Erewhon

The narrator confesses that he is in love with Arowhena, the younger of the two Nosnibor daughters, but the family expects him to marry Zulora, whom the narrator does not like. Another impediment to marrying Arowhena is that the narrator has no money, though he recounts a successful meeting with the king and queen of Erewhon despite this difficulty. The monarchs like him, though the king doubts that the narrator accurately describes England. Arowhena does have another suitor, but the narrator is confident that Arowhena prefers him over the other suitor. At Mrs. Nosnibor and Zulora’s insistence, Arowhena convinces the narrator to open an account with the Musical Banks, which he reveals is connected to Erewhonian religion, specifically their goddess Ydgrun.

The Erewhonians have several gods that represent concepts of both physical reality and human emotion, such as time, space, justice, and hope. They have laws related to these aspects, such as the law that no two objects can occupy the same space, the consequence of which is usually physical harm. For example, if a rock and a person attempt to occupy the same space, the Erewhonians understand that person will be injured by the rock. However, the Erewhonians believe, like the Greeks, that the gods are physical beings who live beyond the clouds and can mask themselves from human sight. The narrator thinks this belief is ridiculous, and he tries to convince Arowhena that the Erewhonian gods are just human inventions used to strengthen the bonds between society and certain values, like justice. Arowhena is not convinced, and, foreshadowing the narrator’s future marriage to Arowhena, he notes that Arowhena suggests that the Christian God is also fictional. Though the narrator states that the Bible is too old and is verified to be wrong, Arowhena notes that the Erewhonians also have very old books that confirm their religion. This statement does not convert the narrator to the worship of Ydgrun, but he admits that he still has doubts about Christianity because of this conversation.

Summarizing the worship of Ydgrun, the narrator explains that Ydgrun is not considered the to be same as the other gods, for she does not have a distinct personality beyond capriciousness. Though she is mostly helpful and kind, she is also associated with fits of rage and other negative qualities such as cowardice. Many people worship her specifically, and the priests of other gods claim that Ydgrun is an enemy to their gods. Ydgrun is omniscient and omnipotent, but the narrator notes that she has no more worshippers than the other gods do.

The narrator splits the worshippers of Ydgrun into three camps: the high Ydgrunites, Ydgrunites, and low Ydgrunites, and he notes that the high Ydgrunites rarely mention Ydgrun or their religious affiliation. Instead, the other Ydgrunites insist that Ydgrun should be more highly valued by Erewhonians, while the high Ydgrunites simply follow her laws in their daily lives without mentioning them. The narrator thinks that the high Ydgrunites are “gentlemen” in the English sense of people who are polite and moral. His only criticism of them is that they do not proselytize for Ydgrun. Specifically, the narrator thinks that the high Ydgrunites could erode the common Erewhonian belief in polytheism, which would then make it easier for the narrator to convert all of Erewhon to Christianity.

Erewhonians in general do not believe in an afterlife, though some few preach that those with physical illnesses experience more pain after death, while the physically healthy are rewarded after death. These believers are ridiculed by most people, for most Erewhonians believe that the present life would be undervalued by the presence of an afterlife. The narrator tries to convince one Erewhonian that the fear of the afterlife is what prevents people from dying by suicide, but the man responds that it is the hope of improved circumstances that prevents suicide, not the threat of suffering after death.

The narrator explains that although the Erewhonians do not believe in an afterlife, they do believe in pre-existence. Their belief is that people exist before they are born, and they become born by pestering married couples into hosting them. The narrator sees this belief as a means of assuaging the guilt that parents feel for bringing a child into an uncertain world. The Erewhonians have developed a birth formula, or contract, which serves to placate this feeling of uncertainty and guilt. The contract usually states that the child was happy in its previous life of pre-existence, and that it insisted that the parents host it as a child in their family. The contract often obliges the child to serve the parents dutifully, and it specifically excuses the parents for any physical issues with which the child might be born. When the child is 14, they are forced to re-sign the contract to affirm that they agree with its contents, since they are not able to consent to a contract when they are initially born.

The narrator’s main discomfort with this practice, other than the belief that pre-existence is not real, is that the child is essentially forced to lie at the age of 14, which he thinks damages their ability to value and trust their parents and teachers. However, a professor from the College of Unreason assures the narrator that all social life involves compromise, and the re-signing of the contract is another example of such compromise between truth and action.

The narrator recounts that the Erewhonians see life like walking through a dark tunnel, with the past illuminated to the point of blinding them, while the future is perpetually in shadows. He agrees with this sentiment, remarking that people are doomed to want to predict the future, but they cannot, and, if they could, it would drive them insane. He then presents the speech that Erewhonians believe is given to the unborn who wish to be born as people. The speech cautions the unborn that life is unpredictable and notes that in a state of pre-existence, they live forever with no pain or discomfort. Even though the speech acknowledges that humans enjoy various pleasures, these pleasures are claimed to occur in the first part of human life, while the later parts are consumed with despair at lost youth. The conditions of one’s birth are unpredictable, and the pre-existing people are warned that they could be born to uncaring or cruel parents just as easily as to rich or kind parents.

To be born, the unborn has to take a potion that eliminates their memory and sense of self, and which then imbues them with an instinct to seek out a married couple to pester until they are born. After birth, the child will have no memory of being unborn, and if they remember for a moment, they are supposed to dedicate themselves to work in order to distract themselves from the despair of losing immortality. Ultimately, the unborn who choose to be born are seen as foolish, since they are forsaking eternal life for the risky and uncertain life of a human, and it is considered rare for an unborn to make this choice.

The narrator laments that Erewhonian children do not have close relationships with their parents. He asserts that very few young people in Erewhon prefer the company of their parents to other people, and he thinks this is due to a combination of their perception of the unborn and the costs of raising a child. Regarding such costs, the narrator explains that children learn “hypothetics” and other abstract ideas at school. However, these ideas are not practical, and children are rarely able to make any money during or after their education. As such, parents must pay for the things the children want, and they must also pay large sums for the education itself. The narrator believes that children should go to technical schools and take on apprenticeships to learn a trade. He says the same is true in England, where people and society would be better if children were allowed to start working earlier, though with greater protections to keep them from being hurt or overworked.

Comparing an Erewhonian conflict to the Women’s Rights Movement in England at the time, the narrator discusses how Erewhonians disagree on whether youth or age is superior, with some feeling that the young are better suited to run society. A proposed solution is to have the young and old as different political factions, with 35-year-olds as the dividing line between them, to exchange control of Erewhon on a weekly basis. The narrator finds this idea ridiculous.