Interdimensional Aspirations: Flatland as a Journey of the Mind

I had my first encounter with Edwin A. Abbotts Flatland in fifth grade, when an
abridged, edited ersion was an assigned reading in our !anguage Arts te"tboo#s. A far cry from
the boo# with which I was later to become ac$uainted, this ersion was comprised of %ust a few
elements from &art 'ne, with a focus on the practicalities of life in a two(dimensional world) the
*$uares e"periences in the worlds of arious dimensions((in short, the plot((were absent, along
with the less desirable aspects of Flatland society.
+eertheless, I was floored. I was familiar with fantasy and science fiction at the time,
but neer before had so fictional a world been presented to me in such plausible and detailed((
indeed mathematical((terms.
I read the full boo# much later, when it was made aailable to me in a science fiction
anthology which I receied for ,hristmas my first year of college. I could easily sense the
religious influence on the boo#) the actions ta#en by the ,ircular class against the narrator
seemed to me to be representatie of an oppressie religious institution. Abbotts classification of
the ,ircles as -&riests. /Abbott 0123 ma#es the comparison unmista#able. 4oweer, the part of
the boo# which spo#e to me most strongly was the *pheres admonishment to the *$uare, upon
showing him the complacent Monarch of &ointland, -that to be self(contented is to be ile and
ignorant, and that to aspire is better than to be blindly and impotently happy. /Abbott 0253.
Flatland is most often seen as a protest against 6ictorian society and a -rebu#e to the
rigid literalism of both materialist science and fundamentalist religion. /Jann 7853. 4oweer, it is
my belief, which I will here attempt to demonstrate ia the biographical, historical, and genre
approaches to literary analysis, that Abbott wrote Flatland not as an actie attempt to change his
world, but rather as a wor# of intellectual self(e"pression. It is my belief that paying too much
attention to Flatlands social agenda can cause people to ignore its entertainment alue. As
someone who sees Flatland as an e"ample of the best #ind of science fiction((that which ma#es
its sub%ect matter real to the reader through concrete demonstration((I see this as an atrocious
waste. I beliee that Elliot !. 9ilbert is near to the truth with his description of Flatland as -an
unassuming but insightful study of...the $uest for new creatie dimensions in a culture
powerfully((if more and more uncomfortably((committed to history and tradition. /9ilbert 2:;3.
Flatland is not %ust a study of this $uest, but a member of it.
Fiction as Autobiography
Flatlands protagonist, the *$uare, is a religious intellectual. 4e clearly beliees in
diinity, stating at the beginning of his education by the *phere that -the wise men in our country
say that to see all things, or as they e"press it, omniidence, is the attribute of 9od alone.
/Abbott 0;:3. 4e also becomes hungry for #nowledge upon his introduction to *paceland,
in$uiring about -the blessed region of the Fourth <imension. /Abbott 0273 and worlds of further
dimensionality, which speculation is considered heretical in Flatland((and about which Abbott
himself would hae been cautious, as will be shown later. 4oweer, the *$uare has no trouble
resoling these two traits in his own mind. =hen confronting one of his countrymen concerning
the treatment of those who claim to be able to see in a manner similar to the perspectie granted
in *paceland, he does not attempt to defend these people by discrediting the established social
system) rather, he -$uote>s? the saying of an ancient ,ircle, who declared that prophets and
inspired people are always considered by the ma%ority to be mad. /Abbott 07;3. If one continues
the e$uation of the ,ircles with religion, one sees that the *$uare has had the opportunity to turn
his bac# on his religion in faor of the incontroertible facts of *paceland. Instead, he adopts a
system which encompasses both. @et in spite of e"hibiting a reasonable degree of conformity, he
is seen as dangerous by the ,ircles and is loc#ed up.
