keiths001's Full Review: Evgenii Ivanovich Zamiatin and Clarence Brown - We
The only reason I came across this book was because it was an assigned reading for an introductory university English course. The only reason I’m taking an introductory English course is because absolutely nothing else was available in this summer session, and I needed an extra class to fill my student loan requirements. I sure wasn’t expecting much out of the class, let alone this book with a really stupid front cover on it. Luckily for me, the novel was at least entertaining enough for me to not slowly twist a pencil through my ear.
A Little Background
“We” was written by Yevgeny Zamyatin, a Russian author, sometime between 1920 and 1924. It was first published as a translated version in English, as the Soviet Union deemed it too radical for their tastes. It actually wasn’t released in Russian until 1988. The book is based on a “dystopia”: a so-called utopia that in reality is anything but. It’s much in the same vein as Orwell’s 1984, and it’s been suggested that this book was in fact Orwell’s inspiration for 1984. ”We” is Zamyatin’s commentary on what he felt was the true nature of a socialistic regime, such as the one that had come to power in the Soviet Union after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.
The Story
Enough of that crap, onto the meat of the book. ”We” is set a thousand years into the future. The book is based on the main character D-530, (no one has a name, they are all issued serial numbers, with males having a consonant at the beginning and females having a vowel at the beginning.) as a first-person narrator. D-530 is the builder of the first spaceship, called the INTEGRAL. OneState, the name of the society, has decreed that the first voyage of the INTEGRAL will contain writings that will entail the glories of OneState for whatever primitive lifeforms it may come in contact with. Basically the book is like a diary of D-530, detailing everything that happens to him in the period leading up to the launching of the INTEGRAL, and giving a description of the society, with each chapter being labeled as a “record”.
Society in the book has been transformed into a total socialistic style, with logic being the basic of life. There is no real creativity or art as we know it, everything is based on numbers and logic. Everyone dresses and looks the same. A mathematician is called a “poet”. Everything is made of glass, including apartments and furniture, so absolutely nothing can take place without everyone seeing. The head of the society is known as the Benefactor, much in the same vein as Orwell’s Big Brother.
The book follows D-530’s experiences, and his introduction to the female I-330, and his discovery of his “soul” and “imagination.” In other words, he becomes corrupt as far as the current state of normalcy.
The Characters
Other than D-530, most of the characters are very one-dimensional, and aren’t fleshed out at all. Seeing as how it’s written in first person, it mostly deals with D-530’s thoughts and a narrative on his experiences.
D-530 transforms throughout the novel from the epitome of structure and conformity, into a confused, emotional individual. It’s fascinating to watch how what we see as normal human emotions surface within him one at a time, and how he reacts to these strange feelings and constantly refers to himself as being “sick.”
Zamyatin uses D-530 to show how socialism transforms people into robots, but at the same time it is impossible to keep down normal human nature. The rest of the characters are merely there for D-530 to interact with, with I-330 being the only one who appears in any regularity, but is mostly there as the catalyst for D-530’s transformation.
My Impressions
I read Orwell’s 1984 years ago, and found it extremely interesting. Reading ”We” which is credited as Orwell’s inspiration was fascinating, as it was easy to notice the vast parallels between the two novels.
Zamyatin had the advantage of first-hand experience with the Soviet Union’s brand of socialism, and had probably the best vantage point on which to comment on it. He over-emphasizes the absurdity of some socialistic principles, and furthers the thought of humans as robots under such a regime. In his view, everything is rigid, set in stone, and thoroughly laid out for everyone. In the novel, every hour of the day except for 2 is strictly laid out for each person to follow. Everybody gets up at the exact same instant, they all eat at the same time, they are required to take exactly 50 bites of each mouthful, they sign up for “Sex Days” with anybody they want, all their furniture is made up of exact 90 degree angles. It is all very strict and sterile. As the narrator puts it, they have conquered the last two obstacles to human happiness: hunger and love.
Final Thoughts
If you have read or seen the movie of George Orwell’s 1984, then I strongly suggest you pick up ”We” to see the contrasts and comparisons between the two, and get another perspective on the whole dystopia idea. I found ”We” to be a bit more wordy than 1984, but it is still not a very difficult read at all, coming in at just over 200 pages. Zamyatin has some very fascinating theories and ideas, and the way in which he presents them is intriguing. I just wish I didn’t have to go and write a silly English essay on this thing. I hate those. Really, I do.
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