Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy uses Julian West, the books main character, to predict what the future will be like in the year 2000. Written in 1887, the book tells the story of the thirty-year old aristocratic West, who grew up in the lap of luxury in Boston. West recognizes the gap between the wealthy and poor, or between "those who sit on top of the coach" and those who "toiled at the rope," but believes there is no other way for society to function. West is engaged to the beautiful and graceful Edith Bartlett, who like himself is an aristocratic Bostonian. They are to be wed as soon as his house, the completion of which has been delayed repeatedly by labor strikes, is finished. West is an insomniac who often calls on Dr. Pillsbury, a quack doctor, to help put him to sleep through hypnotism. He calls on Dr...