An Intense Analysis of Flatland
Abbott’s Flatlandis actually two books put together. On one side it is a book about mathematics, angle measures, point of view, etc. This type of information is 100% accurate and well thought out. It is the material that makes this book an appropriate one for a Geometry course. On the other hand, it is a book about social ideals. This is the side that I will focus on in this paper.
I see many parallels between Flatland and Orwell’s 1984. For example, there is a strict class system in each book. In 1984 there is an inner party and an outer party. The inner party’s sole goal is to keep the outer party from reaching power. It is said that once you are born into a class you have that class for life, and so will generations after you. Flatland is similar although different in a few key areas. The number of sides you have in Flatland determines your social status. The more sides you have, the closer you becomes to a circle, and therefore, perfection. Once you are born, your number of sides cannot change (although their relative lengths can). It is possible, however, though “a series of carefully arranged intermarriages” and “continued exercise of frugality and self-control on the part of would-be ancestors” (21-22), to ensure that your children and your children’s children will gradually increase in sides. So as you can see Orwell’s vision is slightly different. A Flatlander always has hope, and always has hope and a reason to survive.
In an attempt to keep their gene pool clean, Flatlanders are constantly exterminating those who are born with imperfect angles and sides, what a student of geometry would call an irregular figure. If these misshapen creations were allowed to spawn, they would gradually weaken the perfection of the community. In fact, the toleration of irregularity is incompatible with the safety of” Flatland (42). It would spread to equilateral triangles (the most ideal type), then to squares (as is our narrator), then to pentagons, hexagons, etc., all the way up to circles. If there were no more “perfect” circles (more on this topic later), then the very system of leadership in Flatland would crumble. Since personal recognition in Flatland is based upon the sight of shadows based upon angles (and, if necessary, the occasional feeling), an irregular population means people could not tell who is who. That is why the children are exterminated.
Now we come to the topic of “perfect” circles. As we learn in math class, as the number of sides increase, figures more and more resemble circles with the same radius. It would be difficult to tell the difference between a 1,000 sided figure (try drawing this…I’ll wait) and a perfect circle like the kind drawn by a compass. For this reason, we can reasonably say that a 1000-gon is a circle, and that drawing a difference between them is meaningless. That is what happens in Flatland. The circles are not what we call perfect circles. They are many sided figures, maybe more than a 1000-gon. This shows that they are not perfect, and shouldn’t be “the chief object of universal homage” (59).
One of the great parallels between the world of Flatland and our world is in the concept of colors. Colors are used in a way that makes them similar to our telephones and internet of today. Allow me to explain. Colors in Flatland are what allow people to express themselves. People could be viewed as just that – individual people. It is this freedom of expression that worries the people in power in Flatland. If people have the ability to express themselves then maybe they could see that they were being oppressed, which would result in “the gradual demoralization of the Circles themselves” (49). When people are allowed to communicate like that the spread of ideas is fast and efficient. The Universal Color Bill solved that problem in Flatland. In just the same way, some people in the world today see the need to censor the Internet to stop this exchange of thoughts.
Allow me the honor of summarizing this book for you. Book one, “This World”, is for the most part a plot-free explanation of the world of Flatland (which we can infer since most chapters begin with “Of…”). This is the part that I enjoyed most. We learn about the nature of Flatland (two-dimensional), the way people live (monotonously), the role of women (procreation machines), irregularity (see above), painting (see directly above), and the nature of priests and circles (see WAY above). This part of the book required occasional pauses for thought because we are so unaccustomed to thinking in two dimensions (or at least I am). Book two, “Other Worlds”shows us Lineland, Spaceland, and a “Pointland”, where each point believes he is the center of the universe. After the Sphere shows the Square Spaceland, the Square tries to explain it to his hexagonal grandchildren. No one believes him. He tries for years to explain his case, but he cannot find a way to explain “upward, not northward” (108). He is put into a mental institution, not unlike Orwell’s Winston Smith who is though to be insane by the end of 1984.
I enjoyed this book very much, and read it overnight. It is very interesting to explore a world that almost defies our logic. I tried to put myself into the position of a Flatlander, but found it difficult. Their two-dimensions were stifling to me, like I was crawling on the floor of a room with a two foot ceiling.
I feel the author has a very good writing style and exercises a terrific word choice. His use of women in Flatland as a representation of the proletariat in our world is intriguing. As the front cover of the book explains, having both a math and English background help Abbott to craft an excellent story.