A somewhat minor, although important, symbol in the novel We by Yevgeny Zamyatin is hair. Zamyatin uses this symbol to create contrast between the strict, mathematical society of OneState, and the barbaric “rebels” on the other side of the green wall. In OneState, each person must shave his head. Through this image, Zamyatin provides a feeling of bareness and conformity. This can be associated with the lack of creation and imagination in OneState. Opposing this image is the image of hair, which represents wildness. Through out the novel, D-503 complains about his unnaturally hairy hands. As the novel progresses, and D-503 becomes more and more frazzled, this image emphasizes his lack of control. Hair as a symbol also appears when I-330 takes D-503 to the other side of the wall. The people he meets are covered with a fine layer of hair from head to toe. This emphasizes the wildness and freedom that these people have about them.
The quote that I found most interesting from We is:
“All my madness seemed to be blown away from me all of a sudden. I was me again. One thing was clear: I hated her, I hated her, I hated her!”
I found this quote humorous because the way D-503 acted towards his feelings for I-330 reminded me of the way a child would act. The feelings of love and seduction that I-330 shows towards him are completely foreign to D-503, so he rejects them. Once he is his “normal” self again, he declares three times that he hates I-330, when it is quite obvious that he actually loves her. He just does not know how to act towards those feelings.
Overall, I did not really enjoy reading We. Although the overall topic was intriguing, I found it hard to follow at times, and I had to re-read chapters very often. I also found myself getting very frustrated at D-503’s ideas and statements. However, I did like how the sentence structure became more disoriented as D-503 became more and more confused. Because it was written in a journal entry format, I found this to be very effective at illustrating what D-503 was going through.
I like your analysis of the recurring appearance of hair. The passage about his hairy hands stuck out to me, too, because it showed how far he was willing to go to make total equality.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was ironic and humorous as well that D-503 is so stunned by his emotions that he erroneously interprets his own feelings. It is especially ironic because D-503 takes great pride in his abilities to calculate and decipher solutions to a problem, and yet he is entirely incapable of reading his own heart.
ReplyDelete