![\"Cover](\"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/quallsk\/files\/2016\/02\/we_yevgeny_zamyatin.jpg\")
<\/a>Cover for We by Yevgeny Zamyatin \u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n
Yevgeny Zamyatin\u2019s science fiction dystopian novel, We, tells the story of the character D-503 in his futuristic world, the One State, where everyone runs on the same clock, where one needs permission to close the blinds in their otherwise glass rooms, where there is one God-like ruler, the Benefactor, who ironically is \u201celected\u201d every year without competition. D-503\u2019s life as an engineer and mathematician is perfectly controlled and rational, as this regime believes true happiness comes with total control and that individual freedom brings forth chaos, until the disruptive force of love and emotions compel his world upside down.<\/p>\n
Zamyatin creates a futuristic world that feels very real but still retains its satirical message of the truths of collectivization. D-503\u2019s characters exemplifies both these aspects given the change that develops within him throughout the book and his realistic portrayal. The reader is first introduced to this straight-laced \u201ccipher\u201d who is perfectly content with his structured lifestyle. But then he meets a woman who is different and he can\u2019t stop thinking of her. He hates her, but he wants to be with her, which leads him to conclude that this is a type of sickness. The more time he spends with her, the more he feels a constant pain; he dreams for the first time and starts to question his motives. He\u2019s taken to a doctor who tells him he\u2019s developed a soul, which D-503 cannot comprehend since he\u2019s not completely familiar with the word. ((Zamyatin, Yevgeny. We. New York: Modern Library, 2006. P. 79))<\/p>\n
His transformation into realizing his true feelings and positions is something nearly everyone can understand, so as a reader we see him struggle with his position in society like we all do. But as readers aware of the general failure of communism in practice, we recognize the world he lives in is completely different than our own. It\u2019s difficult to understand how he feels as if the Guardians are \u201chelping\u201d when we see it as a mental conditioning. Zamyatin saw this type of communal living as a potential negative thing as the revolution and civil war was happening \u2013 in 1920 \u2013 and thus his goal of We could be to make readers question our own society and what we would do to achieve happiness, order, or freedom.<\/p>\n
How does D-503\u2019s development differ from that of other characters?
\nWhat is Zamyatin\u2019s purpose by writing to the reader as if we are an alien species unaware of the past?<\/p>\n
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Picture from\u00a0\u00a0www.gradesaver.com\/we<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Yevgeny Zamyatin\u2019s science fiction dystopian novel, We, tells the story of the character D-503 in his futuristic world, the One State, where everyone runs on the same clock, where one needs permission to close the blinds in their otherwise … Continue reading