More's Utopia
...hloday refers to Plato’s Republic to argue that the only way to overcome thievery is to eradicate its cause, private property. In Plato’s Republic, the ruling guardian class is denied property in an ideal polis. Thus, the author More is using Plato to back up his own reforming efforts and make them more acceptable to his readers. The persona More’s opposition to this ideal allows Hythloday to give an account of his experience of Utopia. And the persona More urges him on by saying “then let me implore you, my dear Raphael […] describe that island to us. Don’t try to be brief” (Utopia, 41). The ability to have both sides of the argument allowing the reader to either laugh his ideas off or take him seriously is a rhetorical technique used by Lucian. More uses this technique to entice the reader. He entertains the reader while pushing him into his reforming ideas. More uses satire to attack the evil of capitalism. He vocalizes through Hythloday the advantages of the Utopian communism, by showing how English customs prevent people from earning the honest living that the lawyer recommends. Hythloday describes sheep that “devour men” (Utopia, 19). He is attacking the greedy landlords of England by comparing them to carniverous sheep. They are so eager to make a profit from the wool trade that hey have devoured theor tenant’s hope to make an honest living. Therefore, the greed of the landlord is “a frightful plague to his native country” (Utopia, 19) that causes lanlords to force the English peasants from their homes, into destitution, and, finally, into thievery. More, through Hythloday, is suggesting that the root of thievery is capitalism. He is calling for reform to get rid of English customs that center around wealth. Hythlod...