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Thomas More Utopia Essay

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The society in the land of Utopia, as described in Thomas More's "Utopia", is very unique and has a great number of distinct characteristics and customs that make it very different from the typical societies of the modern world. Because these characteristics are much different than most modern ways of life, particularly the way of life in the United States, the "commonwealth" that More describes can be taken very differently by his readers (More 2151). Some may feel the society and ideals he describes is something worthy to strive for in their own lives. Others, in contrast, may totally reject the principles of Utopia and see them as radical and impossible to achieve. I believe More intends for his readers to have a mixture of both, similar to how More the character reacts at the end of the piece (More). The society of Utopia has both positive and negative aspects that make it ideal in some ways and not ideal in others. The values and morals the people of Utopia base their lives on are ideal for a society that flourishes and that is happy, …show more content…

Communal living, especially in the case of the Utopians, is very intrusive in peoples' lives and personal decisions. People need a way to escape to a place where they can have private time with themselves or their loved ones. Utopian's are unable to enjoy even the slightest degree of this. "The doors, which are made with two leaves, open easily and swing shut automatically, letting anyone enter who wants to - so there is nothing private anywhere" (More 2158). Utopian communal living also has specific rules concerning the size of households, the tenure length of living in a house, and has power to move people from house to house. All of these characteristics take away a person's basic right to freedom and privacy. An ideal society gives people the freedom to make decisions concerning the aspects of life that should be

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