Dystopian Journal #1: WE, Topic B

I-330 is a character in Yevgeny Zamyatin’s novel WE who is locked in a personal struggle against her society. I-330 is victimized by her society in that her interests, beliefs and personality especially conflicts with what her society expects of her. I-330 is noticeably different in her personality, and it is noticed by others. She is also caught in self-conflict because of this external conflict. She is constantly criticizing the ancient society when she actually embraces there ideals and habits( ie. Drinking and smoking). This not only displays self conviction, but an act of open rebellion against what her society expects of its people. She attracts D-503 because she does these forbidden things, while the blinds are closed and nobody can see. Smoking, drinking and even tempting D-503 with writing a note to excuse him from work are all things that this society forbids, because each of these things is for personal benefit only and has contribution to the community. Just as today’s teens rebel because they seek attention, I-330 seeks attention from D-503. In a sense, her open rebellion against her society was successful since it was able to gain attention from D-503. She even gave him the burden of love, dreams and the worst known condition of the society, a soul. In response to this, she simply laughs. As if she is unconcerned about societal norms, and what she knows she has accomplished by showing D-303 the forbidden ancient world of sin and self-gain.

Word count- 247