News from Nowhere

They arrive at Dick’s great-grandfather’s house and find that a woman named Clara is there as well. Clara and Dick blush at each other while his great-grandfather, “old” Hammond, receives their visitor. Guest asks about Dick, and Hammond explains that Dick and Clara had once been married and share two children, but she left him because she thought he loved someone else. She was wrong, so they will likely get back together.

The situation leads to a discussion of love and divorce. Because this society does not have private property, divorce is not a messy process. Hammond explains that in matters of love and sentiment, people tend not to exaggerate because they believe all men are equal and the world does not stop because one is heartbroken. He explains that there is no one set of rules by which people are judged, whether in a court of law or only in public opinion. Unfair judgments can arise between individuals, but people are not forced to follow any one set of rules or morals. When Guest asks about women’s role in society, Hammond responds that it is so obvious that he is embarrassed to have to state that women and men are completely equal.