Erewhon · Chapter
To the Metropolis explained
The narrator is invited to stay with Mr.
What happens
The narrator is invited to stay with Mr. Nosnibor, a wealthy embezzler, and is shocked to learn that in Erewhon, embezzlement is not a crime but poverty is. He reluctantly accepts the invitation. During the journey to the metropolis, he learns about the Erewhonian prohibition of machinery, which stems from a book predicting machines would supplant humans. He also hears about the statues on the pass, once used in sacrifices to avert ugliness and disease. Upon arrival, he is greeted by the Mayor and Mr. Nosnibor, and begins to adapt to Erewhonian customs, including their treatment of ill temper as a physical ailment.
Themes in this chapter
Inversion of Morality
Embezzlement is socially acceptable while poverty is criminalized, highlighting the topsy-turvy moral code of Erewhon.
Machines and Evolution
The Erewhonians destroyed advanced machinery due to a book arguing machines would surpass humans, reflecting fears of technological evolution.
Truth and Deception
The narrator must hide his true feelings and adapt to Erewhonian customs, illustrating the tension between personal truth and social conformity.
Characters to notice
- Narrator
Struggles to understand Erewhonian morality, reluctantly accepts Mr. Nosnibor's invitation, and adapts to local customs regarding ill temper.
- Mr. Nosnibor
A wealthy embezzler who invites the narrator to stay; highly respected in Erewhonian society despite his crime.
- Erewhonians
Greet the narrator with curiosity; they treat ill temper as a physical ailment and have a complex system of morality that punishes poverty and illness.
- Chowbok
Mentioned as having returned home; the narrator reflects on his hideous appearance and the fear he showed of the Erewhonians.
- Professors of Unreason
Educated at the Colleges of Unreason, they hold degrees in hypothetics and work as straighteners, bankers, and priests, diffusing culture.
Key passages
“Embezzle a large sum of money under singularly distressing circumstances! ... I shall do nothing of the sort—compromise myself at the very outset in the eyes of all decent people”
The narrator is horrified at the suggestion that he stay with a known embezzler, fearing it would ruin his reputation.
Highlights the narrator's initial shock at Erewhonian moral inversion.
“Mr. Nosnibor ... is a man of at least 500,000 horsepower ... and keeps a capital table; besides, his two daughters are among the most beautiful women in Erewhon.”
The interpreter explains that Mr. Nosnibor is wealthy and influential, which persuades the narrator to accept the invitation.
Shows how wealth and status override moral concerns in Erewhon.
“I thought of my master's hut, and my seat upon the mountain side, where I had first conceived the insane idea of exploring. What years and years seemed to have passed since I had begun my journey!”
The narrator reflects nostalgically on his past life and the beginning of his adventure.
Reveals the narrator's sense of dislocation and the passage of time.
“I was told that they dated from a very remote period, and that there were several other such groups in the country, but none so remarkable as the one which I had seen. They had a religious origin, having been designed to propitiate the gods of deformity and disease.”
The statues on the pass were once used in religious sacrifices to prevent ugliness and illness.
Explains the historical and religious significance of the statues.
“I learnt that about four hundred years previously, the state of mechanical knowledge was far beyond our own, and was advancing with prodigious rapidity, until one of the most learned professors of hypothetics wrote an extraordinary book ... proving that the machines were ultimately destined to supplant the race of man”
A professor's book convinced the Erewhonians that machines would replace humans, leading to the destruction of most machinery.
Introduces the Erewhonian rationale for technological regression.
