Flatland
Edwin A. Abbott starts his book Flatland with a very dry description of the figures in Flatland. This sets the reader up for the rest of the book, and quite simply, the rules of this foreign planet. The book is set in a world of only two dimensions, a flat land in you will. All shapes are seen as straight lines, this hardship is explained further in the later parts of the novel. Houses are next to be explained simply a pentagon with two doors. One door for men, and one for women. The flatland caste system is based on regularity and number of sides. The lowest of the inhabitants of flatland are the women. Mere straight lines, of up to a foot in length. Soldiers and the working class follow next as acute isosceles triangles. The Middle class being equilateral triangles. Professional men and Gentlemen are squares or pentagons, and so forth. Here also, the genetic rules of flatland come into play, and define how a family can progress to the top of the social structure. In so few words, after progressing to the working class, each successive child will have one more side than the father. These rules, however basic will control the rest of the novel; a civilization of geometry.
way this story is written, is how it uses geometry to symbolize things much bigger, and more historic. With out a doubt, the most important uses of symbolism can been seen in the beginning of the novel, with the definition and structure of the mathematical social society. Cripples and for the most part anyone different from the norm is not accepted by society. Such is also the case in flatland. Irregular figures are separated from the general public. They are assigned to governmental positions, and they are housed in government buildings. While the situation in our society is not quite so extreme, it is obvious that people that can be easily distinguished from the norm are discriminated against. This is, however, more acceptable practice in Flatland, due to identification of flatlanders. As colors became popular, the inhabitants of Flatland became rebellious, and no longer wanted anyone to be color less. This, however, also served a function in flatland. The method of reproduction, and knowing which direction someone was traveling was dependent on where their rear was. So, the color revolution suggested that the back of all shapes be painted for better recognition. As with all fads, though, color died. Soldiers and the lowest working class are very distinct. This is continuous with third world countries, and most places around the globe that are less a
Some common words found in the essay are:
Professional Gentlemen, Edwin Abbott, East West, 4th dimension, women priests, inhabitants flatland, 3rd dimension, straight lines, raised book, lower classes,
Approximate Word count = 931
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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