An Analysis of Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions.
In the novelette of Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions, by Edwin A. Abbott, it is a culture that is in the second dimension. This may be hard to think of, but for them in this story our third dimension is the same kind of thought. In their dimension they have no physical dimensions, no height, no light, or shaded areas, yet they survive day to day. They do not look like us, yet they have very different social classes like us. They are shapes, such as a square, triangle, polygon, or even a circle, which is the highest class.
The way that they distinguish between the classes is by the number of sides, in the polygons, and in the triangles by the length of the sides. With the triangles if they are an isosceles they part of the lowest and least respected and considered not normal. If they are an equilateral they are normal. In this world, or dimension, which ever you would believe, the main story teller or narrator explains this place to us. Part of it is from his encounter with a spacelander, or person from the third dimension, and how he had a journey himself to space land. Then he explains it to his grandson, in vein, about the third dimension. He hopes that his memories will someday, somehow be revived, as though he sits in his prison for life. .
The social classes are as stated, separated by shape and their number of sides. As a polygon you would be superior; the more sides you have the more respected you would be. The equilaterals and the squares would be considered to be the middle class in the social structure. Then lower then the middle class, and possibly considered the untouchables would be the isosceles triangles. More commonly you find that the isosceles triangles are the soldiers of this universe. The smaller their base or third leg, the more dangerous they are. However the at bottom of the barrel of the social classes would be the straight lines, or the women.
