Yevgeny Zamyatin creates an ominous mood that hooks the reader into the story and suggests that the society, at this point, is perfect according to the main character. In the first line, D-503 says "...my cheeks are burning". This is again repeated two paragraphs later "...I feel my cheeks burn". Burning connects to the idea of The Integral, which is essentially a rocket ship, and flying into outer space. But burning also suggests destruction. The thought of something burning could suggest that something will be destroyed, or that something is being destroyed.
He also mentions "tangent" and "asymptote". In math, a tangent is a line that touches a circle in only point, and he says he is "taming a wild zigzag along a tangent". Also, in common speech, when someone says "going off on a tangent" it means something unrelated or irrelevant. So, this suggests that they are taking something crazy or irrelevant and "taming" it, making everything the same. Also, an asymptote, in math, is the line that the graph of something never touches. It comes right up to the asymptote but never actually touches it. It essentially acts as a barrier. Zamyatin suggests that there is some sort of barrier which cannot be crossed, and that the people are being held in.
In the second paragraph, D says that he will record what "we" think. He groups himself with the entire population as one single entity. Their civilization is even called "One State", suggesting that all people are the same, therefore collectively make one person. More precisely, that all people have the exact same beliefs and ideas, since they all "think" the same thing.
Towards the end of the passage, D is talking about what he will be writing and how it will "feed for many months on [his] sap [...] and then in anguish [..] will be ripped from [himself] and placed at the foot of the One State". Literally, he is saying that his work, or what he has produced, he will have to give to the One State, in reference to his writings. In a greater context, this suggests that anything a person does in this society, or essentially their entire selves, must be given over to the One State. And that everything they do and create, their innermost feelings and creativity, are "ripped" away from them and "placed at the foot of the One State". Zamyatin suggests that people in this society, must give away their thoughts, ideas and creativity, to the government.
I really liked how you viewed the "burning cheeks" in regards to that being possible foreshadowing. The possibility of "burning" referring to the Integral is a connection that I did not make, however it is a captivating idea. I agree completely with your observation of Zamyatin's use of the word "we". The fact that Zamyatin uses that word implies that the coutry is indivisible, almost as if it is not built up of individuals, but instead is built up of parts that cooperate with one another, working towards a common goal.
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ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting how you mentioned what the term "going off on a tangent" meant. It does seem like D does this a lot throughout the book, mainly because it is a compilation of journals which he wrote. People in journals can tend to go off to different places rather than the main topic of why they chose to write in the first place. I also liked how you showed that by using the term "We" he implies that his writings are all the thoughts of the people in the society, and their beliefs as a whole.
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