The last chapters of We were by far the most interesting out of the whole story for me. Everything came to a conclusion that left me wondering what would happen now. Even though everything is explained, I was left wanting more out of the story.
When D-503 first saw what was beyond the wall, he was completely overwhelmed by what he saw. Nothing in this world is familiar to him and the emotions it brings are too much for him to handle at first. However, as time went on he felt free, as the One State is longer controlling his actions. “Slowly, just overhead – a bird. I see: it is alive, like me” (122). He no longer feels tied down. He is also referring to himself as I and even mentioned this as the true him. That the person he was in the One State wasn’t truly what he was like.
What interested me the most was how the One State tried to take back control over its citizens. The One State knows how much perfection and unison means to the people and used this method to take them back. They called it The Operation, and used being like a machine the reason everyone should get cured. “You are perfect, you are machine like. The road to one hundred percent happiness if free…hurry to submit to the Great Operation!” (139). D-503 himself thought it was amazing when he first read it. Perfectly built machines is something that everyone in the One State valued. It’s logical, and only does what is necessary. There are no extra parts, no unnecessary functions. The people of the One State who were feeling confused after the events were probably so frightened of the unknown of the future that they voluntarily went to get “cured”. Everyone who didn’t go to get cured was forcefully taken, D-503 included.
At the last entry of the novel, D-503 began talking only through what he considered facts and reason. Because the One State has “cured” him of a soul and imagination he is exactly as he was in his first entry. There are no emotions, no individual thought. Only the facts the One State wants him to believe. “The handwriting is mine… but fortunately, only the handwriting. No delirium, no absurd metaphors, no feelings” (179). Also, after he got “cured” he started referring to himself as a number more often. He no longer says only “I” which implies individuality, he adds his number to it, which shows just how tied he is to the One State once more. “Can it be true that I, D-503…” (179) “On the following day, I, D-503…” (180). His entry doesn’t contain any questions. He even says he’s happy about not having a soul anymore. His return to the One State and its values are now complete. He is just another number now.
We to me was the most interesting read compared to Brave New World, as it shows just how quickly people can change and how fast someone can become influenced by something, or in this case someone.
