Anti-utopia is a very special genre of literature. On the one hand, this is a description of a world that simply cannot exist: a cruel world, intolerant of the manifestation of human individuality. On the other hand, ordinary life without any fantastic elements, only on paper. And from such a resemblance to our reality, sometimes it becomes a little scary ...
Such is the novel written by Russian writer Evgeny Zamyatin, “We”. He became the first to create this kind of work. The great Aldous Huxley, along with George Orwell, became his followers.
Zamyatin, “We.” Summary of the work
The novel is written in the form of a diary maintained by a citizen of the United State. His name is D-503. More precisely, this is his "number". There are no names here, because even they can affect the formation of personality, which is so condemned by the Benefactor - the omnipotent and all-knowing ruler.
From the first diary entries we learn about the structure of life in the One State. Everyone here wears the same clothes - unifs, and only their color identifies gender. On each is written his number. In fact, the people living here are not citizens either: everyone calls each other that way - numbers.
It is worth noting that Zamyatin wrote “We,” a summary of which we are now considering, in 1920. Since the parallel with Soviet reality is clearly traced in the novel, the book, naturally, was not published during the life of the writer in our country.
Further, we learn that D-503 is one of the most talented scientists, a great mathematician who, like many other inhabitants of the United State, is working on the creation of INTEGRAL - a spacecraft that in the near future will have to go with the crew to explore distant planets. Zamyatin wrote “We,” a summary of which you are now reading, so that it is impossible not to believe in the terrifying future of the world. The United State is fenced by the Green Wall, behind which the so-called savages live - people who remained there after the Great Bicentennial War.
Everyone here has the opportunity of sexual relations with any other numbering of the opposite sex - you just need to take a special pink coupon. Most often, the D-503 meets the O-90, a short, puffy girl. The protagonist lives like that - according to the schedule regulated by the Hourly Tablet, until he meets I-330 - a revolutionary who, along with some other residents of the United State, is going to blow up the Green Wall to break free. At first, the D-503 considers this nonsense, and finds the woman terribly unpleasant. However, gradually, unexpectedly for himself, a feeling for I-330 manifests itself in him, which he had never experienced before - love.
How did Zamyatin finish “We,” a summary of which we have almost finished reading? D-503 together with I-330 and with other revolutionaries achieved what they wanted. The wall was blown up, the savages saw the number for the first time in a long time, chaos came in the United State. Some managed to escape - there, to freedom. However, all those who managed to be detained (among them the main character) undergo the Great Operation, which deprives the imagination. Those who were the main organizers of the explosion, including I-330, are executed with the help of the Gas Bell.
You have just read the summary of "We." Zamyatin put his whole soul into this work, and therefore it is absolutely necessary to get acquainted with it entirely in any case.