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Similes
Chapter 19
Explanation and Analysis—No Fourth Dimension:
In Flatland, The Sphere's refusal to consider the idea of a fourth dimension when A Square tentatively asks about it is a typical example of situational irony. After A Square raises the issue, The Sphere thinks for a moment and then dismisses him:
Sphere (after a pause). It is reported so. But men are divided in opinion as to the facts. And even granting the facts, they explain them in different ways. And in any case, however great may be the number of different explanations, no one has adopted or suggested the theory of a Fourth Dimension. Therefore, pray have done with this trifling, and let us return to business.
Related Themes:
Chapter 20
Explanation and Analysis—Missing the Point:
As they observe him, The Sphere's explanation to A Square about the Monarch of Pointland is a strong example of the novel’s use of situational irony. It’s a key moment of Abbot’s narrative on willful ignorance and the limitations of perspective, as The Sphere remarks:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“Behold yon miserable creature. That Point is a Being like ourselves, but [...] he knows not Length, nor Breadth, nor Height, for he has had no experience of them; he has no cognizance even of the number Two; nor has he a thought of Plurality; for he is himself his One and All, being really Nothing. Yet mark his perfect self-contentment, and hence learn this lesson, that to be self-contented is to be vile and ignorant, and that to aspire is better than to be blindly and impotently happy. Now listen.”
Related Themes:
