News from Nowhere · Chapter
XVIII: The Beginning of the New Life explained
The Guest continues his conversation with Old Hammond, who describes the aftermath of the civil war and the establishment of the new society.
What happens
The Guest continues his conversation with Old Hammond, who describes the aftermath of the civil war and the establishment of the new society. He explains how the destruction of wealth during the war was necessary for the birth of a new world, and how the spirit of the new age is one of delight in the life of the world. He discusses the gradual emergence of art as a necessary part of labor, the abolition of commercialism, and the happiness that comes from living in a free and beautiful world.
Themes in this chapter
Utopian Socialism
Old Hammond describes the new society that emerged after the civil war, where people are free, happy, and surrounded by beautiful things, embodying a utopian vision of socialism.
Pleasure in Work
The chapter discusses how art, or 'work-pleasure,' became a necessary part of labor, with people taking delight in making their work excellent and ornamenting their wares.
Art and Beauty in Everyday Life
Old Hammond explains that the production of art became a natural part of everyday labor, and that beauty in the environment and in objects is a key feature of the new society.
Nature and the Environment
The new spirit of the age is described as an intense love of the earth and its surface, and nature is bettered rather than worsened by contact with mankind.
Characters to notice
- Guest
The Guest listens to Old Hammond's account of the post-revolutionary period and asks questions about the transition to the new society.
- Old Hammond
Old Hammond narrates the story of the Great Change, describing the civil war, the destruction of wealth, and the emergence of art as a necessary part of labor.
- Dick
Dick and Clara arrive to fetch the Guest at the end of the chapter.
- Clara
Clara arrives with Dick to fetch the Guest at the end of the chapter.
Key passages
“The art or work-pleasure, as one ought to call it, of which I am now speaking, sprung up almost spontaneously, it seems, from a kind of instinct amongst people, no longer driven desperately to painful and terrible overwork, to do the best they could with the work in hand—to make it excellent of its kind; and when that had gone on for a little, a craving for beauty seemed to awaken in men's minds, and they began rudely and awkwardly to ornament the wares which they made; and when they had once set to work at that, it soon began to grow.”
The pleasure of work emerged naturally as people, freed from overwork, started doing their best and making excellent products, which then led to a desire for beauty and the ornamentation of goods.
Old Hammond explains the spontaneous origin of art in the new society.
“The spirit of the new days, of our days, was to be delight in the life of the world; intense and overweening love of the very skin and surface of the earth on which man dwells, such as a lover has in the fair flesh of the woman he loves; this, I say, was to be the new spirit of the time.”
The new era is defined by a profound love for the earth and life itself, akin to a lover's passion for their beloved.
Old Hammond describes the central ethos of the post-revolutionary world.
“But now, where is the difficulty in accepting the religion of humanity, when the men and women who go to make up humanity are free, happy, and energetic at least, and most commonly beautiful of body also, and surrounded by beautiful things of their own fashioning, and a nature bettered and not worsened by contact with mankind?”
It is easy to believe in humanity when people are free, happy, beautiful, and surrounded by beautiful things they have made, and when nature is improved by human presence.
Old Hammond contrasts the new society with the old, where the idea of humanity was repulsive due to oppression and ugliness.
