Ecotopia

Ecotopia consists of many articles written by the protagonist, William Weston, exploring Callenbach’s imagined Ecotopian society. Choose one article of particular interest to you and, in an essay, discuss the relative merits and/or drawbacks of adopting a similar practice into your own life. What would be most beneficial and detrimental about it? Can something like this be accomplished on a small scale, outside of a society like Ecotopia? Be sure to use passages from your chosen chapter (as well as elsewhere, if necessary) to support your claims.

Throughout the novel, Callenbach includes sections consisting of Weston’s journal entries, originally meant for private consumption only, as well as his articles, meant for public consumption. Using several examples from each, discuss how the novel handles the theme of private versus public personae. How does Weston portray himself in the articles? How does this compare and contrast to what is contained in the surrounding journal entries? Why do you think Callenbach includes both?

In the “Author’s Afterword,” Callenbach writes, “Perhaps [Ecotopia is] ‘politics fiction’—based on the assumption that a critical mass of people could come to see that their survival and happiness depend upon giving at least as much weight to the biological bottom line as to the economic one” (170). Where do you think the novel is most successful in this goal, and why? Where is it least successful, and why? Be sure to use quotes from the novel to illustrate your points.

One of the themes Callenbach addresses in Ecotopia is the idea of journalistic ethics, and what role journalists can and should play in both realistic and ideal societies. Based on parts of the novel that discuss this topic, what does Callenbach seem to argue the role of the press should be in society?

The protagonist of Ecotopia, William Weston, has clearly changed between the Weston we’re introduced to in the opening pages and the Weston we’re left with at the end. What was the most formative experience he had during his stay that had the most impact on this shift? Make your case using quotes from that and other sections.

While the novel ends with Weston’s decision to stay in Ecotopia, there are many threads left open-ended in this fictional world, including what will happen next between Ecotopia and the United States. Using evidence from the novel, make a prediction: what comes next for these two countries and why?

While Weston is the clear protagonist of the novel, there are several secondary characters that play a big role, even if they are not often on the page. Choose one (or two) of these minor characters and discuss their impact on Weston as a character and/or on the plot of the novel. How would Ecotopia be different without them, and why does Callenbach include them? In your opinion, should the novel have included more of them? Less? Why or why not?

Ecotopia contains many repeated symbols or motifs that arise multiple times in different places throughout the novel (for example, the centrality of trees and wood in Ecotopia, but there are many others). Choose one of these and follow it through several iterations in different places: How is this symbol or motif represented in each instance, and what can we learn, from these appearances, about character or theme or plot?