Looking Back is a utopian novel written by Edward Bellamy. The story is about Julian West, an American who falls into a deep hypnosis-induced sleep only to wake up one hundred and thirteen years later. When he wakes up, he is still in the same place but in a totally transformed world (Bellamy 11). It was also transformed into a socialist utopia. The book then illustrates Bellamy's views on change and improving the future, highlighting four main themes; the advantages of a socialist system, the dangers of the stock market, the use of the credit card and the commitment of the industrial army to slow down some events. In his novel, Bellamy uses the term evolution to refer to major changes in technology and economics. His views on economics and technology contrast with Charles Darwin's theory: the origin of species. In this theory Charles recognizes the 19th century as an economic century and extends his political-economic visions of progress to the entire realm of plant and animal life. Darwin's theory of the origin of species is crucial to understanding Bellamy's novel because Bellamy criticizes what is expressed in Darwin's Theory. Bellamy reflects the utopian critique of Social Darwinism in which he seeks to find positive alternatives in relation to the capitalist ethic of greed and the Darwinian struggle for survival (Bellamy 4-26). The novel reflects the future America where evolutionary love will work without struggle for materials. These products focused on utopian imagination were ridiculed by social Darwinists. Bellamy's novel downplays the struggle for the fittest by encouraging evolutionary love and emphasizing the role of cooperative human culture in evolutionary development. Therefore, while Bellamy tries to invent a better world, Cha... middle of paper... their male counterparts. Darwin's theory helps us understand the way women were perceived and what type of changes Bellamy proposes to change this perception. It helps us understand the advantages and disadvantages that might arise from Bellamy's perception of who women are. Bellamy sees spiritual evolution as the underlying value in bringing unity. He proposes that spiritual evolution will lead to love where one perceives one's neighbor as a brother and will kill the enmity caused by unhealthy competitions. He advocates Christian socialism through Mr. Barton's sermon. This contradicts Darwin's theory that advocates competition and encourages capitalism. Bibliography Bellamy, Edward. Looking Back: 2000-1887. New York: Random House, 1917. Darwin, Charles. origin of the species. London: John Murray, 1989.