Written by Yevgeny Zamyatin in 1921, WE is a novel that is set in the One State where freedom does not exist. This is natural, in the sense that the novel was written in communist Russia shortly after the Russian Revolution of 1917. To understand this novel, means to firstly understand the concept of communism in Russia. Communism is where class and status do not exist. In all ministries in Russia there were Soviet "advisers" who reported directly to Moscow and held the real decision-making powers. All walks of life were infiltrated by agents and informers of the secret police which is reflected by the 'Guardians'.
In the first few chapters of the novel, it appears as though this is true in One State. Yet, as I read further, I realised that equality can not be fully achieved. The author uses simple imagery such as 'crooked nose, straight nose' and 'hairy hands' to illustrate this. I like the way that the author uses the 'quadrilateral... with four equal angles' to metaphorically represent One State. The 'quadrilateral' has four sides suggesting confinement, that everyone belong to the same place. The use of the 'four equal angles' show that all individuals are equal, everyone is honest and outright since the angles are right-angles, they are straight and have nothing to hide. The use of 'quadrilateral' also forms a stark contrast with the 'concentric [circular]' buildings.
I find that this book is a great read as it is written in the form of the diary of a mathematician, the use of square root of (-1) is extremely clever, as in complex numbers, this means i. 'square root of (-1) took control.' This displays a truth that is much different to what we would expect living in a democratic country, that many people living in One State do not refer to themselves as 'I' in fear that they would be breaching the rules of equality (of communism).
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