A social ecological reading of H. G. Wells’s the sleeper awakes

Abstract

H. G. Wells, one of the pioneering utopian and dystopian authors of the late Victorian Age, delineates a political conjuncture into which London and the rest of the world may evolve two centuries later. The novel depicts a future in which the working class is socially oppressed in a new order where a world government that holds the reign of power globally and capitalism has gained an ultimate victory historically. Moreover, in this dystopic representation, the social life in the countryside has ended and the whole population is concentrated in the city. This study aims to demonstrate that, in The Sleeper Awakes, the mechanism of domination does not only have a formative power in the social sphere but also is extended towards nature. Furthermore, it is manifested that the domination over these two spheres is far from being independent of each other; on the contrary, they are mutually supportive processes. In this context, this paper uses social ecology, led by Murray Bookchin, as the theoretical framework in reading the novel. Departing from this theory, the reasons for the alienation of second nature from first nature, and the political and social outcomes of this alienation in the work have been demonstrated. Correspondingly, the implications of the centralization of both the population and political power with respect to human-nature relationships have been delved into. In addition to these, nature is shown to be objectified within a hierarchical web of relations in a system that cements the social hierarchies. Thus, this study puts forward that The Sleeper Awakes, a text that foregrounds the ideological and political discussions, may also address the ecological preoccupations.