Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward

For someone or something to make a lifelong home on the National Mall property, one must make a lasting mark on American freedom and democracy. It takes recognition from many and the contributions must be lasting, and many Americans both past and present have worthy cases to have monuments built to preserve the lasting effects of their work in America. One individual; however, has a strong case for himself to be known and remembered as a true worker for the American people. Novelist Edward Bellamy, famous for late 19th century novel Looking Backward, is a true example of a man who was concerned with the well-being of America and determined to find ways to improve the nation. Unique in many ways, he sought for change through his writings which …show more content…
252). Living in the time when the working class, which was usually living in poverty, life for people working in the “industrial army” was far from perfect. Self-identified as a National Socialist, Bellamy believed in the ideas of “avoiding violence, sharing of business, and well-ordered military” (Thomas, p. 243). Bellamy’s main opposition came against Capitalism, which he voiced his displeasure for the system numerous times over history. “Capitalism, he argued, promotes four different kinds of waste: the waste of competition and duplication, the waste of misdirected undertakings, the waste of periodic gluts and panics; and finally, the tragic waste of idle labor” (Thomas, p. 258). This last quote from Alternative America highlights Bellamy’s dislikes for American society during the late 19th century and his goals are to fix these “wastes”, particularly through his writings. The question now becomes, how does someone who identified as a National Socialist and oppressor of Capitalism be worthy of making their presence on the National …show more content…
In short, the book is based around Julian West, who is a “wealthy and privileged Brahmin, engrossed in his personal affairs and prisoner of his own selfishness” (Thomas, p. 238). In a turn of events, West falls asleep and wakes up in a utopian surrounding in the year 2000.
“The exhalation of the utopian prospect and the strange sense of ventilation and spaciousness immediately affect his mood” (Thomas, p. 239). Over the course of the novel, West explores the new world he awoke to, ultimately getting an education in Nationalism from his mentor Doctor Leete “through low-keyed lectures, parables, and homilies” (Thomas, p. 240). He sees a society that focuses more on the group, rather than the individual, and in the end Julian West seeks redemption from his previous wrong doings in his