We Answers (original) (raw)
INTEGRAL POINT OF "WE"
To Orwell Today, re: ESSENCE OF WE & 1984
These are the answers to the questions that a reader requested for the novel �We�. I tried to answer all of them as best as I can. I hope it helps.
All the best,
Mateja
Answers to �We� Questions
by Mateja Lekic
(1) What happens when the INTEGRAL goes for its test flight? Does D-530 get injured, is I-330 in the INTEGRAL as well, is D-530 caught for his devious plan at this time, etc?
Answer: I-330 does not get injured but D-503 does (He is hit on the back of his head and is knocked unconsciousness). D-503 is not exactly caught here, but he is considered suspicious. From this test flight, D-503 gets sent to talk to the Guardians and the Benefactor (leading him in the end to give in/Cause of him giving in isn�t just from failed rebel act on test flight though). I-330 was in the Integral with D-503 but fails in taking over the ship with D-503 (Their plan was to capture the ship).
(2) How is D-530 caught for his scheme to start a revolution? Does 0-90 tell the Guardians/Benefactor or? How would the INTEGRAL help start the revolution?
Answer: D-503 does get caught, and he isn�t tortured or thrown in jail. The Benefactor and the Guardians do get to him and make him think over everything he had done and for what reason. He isn�t sure who to believe, I-330 or the Benefactor. Yet in the end he gives into the One State for the opportunity to be safe and happy. The plan that I-330 and the other rebels had for taking over the Integral was a failure. The Integral is a powerful mark of new technology, and if the so-called rebels get it; this means a big downfall to the One State (It could spark more revolution). I�m not 100% sure what they were planning to do with it, but maybe crash it or break through the glass wall encompassing the One State. However, O-90 does not turn D-503 in or tell of his plans to overthrow the One State, instead D-503 and his plans with the rebels are a failure due to U. U was the woman that checked all of D-503 pink coupons in the lobby/reception (At D-503�s apartment building downstairs) area and when she visits his room one day, she looks through his diary (�We�) and sees plans of revolution. She doesn�t give it all away, just the Integral takeover. U tells D-503 that she didn�t name I-330 as one of the rebels against the One State.
(3) How does the book end? D-530 undergoes the Great Operation to remove his Imagination, while I-330 dies in front of him by refusing to answer questions by the Benefactor? How come D-530 does not recognize I-330?
Answer: In the end, D-503 gets the disease imagination removed out of him. He submits to the One State and again returns to be a pawn in their regime. At the very end of the novel as he watches I-330 get tortured, it�s not that he doesn�t recognize her, its just that he doesn�t care���anymore. Let me quote what D-503 says in the last entry of his diary, �No delirium, no absurd metaphors, no feelings: nothing but facts. Because I am well, I am entirely, absolutely well. I smile - I cannot help smiling: a kind of splinter was pulled out of my head, and the head feels light, empty. Or, to be more precise, not empty, but free of anything extraneous that might interfere with the smiling (a smile is the normal state of a normal man).� He has attained happiness and that�s all he cares for now. He wants to preserve this paradise he has entered. So in this happiness he has gained smiles, nothing but smiles from himself. He has no emotion, no heart, no sympathy for I-330 or any of the other members of her organization (rebels). D-503�s only duty is to the One State, and like he was at the beginning of the novel, he returns to his old self.
(4) Are the inhabitants of One State descendants of the survivors of the 200 Years War? Who lives on the other side of the Green Wall?
Answer: In the novel it mentions that after the 200 Years War there was much confusion and disorganization. Many of the people wished for happiness but didn�t know how to attain it. A minor group of people spoke of making a new society and world (Survivors of 200 Years War), and eventually ganged up and dragged the other people into joining them. They drag and capture to bring them to this new world order. This world will later become the One State. However, many do escape. On the outside of the wall, past the One State, there are animals, trees, humans (to an extent), and wildlife/nature. Beyond this glass (wall), life and freedom are represented. Also, some of the people that neglected and escaped the control of the beginning members of the One State, these are their descendents of those survivors/refugees. They have evolved to fit this wild/savage/free land. So these humans that live on the outside are ape like and D-503 sees resemblance but also change through this evolution.
(5) What does the ending of the book mean when D-530 says, "Because reason has to win"?
Answer: The ending lines �Because reason must prevail�, I believe are very satirical. D-503 talks about reason and he sides with probably the most unreasonable organization in this world. He speaks of reason and even though he has no soul and imagination, he speaks of it in the Benefactors/Guardian�s favor. Zamyatin shows just what happens when the individual loses himself to the control of the government or state. He neither questions himself nor thinks about what he is saying; he becomes a machine, obeying all orders and commands.
Mateja Lekic
November 1, 2006
Greetings Mateja,
Thank you for the profound explanation of the 'integral' points of "We" in your answers to those (and other questions) we "We" readers have.
All the best,
Jackie Jura
Jackie Jura
~ an independent researcher monitoring local, national and international events ~
email: orwelltoday@gmail.com
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