Through the novel We, the author, Yevgeny Zamyatin, portrays the importance of emotions. In the beginning of the novel, one can tell that everything in OneState is based off of numbers and calculations. The main character, D-503, thinks that equations, numbers, and calculations are all there is to life. Then, he meets I-330. Through his relationship with I-330, D-503 discovers emotions. And once he finds emotions, his behavior starts to change. D-503 begins to think more about everything, have incomplete thoughts and trial off, develop opinions, and he also starts to question things in the society. To everyone in OneState, behaving similar to D-503 is seen as crazy, although in our society those behaviors are viewed as completely normal. So, by taking away emotions to begin with, people that develop emotions believe they have an illness.
In We, D-503 discusses how much the equation square root minus one bothers him because it is imaginary. So when he says, “Now I no longer live in our clear, rational world; I live in the ancient nightmare world, the world of square roots of minus one," he is actually saying something very big. Throughout the whole novel he stresses about this equation and how much he basically fears it. By saying that he lives in a world of the imaginary square root minus one, he is referring to a world with emotion. His mind isn't only thinking about the clear perfect calculations of OneState, it is now clouded and filled with something that people from our society have today- emotions.
Overall, I enjoyed We. I thought the whole idea of the book was interesting to consider. I never thought about what it would be like to live in a society where feelings don't exist and where everything is based off of precise calculations. Although, this book gives me a very detailed perspective of it. There are so many people who nonchalantly say that life would be better without emotions, but this novel obviously proves that it wouldn't be.
