Flatland~Structure

Flatland, a book by Edwin Abbott, is a book written about the world of a 2D world, Flatland, and its inhabitants, the 2D shapes. Edwin had described the citizens of Flatland as having a system almost like ours, with different standings of people and the different lifestyles, how the triangles with the least sides are the poorest and should they have a square, an ordinary citizen, it would be sent away to live with other squares, where it will learn and study, away from its parents, like the poor being adopted into families like our modern society.

The book had started off with a story, with the story told an ordinary citizen of Flatland, a Square, who was visited in a dream by a 3D sphere, which convinced the Square of a 3 dimensional world called the Spaceland. The square later tried to tell all the Flatlanders about this world but to no avail. Later, the Square questioned the sphere about the possibilities of a fourth dimension, to which the Sphere angrily leaves the Square, thinking that the Square is incapable of comprehending other dimensions.

Many people after reading this will sympathise with the Square, thinking that it was outrageous for the Sphere to leave the Square after such a plausible theory, after all, Flatland was ignorant of Spaceland and its 3 Dimensional space, but that didn’t mean that Spaceland didn’t exist. Edwin had used the simple story to try and tell us that there is more to the universe than we think. He had first started with a visit from Spaceland. Due to us humans living in a 3 Dimensional world, we would believe that such a world exist and thus believe in Spaceland. We would laugh at the Flatlanders of their ignorance of Spaceland while sympathising with the Square and its valiant efforts to spread the knowledge. When the Square asks the Sphere about the existence of a fourth dimension, we realise, how like the sphere, we easily dismiss the ideas and theories.

With a book like Edwin’s, though it may be short, it managed to express his idea’s through using a simple yet relatable story. Like the Science Delusion, Flatland wants to tell the Scientists to keep an open mind, accept new ideas and not to follow the dogmas so strictly.

 

 

Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions –Connections, Challenges, Concepts, Changes.

Flatland is a satirical novel written by English school teacher Edwin A. Abbot. The author uses the setting “Flatland” to state observations about social Victorian hierarchy. The first few chapters of the book are dedicated to explaining the ways in which the world is organised, immediately creating connections with the real world.

A part of Flatland that I could personally relate to is the concept of fear of the unknown. Society is often content with the way things are and view changes to it as threats. This is evident in the book because when Square first heard of Spaceland he refused to believe in it because it opposed his beliefs and ideas. Later in the book when Square is preaching to the Circles he is thrown in prison because the Circles do not understand what he was preaching and because of that were fearful of it. The concept is extremely prevalent in real life in which people with radical new ideas that oppose social norms are often ridiculed

Flatland

and their ideas are often not considered

Although there are some concepts in the text that I personally can relate to there are also some that I do not. For example I can’t relate to the concept that men and women have different roles in society and are not equal. Perhaps it is possible that the readers in the 1800’s may have been able to connect to the ideas of social class displayed in the book, but as society today has less of a social structure and hierarchy it makes it harder for modern readers to fully relate to some of the concepts in the book.

An important concept in the book is that the reality that you perceive may not be entirely correct. In the book Square is amazed at the inability of Lineland and Pointland societies to experience his own perspective of reality, one which he believes is entirely true. Yet when he is dragged into Spaceland he has a similar lack of understanding but realises the possibility of endless dimensions. Each dimension is essentially a view of reality and the book shows how everyone completely believes in his or her view of reality even though it may not be faultless. This concept is evident in life as everyday you meet people that view the world in different ways and have conflicting ideas on the same topics.

The book has changed the way in which I perceive reality. It showed the way in different people can completely believe in their own version of reality when in truth they are only seeing a small part of the whole picture. It shows the way in which people of different cultures with differing beliefs and customs can have differing views on the same thing.

Related articles

• Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions – Connections, Challenges, Concepts, Changes. (pedrodominicfiles.wordpress.com)
• Flatland- Structure (pedrodominicfiles.wordpress.com)
• Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott – Central Ideas (pedrodominicfiles.wordpress.com)
• Flatland – Content (pedrodominicfiles.wordpress.com)
• Flatland: An extraordinary piece of Science Writing (thesciencedimension.wordpress.com)
• Regarding the structure of this 2D land. (thinkingfore.wordpress.com)