{"id":4737,"date":"2015-02-05T18:53:11","date_gmt":"2015-02-05T23:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/quallsk\/?p=4737"},"modified":"2016-02-01T14:14:47","modified_gmt":"2016-02-01T19:14:47","slug":"we-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/quallsk\/2015\/02\/05\/we-3\/","title":{"rendered":"We"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the book We <\/em>written by Yevgeny Zamyatin, the characters lack names similar to those within our society and instead are called ciphers and labeled with a letter and number. The main character D-503, a mathematician, struggles throughout the book with his understanding of the One State society and what exists outside of the Green Wall. The One State society promotes a \u201cmathematically perfect life\u201d devoid of imagination or individuality. D-503 meets I-330 early on in record two, a woman who\u2019s very physical appearance with her extremely white teeth defy the principle of uniformity within the State.<\/p>\n

I-330 is important in the development of D-503 as a character and his evolving relation to One State policies and society. I-330 challenges D-503\u2019s conception of life and happiness as a mathematical equation. In the beginning I-330 plays Ancient songs on the piano rather than the industrial music of the One State. Unlike his comrades, D-503 finds himself enjoying the music rather than laughing at it. In relation to I-330\u2019s effect on D-503, Zamaytin frequently mentions her while describing the sun. The sun has two forms, one in which it exists in the One State in a \u201cpale-bluish-crystalline\u201d state and one in which it is \u201cburning\u201d and \u201cshedding itself in little tufts.\u201d The former represents the control of the One State over all aspects of society and it\u2019s extension of control over nature\u2019s interaction with the State within the Green Wall. The latter represents the uncontrolled wild, which exists outside of the One State and defies the State\u2019s scientific and authoritarian control.<\/p>\n

I-330\u2019s impact on D-503 continues in her introduction of D-503 to alcohol and tobacco, both of which are banned by the One State because it is considered to be poison. After drinking D-503 finds himself torn between two identities the one he has created under the One State, that of the scientific mathematician living harmoniously under the state ideology and rules. The second identity released by the alcohol is one of a wild and emotional being characterized by \u201cshaggy paws\u201d which has climbed out of the \u201cshell\u201d created by the One State. D-503\u2019s \u201cshaggy paws\u201d are a physical representation of his inherent originality, which is hidden beneath the self created by the indoctrination of the One State. I-330\u2019s flagrant violations of One State policy and D-503\u2019s awakening to his own individualism represent a threat to the survival of the collective and therefore a threat to the Guardians and Benefactor controlling the State. In this way Zamaytin is commenting on the threat of individuality and deviation from the imposed ideology as the internal enemy of the Soviet Union and it\u2019s existence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the book We written by Yevgeny Zamyatin, the characters lack names similar to those within our society and instead are called ciphers and labeled with a letter and number. The main character D-503, a mathematician, struggles throughout the book … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1375,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[110561],"tags":[68218,110895,22721,70980,110624],"class_list":["post-4737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hist254-archive","tag-dystopia","tag-hist254","tag-soviet-union","tag-we","tag-yevgeny-zamyatin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/quallsk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/quallsk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/quallsk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/quallsk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1375"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/quallsk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/quallsk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4737\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/quallsk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/quallsk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/quallsk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}