We by Yevgeny Zamyatin is a dystopian novel written in 1921. The novel we is written in the future tense. The main character, D-503 is a mathematician that works for the Integral (a spaceship). D-503 lives in a state called One State. A place where citizens at One State are being controlled. They have no liberty to do what they want. The worse part is, One State is covered by a big green glass wall, that keeps all citizens from One State to explore "untamed" nature. 1984 by George Orwell is also another dystopian novel written in future tense. Although the book was actually published in 1949, the author remarkable foreshadows what the future may become. The main character in this dystopian novel is Winston Smith. Winston Smith lives in a place called Oceania located in Airstrip One in London. Smith works in the Records Department of the Ministry of Truth. His job is to rewrite historical documents so they match the constantly changing current party line, basically lying to the people of Oceania. I will now compare both well written novels based on my understanding of the book. I will share similarities that both novels share and analyze a few passages from We, which are the ones I did not fully understand.
For example, both novels contain a repressive totalitarian society, a victim of that repression, and also an attempt to overthrow the government. A close analysis of these two novels reveals that there are many differences and similarities between We and 1984.In particular it is the distinctness of the conflicts which is important,for in We, the conflict exists within the character of D-503, whereas in 1984, the friction occurs between Winston Smith and Big Brother.
The main character for We is D-503. D-503 believes that every human being should be controlled. He hates the word freedom, he envies freedom. D-503 prefers to be controlled by a one government, which already exist in the novel. Although in 1984, Winston hates the fact that he is being controlled by Big Brother. He wishes he can be free to say and write whatever comes to his mind. But obviously that can’t happen in 1984. Both characters have a similarity. They both want to overthrow the government and get what they truly want. Which in this case, Winston Smith wants freedom and D-503 wants to take over the integral.
Both dystopian novels have some really strong similarities. For We by Zamyatin, they are being controlled. The citizens of One State are trapped within a green glass wall. They have assigned hours and they are also assigned to people whom they may only have sex time. In 1984, they are being watched every second, every minute. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU. That literally say’s it all. In each room, they have microphones hidden in the wall, to listen at everything you say. They also have cameras in the room to keep an eye on you.
An important contrast between D-503 and Smith that demonstrates the different conflicts is the way they view their respective governments. A good contrast is, D-503 loves the One State throughout the entire novel. D-503's love for the One State is clearly shown in his devoted references, "the mathematically perfect life of the One State" (Zamyatin, p.2) and the Table of Hours (Zamyatin,p. 12). On the other hand, Winston Smith has a big dislike for Big Brother and its way of doing things. His thoughts are brought out in the writings of his journal, such as the repeating of
"DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER" (Orwell, p. 9). In fact, almost all his thoughts are in some way expressing his attitude toward the destruction of the Party.
There are two facts to help explain D-503 and Smith's different attitude toward their governments. First, the One State Is about a thousand years old, but Big Brother has been in power for less than fifty years.Because of that, the results are that the society of One State is firmly established, and it is thus able to control its numbers, like D-503, fairly well. But the Party is just beginning, relatively speaking, to control its citizens. Newspeak, a language believed to limit thought, is just being put into use. Second,you should know that through Winston's job, he is able to see that the Party is based on lies and exploitation and therefore he can see that Big Brother is not what he think he is. Winston Smith finds out he is evil. But D-503 has no such exposure and cannot possibly know the true nature of the One State. D-503 is not given clues or evidence such as Winston Smith in 1984.
In conclusion to my blog, I explained the differences and similarities between both novels. In 1984, Winston finds out that Big Brother is evil, so he then tries to overthrow his government. He starts committing crimes like thoughtcrime. Similar to D-503, but its different because D-503 has a soul which is considered a “sickness”. He commits crimes by visiting the ancient house and have sex time with other numbers, which is also another crime. I have to stay both novels are written perfectly, they can be confusing but they share an excellent story.
