Distopia
I just finished reading We, a classic science-fiction distopia by an early-twentieth century Russian author. This book is amazing; it’s 1984 before 1984 existed. An active participant in the 1917 Revolution, Zamyatin accurately predicts stalinism long before Stalin ever rose to power. Ironically, though, his writings were condemned in the Soviet union, and he was forced to leave his country.
I always thought that the ending of 1984 was dark, but this book definately has Orwell beat. And with the large amount of equivocation going on in this text, the thought does occur that perhaps Orwell’s “Newspeak” wasn’t so new after all. In We, the dictator is known as the “Benefactor” for his role in saving humans from freedom. Freedom is scary, the unknown, not desirable in this world. The propoganda/indoctrination has been so succesful that the subjects of this future earth don’t want to be placed in a situation where they must make choices. While Orwell’s Winston might end up in prison and resigned to his fate, at least the resignation implies discontentment. In We, the book ends with the protagonist (whose name is D-413, because no one has names, just numbers) being forced to undergo an “operation” to remove his imagination — his soul. He is informed that the “Soul” is really a disease preventing the state from achieving ultimate happiness. Like I said, dark. But hey, it’s only ~ 130 pages, so go read it for yourself.