Edward Bellamy, in his novel Looking Backward: 2000-1887, intends to portray a utopian future, but instead creates a society whose citizens are oppressed by the government. Bellamy makes clear in the novel itself, as well as in both his Preface and Postscript, that he believes the society he portrays is not only achievable but desirable, and that the government he portrays is not oppressive but instead essential to the creation and maintenance of such an ideal society. However, like all utopians, Bellamy sees what he wants to see and ignores the rest. The government in his society does indeed impose an oppressive regime upon the people. This study will examine the nature of that oppression and will illustrate it with examples and their negative effects.
The essence of the government's oppression is its failure to allow the freedom of the people which is the core of a democratic government. The society of Bellamy's imagination is one in which not freedom but order is held up as the highest goal of government. Accordingly, we find the author assessing the role of government according to the order it imposes on society rather than in terms of the freedom it affords.
For example, in the realm of literature and freedom of speech, the book makes the argument that all citizens are equally free to express their views. However, this freedom is deceptive, because it is based on what is actually a system of economic reward and punishment. Publication is open to all---as long as the individual is willing to endure financial hardship, and even poverty. The risk of poverty arises because the popularity of the ideas expressed by any writer is what determines a book's success or failure (108-112). Clearly, the result is that unpopular ideas will inevitably punish the thinker economically. In addition, the society described is composed of people who would not look favorably on unpopular ideas in the first place, because such ideas would almost ...