To Whom This May Come

"To Whom This May Come"
Short story by Edward Bellamy
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Publication
Publication dateFebruary 1889
Pages14 pp

To Whom This May Come is an 1889 short story by American author Edward Bellamy.[1] The story was first published in the February 1889 issue of Harper's New Monthly Magazine.[2]

Plot

The themes of the story are telepathy and utopian society. The narrator travels on a ship that breaks apart leaving him as the sole survivor. He is stranded on a remote island inhabited by a people with the ability to read minds. This special skill, which has evolved, has alleviated many of the fears and anxieties that afflict modern life in the rest of the world, such as lies, crimes, and problems with relationships. The narrator eventually is rescued and returns to the U.S. where he reveals his experiences.

References

  1. ↑ Scheick, William J. (March 1, 1989). "The Letter Killeth: Edward Bellamy's "To Whom This May Come"". ATQ. 3 (1): 55. ProQuest 1302393499.
  2. ↑ Widdicombe, Richard Toby (1990). "Eutopia, Dystopia, Aporia: The Obstruction of Meaning in Fin-de-Siècle Utopian Texts". Utopian Studies. 1 (1): 93–102. ISSN 1045-991X.
  • To Whom This May Come at Project Gutenberg