Essay Questions

Which device do the anarchists employ to proliferate their ideology?

Bellamy writes, "The nervous tension of the public could not have been more strikingly illustrated than it was by the alarm resulting from the talk of a small band of men who called themselves anarchists, and proposed to terrify the American people into adopting their ideas by the threats of violence, as if a mighty nation which had but just put down a rebellion of half of its numbers, in order to maintain its political system, were likely to adopt a new social system out of fear." Fear is the predominant tool that the anarchists exploit. Sowing fear terrifies the masses to the degree that they compelled to embrace the anarchist ideologies. Fear elicits anxiety and confusion among the masses as well.

Summarize the import of the ‘Decoration Day.’

Bellamy explains, “THE THIRTIETH DAY of May, 1887, fell on a Monday. It was one of the annual holidays of the nation in the latter third of the nineteenth century, being set apart under the name of Decoration day, for doing honor to the memory of the soldiers of the North who took part in the war for the preservation of the union of the States. The survivors of the war, escorted by the military and civic processions and bands of music, were wont on this occasion to visit the cemeteries and lay wreaths of flowers upon the graves of their dead comrades, the ceremony being a very solemn and touching one.” Observance of the day is an accolade to both the deceased soldiers and the surviving individuals. It is a reminder that all that the labors and sacrifices of the soldiers are not in vain. Moreover, the celebrations beatify the memories of all soldiers.