Abbott li#ewise -promoted a liberating intellectual framewor# that could encompass both
religious faith and non(dogmatic discourses. /6alente 823. *ays Aosemary Jann of this $uality of
Abbotts, -4is eclectic, synthesiBing mind testifies to the persistence of that 6ictorian $uest for a
comprehensie order under law, and for proof of the ultimate harmony of the physical and
spiritual. /75:3.
Che *$uare is more than %ust a mouthpiece for Abbotts ideas. Che fact that he neither
spurns ,ircular society nor is able to #eep silent about his reelation mar#s him out as an
unusual specimen of Flatland life. 4is memoir is generally heretical, yet it blindly praises -the
natural fitness and, I may almost say, the diine origin of the aristocratic constitution of the
*tates in Flatland. /D853. 4e is neither one of Flatlands unimaginatie multitude nor yet a
nonconformist hero. 4e is a rounded, realistic character) in a word, he is human. Eut neither is he
an anonymous Eeryman: 4e is the fictional embodiment of Abbott himself((a man, F.9.
6alente tells us, whose -ision of rational ,hristianity...in sharp contrast to his successful career
in education, e"posed him to public ridicule. /6alente 0D3. In order to handle this ridicule,
Abbott employed a ery reliable form of self(therapy. 4e wrote about it.
&erhaps the *$uares desolation betrays more than Abbott openly admitted about the dilemma
of the 6ictorian intellectual...Che *$uares superior ision leaes him imprisoned, not freed,
incapable of communicating with his contemporaries, een with his own family, but e$ually
diorced from the *pacelanders...with whom he might find sympathy and support /Jann 7553.
*uch is the fate of men of genius.
<issatisfaction Ereeds Interest
Although the society in which I lie is fairly liberal(minded compared to Abbotts, I can
relate to some of his intellectual struggles. As a result of my cerebral nature, I often ta#e issue
with fictional accounts of time trael. It seems to me that, in any story where it is possible to isit
the past, classic causality issues must be either benignly oerloo#ed or addressed((at which point
they become tedious. 4oweer, this has neer preented me from en%oying time trael fiction)
4.9. =ellss Che Cime Machine is one of my faorite science fiction noels. I also en%oy <octor
=ho and Eac# to the Future.
4ow did I deal with my loe(hate feelings towards time traelG I wrote a play on the
sub%ect. Che thing against which I had dissented turned out to be the perfect sub%ect matter((
precisely the parado" which resulted in the creation of Flatland.
As was the case when I first became ac$uainted with Flatland in fifth grade, one of my
faorite parts of the noel is its unusual unierse. As a writer, I find the creation of completely
-other. worlds to be ery challenging. Che world of Flatland is definitely -other,. both
physically and societally, to the e"tent that half of the boo#((the part entitled -Chis =orld.
/Abbott D823((is dedicated to describing this -otherness.. Che physical nature of Flatland, which
alone caused me to initially become enamored with the boo#, is indisputably e"traordinary.
4oweer, its societal nature is, if not e$ually e"traordinary, at least ery strange. =hile Flatland
is typically described as a criti$ue of 6ictorian society, it is not so much a criti$ue as a caricature.
Che constraints of class distinction, for instance, become so eleated that the sentencing of a
criminal is openly stated to be dependent upon his class. Ca#ing as an e"ample the crime of
publicly belieing in three dimensions, a belief which was not only not legally punished but was
under open debate in Abbotts time, the action to be ta#en against such heretics is
to destroy all such as were Isosceles of any degree, to scourge and imprison any regular
Criangle, to cause any *$uare or &entagon to be sent to the district Asylum, and to arrest
anyone of higher ran#, sending him straightaway to the ,apital to be e"amined and %udged by
the ,ouncil /Abbott 0213.
