We, is one of those books that everyone should read, but no one has. The first dystopia, which spawned countless others, e.g. 1984, Brave New World, Anthem and many more. Yevgeny Zamyatin, a Russian exiled by both a Tsar and Stalin, captures the simple but mistaken idea of the collective over the individual. This book is frightfully hilarious in its depictions of true futuristic collectivism, where mankind is on the verge of machine like accuracy and identity. This book is an exploration of philosophy, identity, and revolution.

The OneState and its reliance on routine versus the other side of the Green Wall with its spontaneity and naturalness are at odds in most dramatic fashion. The people of OneState are merely numbers, D-503 and I-330 being the main characters of this work. D-503 embodies the ideal of collectivism, a mathematician who is the head engineer on OneState’s biggest project the Integral, a spaceship to spread their philosophy to the other planets. I-330, the revolutionary woman who upturns D-503’s life and the whole of OneState is the embodiment of individualism.

D-503 and the rest of the numbers of OneState believe wholeheartedly in the benevolence and plan of the Benefactor, they are coldly rational without emotions, imagination or dreams. They do not question the situation they are in. They listen to dogma. However, when I-330 enters D-503’s life he falls in love (an emotion he did not believe in before and was difficult for him to comprehend.) I-330 made him question his entire life, and the system under which he lives.

When I-330 challenges his beliefs and he retorts she responds with, “Children are the only bold philosophers. And bold philosophers will always be children. So you’re right, it’s a child’s question, just as it should be: Then What? (p. 168)” Humanity must never stop questioning the conditions that it is surrounded by. Things can change, but if one merely accepts all the conditions that surround one’s life then nothing will ever change. No one can control everything, and the only constant in life is change. Others will not do it for you though; they will do things from themselves. Only your identity and you can make positive changes in your life.

Identity plays a huge part of this work of prose. All the characters are numbers, except the great Benefactor that rules over OneState. The numbers all follow the rules of a calendar, with specific activities at certain times and rhythms. In fact, all men and women eat as one, chewing fifty times before swallowing their petroleum-based food. When walking on the streets they walk in perfect lines of four across in rhythm. But as the novel continues more and more chaos is thrown into the machine.

The numbers are scared of being individuals; they have relied on OneState for so long, most do not know how to react to dissent. In fact, the scenes that show individualism of the numbers in any fashion cause chaos with the numbers, no one knowing what to do. The highly logical D-503 struggles with this himself:

When all is said and done, this being a point has its own logic (modern): A point contains more unknowns than anything else. All it has to do is move, budge a bit, and it can transform into thousands of different curves, hundreds of solids shapes (p.141-2.)

As the world slowly devolves into greater and greater chaos, with the tyrannical OneState trying to hold tighter and tighter on to the reins of power, I-330 continues to hold her ground. “What difference is it to you if I stay on here alone? What difference is it to you if I don’t want others to do the wanting for me? If I want for myself? If I want the impossible? (p. 200)” One has no duty to do for others, without thinking of themselves. The individual is the basic point of humanity. We form groups because we can achieve more together. However, we must not get locked into any specific station or point in space lest we lose the ability to control our own destinies. Others do not always know what is best for us, and we often need to make our own mistakes to truly learn. This is how revolutions take place, and without them the universe would implode.

Revolution is another major theme of this novel. A revolution pitting the individual versus the collective. Freedom versus the safety of the collective. These themes apply to this day. In fact, this novel was so inflammatory at the time of its writing, around 1920, that it was not published in Russia until 1988. There are strengths to both sides of the argument, which is inherent in life. But one side cannot rule forever. As there is no good without bad, no beauty without ugly, or up without down, control needs freedom or neither exists.

D-503 the paragon of collectivism sums it up perfectly, “The only means to rid man of crime is to rid him of freedom (p. 36)” This stark portrayal of his beliefs and those of OneState is shocking, but abundantly clear to everyone (or should be.) Man always has a choice of his actions, even under the most severe regimes. Man can change at any moment, or fight the established rules of his day, because the rules are not absolute, they are just made up to control him. But following and enforcing them are a choice to be made by all parties. And some men will always choose to disobey. Most times a woman is involved somewhere, as is the case in this novel.

This ability for man to always change at any moment as they always have a choice of what to do is not only stoic, but inherent in the idea of revolution. Change and time are continual; they will flip the coin of control and chaos until there is no difference between the two.

And how can there be a final revolution? There is no final one. The number of revolutions is infinite. The last one – that’s for children. Infinity frightens children, and it’s essential that children get a good night’s sleep… (p. 168)     I-330.

The lessons of this novel apply to life more than I wished they did. It has captured the attention of scholars and authors for generations, but it has largely been forgotten in recent times. This book is scary and hilarious in its satire. The world that exists in OneState cannot exist today, but it is easy to see the machinations of those in power wishing for the control of the world like that of the Benefactor. Remember that one must always choose one’s own path. Don’t let others want for you. There is no end in the infinity, if you don’t like your circumstances change them. Revolution is the only way for progress.

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