Flatland Why Does Edwin Abbott Use Straight Term Paper

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Flatland

Why does Edwin Abbott use straight lines to represent the female characters in his novel "Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions"?

Abbott uses straight lines to represent the females in the story for a variety of reasons. Since he wrote the story in 1884 when women did not have the same rights as they do today, he was making a comment on society and how it treated women. In many cases, women were seen as invisible objects, who only existed to take care of the family and the home. So, Abbott portrayed them as lines in "Flatland," because these lines can at times disappear when viewed from a flat angle. That is why women must always let other Flatlanders know where they are, under penalty of death. The women could disappear when they wanted, but they could also go right through the larger males who were made up of more than one dimension or line. This made them dangerous, and showed that Abbott respected women, and recognized they could be dangerous to society when they were not treated as equals. This also shows how ridiculous it is to think that women are any lesser than men. Abbott calls women unintelligent and of a lesser class throughout the book, but this is a parody, and so he writes the opposite of what he really means.

Question: What would you call the writing style of "Flatland," and why do you think Abbott chose this style?

The writing style of "Flatland" tries to be conversational, but it is really written with a scientific or mathematical style that is sometimes difficult to understand.

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Abbott used this style partly because he was a learned mathematician, and partly to show the intricacy of the world, even though it was only two-dimensional. He wanted people to understand that ours might not be the only intelligent civilization, and that other worlds could exist. They might not seem as advanced as ours, but they could be even more advanced. The writing style works for this book, because the content is different and unique, and the writing style helps it stand out. This style is also hard enough to make the reader think, and that is what Abbott is really trying to do, make the reader think about other possibilities. The style works perfectly for this, and so, Abbott chose the right style for his parody.

Question: Why is the narrator imprisoned at the end of the book?

Answer: The narrator understands that there is another dimension in other lands, and has acknowledged the existence of another dimension. He has seen the "sphere," and so, he cannot be allowed to tell others about his experience. Here Abbott is retelling the story of Christ, who created a new religion and thousands of converts, and so, he was a threat….....

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