*uch hyperbole decreases Flatlands alue as a satire, but supports its status as a strong
wor# of fiction. Instead of reproducing 6ictorian society, Abbotts wor# uses it as a %umping(off
point to create something new: a society whose discouragement of aspiration is so ehement that
this discouragement forms the central conflict. Aather than condemn his society, he has caused it
to bear artistic fruit. <ar#o *uin certainly recogniBed the strengths of Flatland that hae made it
such an interesting read long after the e"piration of the 6ictorian era:
Che psychology of Flatlands apparently two(dimensional figures, it is safe to infer, is more
realistic and richer than the -realism. of Eesant and ,o.: the panic#y resistances of Abbotts
narrator to superior insight and its slow fading are further touches of genius. *wiftian satire,
profound political and psychological realism, scientific analogy /reinforced by the delightful
isions of !ineland and &ointland3((all of these fuse into a philosophical, cognitie, and
&romethan parable /H023.
*atire is present in Flatland((it would be foolish to deny it. @et -the boo#...continue>s? to
attract modern readers for whom the theological conflicts and linguistic s#irmishes of the past no
longer hold any interest. /9ilbert 2:D3.
Flatlands primary purpose is not to satiriBe, any more than the primary ingredient in an
ice cream sundae is a maraschino cherry.
Cruth or ImaginationG
9ien the *$uares ideals concerning -the ,onceit which would limit our <imensions to
Cwo or Chree or any number short of Infinity. /Abbott 0223, one might suppose Abbott to be an
ardent supporter of things which could not be proen true. 4oweer, this was not the case.
Indeed, Jonathan *mith, !awrence I. Eer#oe, and 9erald A. Ea#er hae entured -to
suggest...that Flatland is a cautionary tale about the dangers of the imagination when wrongly
employed. /H;:(H213.
Abbotts natural caution did find its way into the mi", as we will see in a moment.
4oweer, the lesson of Flatland cannot be that imagination may lead to a fate such as the
*$uares because to e$uate the *$uares martyrdom with -the dangers of the imagination. would
constitute a fallacy. As far as three dimensions are concerned, the *$uare employs no
imagination, haing been to *paceland himself. In fact, consider the following e"ample of the
*$uares s#epticism, #eeping in mind the e$uation of Abbott with the *$uare: =hen the *phere
first arries in the *$uares home and attempts to e"plain the concept of three dimensions, the
*$uare is wholly unbelieing, trying to find any other e"planation for the *pheres e"istence and
ultimately attac#ing the *phere in anger.
Che *$uares behaior seems a bit pigheaded in light of his recent dream of !ineland, in
which he became -furious at...>the? perersity. /Abbott 0H03 of the Monarch, who was e$ually
unyielding in his re%ection of an additional dimension. In the *$uares defense, howeer, he was
only now learning what it was li#e to be as#ed to accept something fantastic with only
circumstantial eidence. <aid M. 4olley has offered some insight into the psychology of the
situation by using the *$uares disbelief as a metaphor for how -trying to spea# about 9od
inoles using terms suited for the world of ordinary sense e"perience to conceie of a different
#ind of reality. /4olley HH13. From the *$uares /through no fault of his own3 limited
perspectie, the *phere was not a *phere but a ,ircle that could grow bigger and smaller, among
other parlor tric#s. =hile these oddities, along with the *$uares ision of !ineland, must hae
suggested the e"istence of a three(dimensional world, this e"istence was by no means certain.
Abbott was li#ewise wary of things that could only be suggested, not proen. ,onsidered
a religious liberal by his contemporaries as well as himself, -Abbott was controersially
forthright in his claim that miracles constituted an impediment to rational belief and hence were
unnecessary((een for a clergyman. /*mith et al H2;3, a trait which e"tended een to such
fundamentally ,hristian beliefs as ,hrists resurrection from the dead. 4e was also a critic of the
drawing of conclusions through analogy, which process is repeatedly praised in Flatland.
=hile such s#epticism may seem improper in the author of such an imaginatie boo# as
Flatland, one must bear in mind that the distinction drawn by Abbott between imagination and
truth does not mean that he only eer employed the latter. 'n the contrary, he belieed that
-Mans struggle to e"plain the wor#ings of +ature re$uired constant leaps of the imagination.
