Intro:

In “We” by Yevgeny Zamyatin, D-503 whom is a law abiding citizen of the One State which changes his perspectives due to emotions. D-503 the builder of the Integral and currently keeping entries which are meant to “bring mathematical infallible happiness” (1) to the reader of the journal yet as time passes by and he meets I-330 in which he is emotional involved. I-330 was one of the reasons for which he began a passage of change to a whole new different individual. He changed to the point in which lost the true purpose of keeping entries which was to promote the One State, yet now it has become a journal in which he express is most intimate and emotional entries.

Claim #1:

D-503 began to break rules after meeting I-330 such as not reporting her to the Guardians or not obeying the table of hours due. I-330 answered some of the internal questions he had lately due to him discovering a side of him, which he did know of before, this happened also while he felt the need to spend time with her.

“I cannot understand why I did not go to the Office of the Guardians” (35).

“I cannot live without her” (85). “I could not bear it any longer! Where have you been?”(97)

Claim #2:

By falling in love with I-330 and beginning to realize he had all these emotions and sense of self in a society which constricted these, he became sick. This was a moment in which he discovered he had a soul, something with was never seen or discussed publicly yet it was an underlying issue in the One State. By D-503 having a soul he began to change even more his entries, from praising the One State to emotional entries and allowed him to be more receptive to the new ideas which I-330 gave him.

“You’re in a bad way! Apparently, you have developed a soul.” (89)

“I am saddened to see that, instead of a harmonious and strict mathematical poem in honor of the One State, I am producing some sort of a fantastic adventure novel” (103)

Claim #3:

Throughout the story D-503 began to explore his true self, yet at the end when he finds out he was used by I-330 his whole world has come apart. Once again by feeling anger and other emotions he decided to return to the One State and forget everything he has lived through most importantly I-330.

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In a dystopian world like in We where the individual is sacrificed and technology seems to be the control of everything there will always be others who are willing to fight to bring down this world. I-330 doesn’t abide by the rules of the One State and constantly breaks them. She wants to bring down this dystopia and create a new world. Throughout the book she goes from breaking rules to trying to convince D-503 that he too should help her bring down the One State. I-330s rebellion and actions make it clear to us that she is an “other”. We see her do all she can to stop the One State.

Claim 1
I-330 chooses to play the music she wants to play as an individual and everyone laughs at her including D-503.
“Then she sat down and began to play. Something savage, spasmodic, variegated, like their whole life at that time-not a trace of rational mechanical method. And, of course, all of those around me were right, they all laughed. Except for a few…but why was it that I, too…I?” (Zamyatin Pg 17)

Claim 2
I-330 claims that D-503 is now in her hands.
“But now you are in my hands. You remember-‘Every number who has failed to report to the Office of the Guardians within forty-eight hours, is considered…” (Zamyatin Pg 53)

Claim 3
I-330 will not speak and refuses to say anything about their plan to bring down the One State.
“Then she was pulled out, quickly restored with the aid of electrodes, and placed once more under the Bell. This was repeated three times-and still she did not say a word” (Zamyatin Pg 232)

Psychological manipulation is defined as a type of social influence that aims to change the perception or behavior of others through underhanded, deceptive, or even abusive tactics. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_manipulation‎). It’s being deceived, lied to, being led to believe in something or someone through false pretenses. No one likes being lied to. No one liked to be lead down the wrong path by someone whom they have put their trust in and in the worse of scenarios, by someone who they are in love with and who they believe to be equally in love with them. In the Store “We” D-503

Claim #1

I-330 tested D-503 vulnerability.

“ ‘But why impassable? […] A bridge can be thrown across an abyss.’ […] she spoke almost my own words that I had written down before our walk” (pages 6-7) I-330 is agreeing with D-503 and telling him exactly what he wants to hear. She is a creating a bond with him so she can involve herself into his life.

Claim #2

I-330 test her boundaries

I-330 breaks the rules and almost out right dares D-503 to report her to the office of the guardians. In the forty-eight hours he has to report he suddenly falls ill and has all these obstacles that prevents him from reporting her. “Certainly. I thought so. Something had to prevent you – no matter what” (page 53)

Claim #3

S was in the alliance with I-330

S possibly set D-503 for I-330. He’s D-503 guardian so he knows how he moves, acts, his emotional states. He knew he was ripe for the taken. “you named everyone you saw behind the wall but you forgotten one. […] Don’t you remember for a second you saw {…} me” (p 228-229). R is part of the revolution and knew that D-503 was the builder of in integral and is the main person they needed to corrupt for a successful revolution.

