Looking backward
About this book
Bellamy's novel tells the story of a hero figure named Julian West, a young American, who towards the end of the 19th century, falls into a deep, hypnosis-induced sleep and wakes up 113 years later. He finds himself in the same location (Boston, Massachusetts), but in a totally changed world: It is the year 2000, and while he was sleeping, the United States has been transformed into a socialist utopia. The remainder of the book outlines Bellamy's thoughts about improving the future. The major themes include problems associated with capitalism, a proposed socialist solution of a nationalization of all industry, and the use of an "industrial army" to organize production and distribution, as well as how to ensure free cultural production under such conditions.
Subjects
- american fiction (fictional works by one author)
- boston (mass.), fiction
- fiction
- fiction, science fiction, general
- science fiction
- social problems
- social problems in fiction
- time travel
- time travel in fiction
- two thousand, a.d
- two thousand, a.d.
- two thousand, a.d. in fiction
- utopias
- utopias in fiction