/Jann 7523) howeer, although this -imagination was the basis of all #nowledge. /Jann 7573, it
was not a substitute for #nowledge itself, but merely a starting point.
*o it seems that the *$uare is not a perfect alter ego of Abbott, but differs from him in
one particular: his willingness, in considering the e"istence of more than three dimensions, to
-cast...>him?self in faith upon con%ecture, not #nowing the facts. /Abbott 02D3. More telling than
the *$uares belief in the Fourth <imension, howeer, is the ,ircles disbelief in the Chird
<imension, or rather, the negatie presentation of this disbelief. Although condemning the
*$uare to imprisonment is inarguable oer#ill, Abbott would li#ely hae sided with the ,ircles in
their dubiousness.
=hy, then, would Abbott write a boo# which ta#es a merely possible imagining((the
e"istence of e"tra(dimensional worlds((so seriously, een seeming to promote the acceptance of
such an imaginingG Che answer is simple: Eecause it was a more interesting premise than the
alternatie.
&erhaps one of the reasons that this theory is seldom accepted is that the primary focus of
Abbotts career was not writing boo#s that are -interesting. in the sense that Flatland is
interesting. Ironically enough, Flatland, the boo# that Abbott is best remembered for Flatland in
our time, receied little attention during his own time. Instead, he was better #nown for his
instructional academic boo#s and boo#s such as Che Fernel and the 4us# which outlined his
religious philosophy.
4oweer, when Flatland was first published, Abbott was not #nown for it at all, owing to
the fact that he had written the boo# under the pseudonym -A *$uare.. Chis gesture shows that
Abbott ascribed more importance to the boo#s adherence to its status as a true account than to
connecting it with his personal beliefs by creating an association between the te"t and his own
name.
Abbotts alues are present in Flatland((to an e"tent. Eut when the muse called for it,
Abbott had no $ualms about sacrificing truth in faor of imagination.
<isclaimer
Che things which I hae stated here should in no way be ta#en as a belittlement of
Abbotts best(#nown boo#. 'n the contrary, I hae sought to free Flatland from being
pigeonholed as an allegory, a mere essel of ideas, or a pulpit for the e"pression of one mans
beliefs. Che time has come to see Abbotts Aomance of Many <imensions for what it is: a
brilliant wor# of science fiction which should be read for its own sa#e.
*ources:
Abbott, Edwin A. -Flatland: A Aomance of Many <imensions.. ;nd ed. H557. Che ,ollectors Eoo# of
*cience Fiction. Ed. <aid *tuart <aies. 4ertfordshire: =ordsworth Editions !imited, ;1H. D0D(077.
&rint.
9ilbert, Elliot !. -IJpward, +ot +orthward: Flatland and the Kuest for the +ew.. English !iterature in
Cransition 27.7 /H::H3: 2:H(717. &rint.
4olley, <aid M. Meaning and Mystery: =hat it Means to Eeliee In 9od. ,hichester, =est *usse":
=iley(Elac#well, ;1H1. &rint.
Jann, Aosemary. -Abbotts Flatland: *cientific Imagination and I+atural ,hristianity.. 6ictorian *tudies:
An Interdisciplinary Journal of *ocial, &olitical, and ,ultural *tudies ;5.2 /H:5D3: 782(7:1. &rint.
*mith, Jonathan, !aurence I. Eer#oe, and 9erald A. Ea#er. -A 9rammar of <issent: Flatland, +ewman,
and the Cheology of &robability.. 6ictorian *tudies 2:.; /H::03: H;:(H71. &rint.
*uin, <ar#o. -6ictorian *cience Fiction, H58H(5D: Che Aise of the Alternatie 4istory *ub(9enre..
*cience Fiction *tudies H1.; /H:523: H75(H0:. &rint.
6alente, F.9. -Cransgression and Cranscendence: Flatland as a response to IA +ew &hilosophy..
+ineteenth(,entury ,onte"ts ;0.H /;1173: 0H(88. &rint.