Chapter 5, Of Our Methods of Recognizing One Another Summary

A. Square begins by discussing the difficulty with which inhabitants of Flatland recognize one another, since all appear as straight lines in the two dimensional world. He then explains that, in some cases, individuals are recognized by sound. In lower classes, tone and inflection can indicate the Equilateral, Square, and Pentagon classes. However, the aristocratic shapes are less easily identified, since their tones are assimilated, and since lower classes can imitate higher classes well.

As a result, another method, that of feeling, is used by many. Feeling involves the touch of one individual of the angle of another, which, through practice, can help to easily identify other classes. However, A. Square notes that with higher nobility classes, this is still difficult, since it is easily possible to confuse a...