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A Revolution Against Comfort

In Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We the civilized people of earth all live under the One State with one ruler, the Benefactor. The people take comfort in their lack of freedom; they follow a strict schedule for everything (including sex and sleeping), they all vote the same every year, and they dread the hour of the day designated for personal use. The main character, D-503, enjoys his lack of freedom as everyone in the society does, until he meets I-330, a revolutionary. She presents him with a new idea of personal freedoms and free thought which he does not agree with because it attacks the ideas that keep his life so comfortable and safe. D-503 has the same reaction to this idea that many of the citizens would most likely have, which is a dread of anything that might sacrifice their comfort and safety, even with the possible gain of a truly free existence. The revolutionaries in We failed to instigate an uprising against the Benefactor because he had already lulled them into a false sense of security and comfort, leaving them helpless to any inhumane law the One State might force upon them.

The society in We, the One State, is run mainly by the Table of Hours. The Table is almost worshipped by the citizens, “[...] I feel like making up poems or prayers (the same thing). Ah, if only I were a poet, I would rightly exalt you, O Table [...]” (12). And with such respect comes great obedience, “[...] we, the millions rise as one. At the exact same hour, we uni-millionly start work and uni-millionly stop work. And merged into a single, million-handed body, at the exact same Table-appointed second [...]” (13). This well respected, closely followed system seems to work for its citizens, who find comfort in normality. Even though this way of life seems safe and stable to some, to others it is full control in place of personal freedoms.

The revolutionaries in We do not want a perfectly orderly world with...