Thomas Mores Utopia Essay

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The Peripheral Narrator



The narrator of the novel Utopia (Moore) is, in fact, its author. Ever since the real New World's discovery by explorers, Christopher Columbus and many others like him started penning first-person narratives of the new landscapes they stumbled upon. Thomas More was simply emulating such narratives to give an authentic feel to his work. Readers feel they're reading a real, authentic tale:



"It would take too long to repeat all that Raphael told us he had observed in various places; nor would it altogether serve our present purpose. Perhaps on another occasion we shall tell more about the things that are most profitable" (Moore, 1516, p. 13)



In the aforementioned paragraph, the author (as narrator) attempts to give an impression of really being present when the events transpired and of being bound by memory- and time- related limitations. Such narration in the first-person lures and captivates readers, as well as urges them to adopt a critical perspective of current overall societal and global injustices.



The Sarcastic Approach



Utopian genre tales are all designed for the same purpose: to offer a positive fantasy setting wherein characters can freely express themselves, voice their views and establish their individual identity, whilst envisaging and toiling to achieve a better social order. Five centuries ago, Thomas More, then the English King Henry the Eighth's Lord Chancellor, had the opportunity to travel to Flanders as part of a contingent of diplomats to re-discuss the Britain-Flanders trade relationship. It was in the course of these protracted negotiations that he penned much of Utopia, a literary piece brimming with clever word plays and subtle censure. The rationale for the latter was a fear of punishment and of having his work condemned and unpublished if he included obvious differences of opinion in the novel. Therefore, although the author utilizes this book as a platform from which to communicate his personal views, he does so via a complex framework (using a fictitious first-person narrator) that ensures he isn't held liable for whatever views are articulated in the novel.



The main character in the tale, from its outset, is "Hythloday" (Greek for "a person who dispenses with nonsense.") This narrator who already seems an untrustworthy source commences his tale with a criticism of the existing English social and political climate, after which he commences an account of Utopia, a land whose name may mean (no place or good place based on the Greek ou-topos or eu-topos).

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This first-person tale may be rightly described as the first-person narrative of a different first person narrative. Although the novelist indicates, at the start, that the reader may be told the details of more of the narrator's conversation with the character, Hythloday, one might feel suspicious of the narrator's perfect recollection of Hythloday's extremely lengthy and in-depth account of Utopia.



The Book and the Problem's Dealt by More



Utopia may be considered socialism's foremost conceptualisation, despite the term not surfacing anywhere in the text. In the term's conceptualisation, the (potentially) prominent aspect was the author's personal views and beliefs regarding social system organization or reform. Hence, in a way, the author may be regarded as a pioneer. It could also be construed as the approval of a different system that, in his view, was found in one among the just-discovered Asian states; hence, one may, from this perspective, consider more an Orientalist. It was only for this approval that Hythloday and the recently-discovered lands were incorporated into the tale. The author, using another's first-person account was actually basing his own thoughts and views on the discoveries of another.



Avoiding Censorship



The author, in a letter to Pieter Gillis, besides confessing to the potential addition of fabricated details for honey-coating the harsh facts, also states that:



"I do not deny that if I'd decided to write about a commonwealth, and a tale of this sort had occurred to me, I might have spread a little fiction a little, like so much honey, over the truth, to make it look more acceptable" (Moore, 1516, p. 143)



Thus, he presented false details both for dealing with the harsh reality and for avoiding his own society's disapproval and censorship, since his tale was firmly rebuking the current English political and societal structure.



Introducing Hythloday



Through Hythloday's character, the author….....

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References


Moore, T. (1516). Utopia. Norton Critical - 3rd Edition.

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