Late 1800s Circumstances Affecting the Presence of Race, Gender, and Class
While Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward may have displayed progressive views in terms of economics and social class, there is an evident lack of representation in regards to gender and race. It is not hard to decipher what prompted Bellamy to take such a pro socialist stance when it came to distribution of wealth in society. Bellamy lived a few decades after the start of the Industrial Revolution, which found most citizens moving into urban settings that provided factory work; yet, this situation also began to increase the wealth gap between the rich and the poor. Bellamy likely took notice of the extreme differences within wealth and how this impacted the lives of those who barely able to survive. In terms of how he addressed race and gender within the novel, it seems that he took the route of barely addressing them at all. Besides on African American servant at the beginning of the novel, there seemed to be no other races besides that of the main character. Any female characters in the book served more as props than actual characters who added any critical thoughts or opinions; all deeper conversations only happen between the male characters. This was also a time in which the rights of women and African Americans became very controversial issues. Bellamy could have chosen not to address these topics since they were controversial and he was already bound to draw some controversy with the pro socialism stance his novel took.