Edwin A. Abbott's Flatland

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Flatland, a satirical novella written by Edwin A. Abbott, attempts to show the readers the dangers of a society where social classes take over everything. Abbott shows this clearly, by setting up the people (in the book these people are shaped) to have a higher or lower social class based on how many sides they have. The goal of our main character, a square, is to educate other shapes on dimensions past theirs, otherwise known as the 3rd dimension. Flatland takes place in their world of 2 dimensions (2d) and our narrator and protagonist, the square, educates us about their world. In this dimension that they live in, these shapes have a system of ranking, similar to nobility. This ranking system isn’t something that can just be changed, however, unlike humans. …show more content…
The only way to move up this harsh social ladder is through the Law of Nature. The Law of Nature states that “a male child shall have one more side than his father, so that each generation shall rise (as a rule) one step in the scale of development and nobility. this rule applies not always to the Tradesmen, and still less often to the Soldiers, and to the workmen; who indeed can hardly be said to deserve the name of human Figures.” (Abbott 5). Here it is shown that the only way to get a higher nobility is through patience throughout your generation. It is clear that Abbott is hyperbolizing how human social classes are also incredibly hard to move up in. Abbott, by saying that sides are gained upon birth, implies that on a human social ladder, it is also incredibly hard to move up in class. The view on these shapes’ social ladders can almost be directly compared to that of a human social ladder, as both are found to be incredibly hard to move up in unless for some lucky
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