Thomas More describes the society of the fictional country Utopia as a state with laws, conventions, and traditions that drastically differ from the ones the author himself and the readers are familiar with. The Utopian society has several customs that make the country ideal in the narrator’s eyes. One of such customs is the absence of the notion of private property (Greenblatt 520). The property is communal, and no one has ownership over the buildings where they reside or anything in those buildings. All houses are constructed in the same style, with no citizens living in a bigger or more comfortable house than their neighbors (Greenblatt 549). Overall, this lack of private property in Utopia led to the people of the country having no desire to compete with each other through the accumulation of wealth as all of their belonging are the same.
Another custom of the country is the same responsibility of all citizens. The narrator states that all Utopia residents, with no exceptions, work in agriculture to provide food for the country (Greenblatt 550). Utopians are also required to choose a second trade to their liking but are continuously monitored to ensure that they contribute to society (Greenblatt 550). The country also supervises the number of citizens in each of the cities to prevent overpopulation. Thus, every town in Utopia can have no more than six thousand households with up to 16 adults in each (Greenblatt 554). This measure prevents one city from spending more resources than another and allows for enough supplies for everyone. Finally, Utopia does not assign any value to gold or silver, metals that other states find desirable (Greenblatt 557). These metals are used to make chamber pots, chains for slaves, and special marks for criminals to show that they are not valuable (Greenblatt 557). Thus, no citizens want to keep gold, silver, or gems as owning them is associated with an unsightly activity preventing wealth accumulation.
Utopia seems to be a country where everyone is equal and strives to be so. However, the country’s description is very idealistic and leads one to question whether its policies are not what they seem. The first questionable policy of the country is the custom of communal work and choosing trades. Although every citizen’s ability to choose the work to their liking is admirable, their choice is secondary to farming and agriculture, the trade that everyone is assigned. People have natural differences in abilities, preferences, and interests, and assigning everyone the same job may not lead to the desired outcomes. Thus, society would benefit more from agriculture being a trade of choice.
Another problematic tradition is the abolishment of private property. It can be argued that owning a house gives people a sense of safety and belonging. Possessing a residence presents individuals with a certain goal of maintaining it and contributing to it being comfortable for their families. However, in Utopia, citizens do not own their homes and can be randomly relocated to another residence if the government deems it necessary (Greenblatt 554). Thus, their natural loyalty towards their families and the household is artificially forced towards society as a whole as they have nothing personal to protect. The same can be argued about the custom of not holding gold and other metals in high regard. The government manufactures the desire not to own anything of high value by using gold for questionable purposes. The Utopia citizens may want to own something made of gold for their enjoyment but are too afraid of their neighbors’ reaction as it is associated with slavery and criminal activity. Overall, the Utopian government forces its residents to comply with the customs deemed to be for the good of the society, with individual freedoms being disregarded.
Work Cited
Greenblatt, Stephen, editor. The Norton Anthology of English Literature Volume B. 8th ed., W.W. Norton & Company, 2012.