“I love—I am certain I can safely say, we love—only such a sterile, immaculate sky.” Immaculate sky, free from any flaw or in their terms “perfection.” The One State’s dictators and citizens believe in living in an ideal world where freedom is abolished and every single moment of their lives are controlled by a system. What stabilizes this system is all based on mathematics, where most of the time there is only one solution to every mathematical problem or predicament. There are other novels in which state their practices in what creates an example of a Utopian world but this novel is different, it is all numeric. The novel We  written by Yevgeny Zamyatin invites us to the One State’s world and mentality where freedom is replaced with mathematics. By having a mathematical system to control the living conditions in the One State it limits the chances of wrecking the system due to the table of hours, a form of one’s identity and strong belief in science.

Claim # 1

The table of hours decreases the chances of any of the citizens in the One State to become an individual.

“Fused into a single million-handed body, at the same second, designated by the Table, we lift our spoons to our mouths. At the same second, we come out for our walk, go to the auditorium, go to the hall for Taylor exercises, fall asleep” (12).

Claim # 2

Having a number instead of a name shows the dedication and commitment of sticking to the One State’s regulations.

“This irrational number had grown into me like something, foreign, alien, terrifying” (39).

Claim #3

Just like mathematics, science is perceived as a superiority subject that the One State believes in.

“It was not the generations before me, but I–yes, I—who had conquered the old God and the old life” (5).

In a mathematically impeccable world such as the One State, a square seems to be the most symmetrically perfect shape to reflect the overall life in the One State. Everything must be carried out with precision and the citizens of the One State must abide by the table of rules given to them by their God, the benefactor. They are never to think, desire, or question anything outside of this way of life; they are confined to a square mentality. With this essay I will analyze how the narrator, D-503, unconsciously questions this square of a society as well as breaks out of his own mental square.

We first must analyze the way of life in the One State to understand the analogy between the One State and that of a square. Beginning with the concept of uniformity, “thousands of numbers, in pale blue unifs, with golden badges on their breasts, bearing the State Number of each man and woman.” (5) As this excerpt clearly states, the people in the One State are to wear the exact same uniform, preventing any physical form of individuality. Individuality means weakness in a society like this, because a person that is allowed to think and be different is a potential threat to the well being of the society; the greater good.

Further examples of uniformity are found throughout the book, but they all lead down the same road of constraint. Life down to the very second was controlled in the One State, this was carried out by the “Table of Hours”. “But our Table of Hours! Why, it transforms each one of us into a figure of steel, a six-wheeled hero of a mighty epic poem. Every morning, with six-wheeled precision, at the same hour and the same moment, we- millions of us- get up as one. At the same hour, in million-headed unison, we start work […] designated by the table, we lift our spoons to our mouths. (12) We observe in this excerpt how the system (people of the One State) carries them selves in unison. They take pride in their togetherness because they know of nothing else but this table. Again confining them into a single-minded way of thinking, the perfect square.

After understanding the One State and the square they live in we can now begin to analyze how D-503 views this society. In the beginning chapters D-503 states something very interesting: “Now, think of a square, a living, beautiful square. And imagine that it must tell you about itself, about its life. You understand, a square would scarcely ever think of telling you that all it’s four angles are equal: this has become so natural, so ordinary to it that it’s simply no longer consciously aware of it. And so with me: I find myself continually in this square’s position.” (20) We see here that D-503 compares his ways of life to be as natural as the corners of a square. This could be seen two ways, the most direct way is that D-503 feels that describing his way of life is unnatural since it has become part of him. Second interpretation can be that he feels that he is trapped in this squared society and knows nothing but this life. So it would be unnatural to say something outside of this.

Introduction

In the book “We” by Yevgeny Zamyatin, character development is essential to the plots overall development. D-503’s development throughout the story is important because it is influenced by a certain person, I-330. After meeting I-330, D-503 goes through many changes and experiences things that are abnormal to that of the One State’s Ideals and is distracted from his original plans in the beginning of the book and this can be seen through his journal entries.

Claim 1 – D-503’s feeling of “sickness” is a sign of him drifting from the ways of the One State.  “My mathematics- until now the only firm and immutable island in my entire dislocated world- has also broken off its moorings, is also floating, whirling.”(101).

Claim 2 – After meeting I-330, D-503 starts to question many things of that of the One State.    “Does it mean, then, that this preposterous “soul” is as real as my unif, as my boots, although i do not see them at the moment? And if the boots are not a disease, why is the “soul” a disease?”(102)

Claim 3 – After meeting I-330, D-503 is following more of his instincts and less of Reason and towards the end, he goes back to Reasoning. “Because Reason must prevail”(232).