historians, the capitalists who shaped post-Civil War industrial America were regarded as corrupt “robber barons”. In a society in which there was a severe imbalance in the dynamics of the economy, these selfish individuals viewed this as an opportunity to advance in their financial status. Thus, they acquired fortunes for themselves while purposely overseeing the struggles of the people around them. Presented in Document A, “as liveried carriage appear; so do barefooted children”, proved to be a true description of life during the 19th century. In hopes of rebuilding America, the capitalists’ hunger for wealth only widened the gap between the rich and poor.

The end of the 1820’s marked the ending of a period in the United States that indicated a desire for harmony among Americans known as “Era of Good Feeling.” This era ended after Andrew Jackson became president. During this time period, the Industrial Revolution came to the United States as merchants and manufacturers restructured work routines, develop factories, and utilized a wide range of natural resources. Between 1820 and 1848, American society was drastically reshaped by the contrasting political and economic ideologies between various groups such as slaves, women, and the common man; however the political and economic changes did not affect all groups similarly.

The 1800s to 1820s, America was still in its growing phase; it had gained independence only 25 years prior and was already becoming a great nation filled with proud, hard working men. Arts, architecture, business, and books were all a large part of society. Eighty percent of the population was farmers and the import of slaves to America was banned. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison had each been elected as President, in a government that was beginning to build a nation. “During this decade we were once again at war with England, in the War of 1812” (Sutton, 2008). Colleges were for the privileged, “The cost of education at Harvard was $300 a year” (Sutton, 2008). Slavery was still ramped in America and women had no

The Gilded Age’s cultural and intellectual elites were faced with a more innovative world as suggested in T.J. Jackson’s No Place of Grace, they are most often not harkened to the past as much as they would rather face the settings in the future. This book regards the effects of American antimodernism and from where it grounded its roots. Specifically, its dominant form as it withdraws from an overcivilized existence in modern society and precedes to pull other intense forms of a more physical and spiritual plain from medieval or oriental cultures. Determining that antimodernist movements were in it of themselves a complex blend of protest as well as an

In Looking Backward, Bellamy outlined one proposal for protecting the freedom and welfare of all citizens through equal access to education, job opportunities, and wealth. Furthermore, he expanded the term citizen to include women and imagined a system in which men and women contribute equally to industry and home life.

The book Looking Backward was written by Edward Bellamy and published in the year 1888. Bellamy started off his career as a journalist but then married and decided to devote his efforts to writing fiction novels. Looking Backward was published and Bellamy was famous. The book stirred around the country and had people imagining a world like the one Bellamy created in his book. The idea of a utopia as the one he describes is unbelievable. His book is what people, of even now in the twenty first century, wish the world could possible be like. However, Bellamy's world of reasoning and judging of people based on the inner beliefs was not what people of then or now do. Bellamy's book showed a world of rationality being

The novel Looking Backward, written by Edward Bellamy, is about a young man, Julian West, who gets put into a hypnotic sleep in the late nineteenth century but awakens in the twenty-first century. In 2000, the year that West woke up in, the society had significantly changed from 1857 and Bellamy addresses the changes throughout the novel. Bellamy essentially created a utopian society extremely different from the society that he was in. Woman had equal rights as men. Social class did not exist. Everybody, does not matter on your occupation, received the same payment that was on credit. Fighting was not seen or heard off. William G. Sumner, an American academic, and Andrew Carnegie, an American industrialist, would both have extremely negative views about a book whose society supports equal pay and does not have a social class. William G. Sumner and Andrew Carnegie would have both opposed Looking Backward because of its unfair economic and social system.

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

Set in the late 19th and early 21th century, Looking Backwards is a utopian novel discussing the advantages of socialism, a political philosophy that many disenchanted intellectuals of the 19th century believed in. Edward Bellamy, the author, is included in that class of

Life in the 1800s has taken on an almost idealistic quality in the minds of many Americans. The images linked to this era of our history are, on the surface, pleasurable to recall: one room school houses; severe self-reliance; steam-powered railroads and individual freedom.