We Journal 2

      For my passage I chose page three of We. In this passage, D-503 is describing the setting, he describes the nature around him. D-503 focuses on the colorful and stimulating aspects of nature, such as "the sweet pollen", "the blue sky", and the "wild plains" (3). He also talks about the "sweet lips of every woman you meet" (3). This passage gives the reader the sense that D-503 and the rest of the One State are quite in touch with nature and are able to act freely. The fact that D-503 knows about all these things on the outside of the Green Wall is suggesting that the One State is lenient and allows its "numbers" to experience what is on the other side of the Green Wall.

Contrast: Taken in context, this passage serves as a contrast to what the reader was able to infer on the previous page. On the previous page, Zamyatin portrayed One State as a totalitarian government. A government that is very black and white, a government with strict rules that are simply not broken. This black and white government that is portrayed on the previous page is the exact opposite of what Zamyatin suggests in this passage. By having D-503 express his knowledge about things on the other side of the wall, Zamyatin is implying that the rules of the One State are not so harsh after all, that they are in fact more of guidelines than actual rules. However, Zamyatin does not portray this simply through what D-503 observes, he also uses the imagery of colors.

Imagery: Zamyatin uses the imagery of colors to characterize D-503. He gives the reader the idea that the black and white views and rules of the One State may not always be the same to D-503. By having D-503 take in colors and express his positive feelings towards them, Zamyatin is suggesting that D-503 is quite different from the other "numbers" of the One State. When the reader interprets this characterization, they may make the assumption that D-503 is more likely to rebel, due to his atypical "fascination" with colors in what Zamyatin suggests is a purely black and white society.