When giving a talk on the danger of first-hand ideas, one of the underground city’s academic lecturers alludes to the French Revolution, as seen in the following passage:
“You who listen to me are in a better position to judge about the French Revolution than I am. Your descendants will be even in a better position than you, for they will learn what you think I think, and yet another intermediate will be added to the chain. And in time”—his voice rose— “there will come a generation that has got beyond facts, beyond impressions, a generation absolutely colourless, a generation which will see the French Revolution not as it happened, nor as they would like it to have happened, but as it would have happened, had it taken place in the days of the Machine.”
The French Revolution was a radical movement against social and economic inequality in France that started in 1789 and led to the abolition of the monarchy and establishment of democracy. Most scholars agree that it was a pivotal moment in world history as nations across the globe had to decide how to respond to these radical developments and the effects of such a victory on their own populations.
The lecturer’s declaration that the people living in the underground city are “in a better position to judge about the French Revolution” than he is thus a comically absurd statement. This is one of the moments in the story in which Forster is satirizing so-called intellectuals who pay little attention to research or facts and care more about their own context and worldview. The lecturer’s logic is obviously flawed here—how could it possibly be positive for people to go “beyond facts” and “see the French Revolution not as it happened […] but as it would have happened, had it taken place in the days of the Machine”? This satirical moment cements Forster’s point that technological advancement can distort reality to a hyperbolic degree.
