We #3

Motifs- "It's strange-- there seems to be a blank white page inside my head." The motif of paper became extremely interesting to me at this point in the book because D-503 saying that he has a blank page in his head connects to several other places in the book. The one that really stand out to me was when D-503 previously talked about chemistry and he made the comparison that something was like the filter paper that chemists use. The idea that his mind is no longer like a filter paper, catching what is not wanted in the solution, is almost like D-503 is clearing his mind before his meeting with the Benefactor. He later goes on to talk about how all of the lines in his life were cut, and lines being what is perfect and representative of the one state, he is showing his disconnection to the one state while still fearing it. The one state controls him regardless of whether or not he supports them. This shapes my understanding of the society because it becomes more powerful than I previously thought. Later in the passage the Benefactor talks to D-503 about when Jesus was crucified, and this made me think about the whole idea of previous people being ancient and inferior, and it's just incredibly interesting how the Benefactor is able to use it to convince D-503. The motif of things being ancient across the novel have shaped my understanding of the society because it shows how the people of the one state view themselves, and especially the benefactor himself. Little is known of that character for a really long time, so when Zamyatin uses the motif of ancient civilization it characterizes the Benefactor a lot more than other motifs would.

Setting- "It's strange: the barometric pressure is falling, but there is still no wind, just silence." (pg. 148)

The setting is very important at this point in the novel because the weather is showing how changes are being made and effects are taking place but no major effects have actually occurred. I think that at this point in the novel the weather has become a symbol of the internal struggle that D-503 is going through. Looking back on the novel the weather was nice and perfect, much like how D-503 was content with his life at the point in the novel. However at this point in the novel the barometric pressure is dropping, much like how D-503's feelings are changing, but nothing major has happened to him at this point. This connects to later in the novel because after he has had the operation the barometer goes back to normal, which would reflect his reaffirmed belief in the triumph of reason over emotions. The use of the barometer is significant in shaping my understanding of the society because weather is something that I can connect to in my personal life. Especially having lived in Oregon my whole life when I read about how the weather is changing for D-503 is makes me think of the weather that I have encountered, which is mostly just rain, with a few snowy days and a few sunny days a year, but these connections bring up all of the feelings and then I feel like I understand D-503 and his society better as a result. If Zamyatin had not chosen to use weather in the setting of the novel I would lose that connection and then I would not be able to connect to D-503 in the way that I do. 

Language- "I noticed that she had sharp and very white teeth and that this was beautiful." (pg. 203)

The language becomes especially important in the last entry of the book. Once D-503 has had the operation, his language returns to the way that it was in the beginning of the book, precise and almost mathematical. Which confuses me, because it seems to me that the operation is basically a lobotomy, and I didn't think that people who had received lobotomies were still mathematial. I thought they leaned more on the brain dead side. However assuming that the great operation is different from a lobotomy, the language shapes my understanding of society in the sense that now I understand that there is still beauty without imagination. There was an episode of Star Trek titled, "Is there in truth, no beauty?" well we answers that question. By removing emotions beauty still exists, as shown by D-503. I think that Zamyatin uses this language to show that not while is may seem like a bad idea to lose your imagination, that fear is usually because we think that that means a loss of concepts like beauty. However I would argue that Zamyatin is showing not to fear the loss of imagination because we may lose beauty, rather because losing one's imagination means a loss of control over what beauty is. Overall the language used reflects the values that the society upholds, not what the individual upholds. 

These are the quotes I was talking about in my first journal that I forgot to put in

"Reason, which has been able to make infinity (something so frightening to the Ancients) into a digestible concept, by..." (pg. 54)

"Spring. From beyond the Green Wall, from the wild invisible plains, the wild brings the yellow honey-dust from a flower of some kind" (pg. 5)

"Nighttime. Green, orange, blue; a red "grand" instrument; a dress. as yellow as a lemon." (pg. 30)