SECTION 5 Of our Methods of Recognizing one another

In Flatland, women occupy a severely restricted position, with a societal structure that denies them improvement or hope for advancement. The saying “Once a Woman, always a Woman” reflects the immutable nature of their fate, as evolution seems to have worked against them. Women are not only restricted by their inferior angles but also lack the ability to improve their status, which makes their condition especially dire in Flatland. Despite this, they are free from the burden of recalling or anticipating the struggles of their existence, as they are devoid of memory or foresight.

Recognition between individuals in Flatland is a complicated process due to the shared appearance of all figures as straight lines. The primary methods of recognition are hearing, feeling, and, for the more educated classes, sight. Hearing is crucial in distinguishing voices, especially among the lower classes, where it is easier to identify different geometric classes, such as Equilateral Triangles, Squares, and Pentagons. However, this method becomes unreliable among the higher classes, where voices become indistinguishable. To compensate, touch is used for recognition, where individuals feel each other’s angles to determine their identity. For the lower classes, this process is straightforward, as the shape of a triangle or square can be quickly identified through its angles.

Among the upper classes, however, recognition by touch is more difficult, especially when identifying higher-ranked polygons. The precise identification of an individual’s class requires long practice, and even highly educated individuals struggle to distinguish between shapes with many sides, such as a ten-sided versus a twelve-sided polygon.

Moreover, recognition by touch requires care and caution, as a single misstep can lead to injury. A sudden movement during the process can cause fatal accidents, particularly with the more angular figures, like the Isosceles, whose sharp points pose risks. The author reflects on a personal family history, where one such accident set back his family’s social ascent by several generations.

In conclusion, although the Flatlanders cannot see angles directly, they can infer them with great accuracy, using their developed sense of touch and a natural progression in angle sizes, which helps them distinguish classes with surprising precision.