The Sleeper Awakes: Difference between revisions

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Struck by a strange ailment, a [[Victorian Britain|Victorian]] gentleman called Graham falls into a sudden coma. [[Rip Van Winkle|When he wakes up 203 years later]], he discovers the trust set up by executors of his estate [[Compound Interest Time Travel Gambit|has grown so much]] that he is now the owner of almost everything on the planet. Under his name his trustees rule the planet, bringing in an age of total peace and startlingly advanced technology, but at a steep price -- democracy is dead, the rich are brainless and hedonistic while the poor are all but slaves overseen by brutal military police.

 

Not one of [[H. G. Wells|H G Wells's]] best known works, ''The Sleeper Awakes'' (originally published as ''When The Sleeper Wakes'') has nevertheless [[Print Long Runners|survived in print to the present day]], and remains one of his classic science-fiction pieces. [[George Orwell]] claimed it explicitly as an influence on ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'', and it went on to (very) loosely inspire the [[Woody Allen]] comedy ''[[Sleeper (film)|Sleeper]]''.

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* [[All Just a Dream]]: Occasionally suggested -- if Graham has been asleep for 203 years, how can he know he isn't still asleep?

* [[Author Appeal]]: The story was written just as Wells began to shift from science fiction to socialist literature, and it shows.

* [[Corrupt Church]]: With rapid transit making the old parish churches obsolete, the religions have all agglomerated their churches and temples into one huge shopping district, promising to sell salvation. [[wikipedia:Theosophy|Theosophy]] is the only real-world religion that gets called out.

:The revived slave trade, meanwhile, comes from a heavily warped version of the Salvation Army, bought out by Graham's trust and turned into the Department of Labour, the defacto owner and master of the world's poor.

* [[Domed Hometown]]: London.

* [[Eternal Sexual Freedom]]: Hinted at - as a proper Victorian gentleman, Graham wants no part.

* [[Nu Speling]]: The future has a new alphabet, based on a mixture of Latin and Greek, which is supposed to be phonetic.

* [[Propaganda Machine]]: The Babble Machines, which shout a mixture of news and ridiculous slogans ("Galloop, Galloop!").

* [[Reality Subtext]]: Vicars and bishops are revealed to be polygamous - at the time the book was written, the Church of England Synod was debating whether ministers should be allowed to marry at all.

* [[Revised Ending]]: ''When The Sleeper Wakes'' makes it fairly clear Ostrog will be overthrown. When it was edited as ''The Sleeper Awakes'', these references were cut, and it's no longer clear who wins the battle for London.

 

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[[Category:Science Fiction Literature]]

[[Category:The Sleeper Awakes]]

[[Category:Literature]]

[[Category:H. G. Wells]]