We and Zamyatin

Huxley’s The Brave New World and Orwell’s 1984 are the best-known dystopian novels. Before them, was We by Zamyatin.

We was written in 1920, shortly after the October Revolution. As usual, a man and a woman fell in love. The following is an abridged conversation of them, mostly lifted from Orwell’s review.

Man: “Do you realise that what you are suggesting is revolution?”

Woman:  “Of course, it’s revolution. Why not?”

M: “Because there can’t be a revolution. Our revolution was the last and there can never be another. Everybody knows that.”

W: “My dear, you’re a mathematician: tell me, which is the last number?”

M: “What do you mean, the last number?”

W: “Well, then, the biggest number!”

M: “But that’s absurd. Numbers are infinite. There can’t be a last one.”

W: “Then why do you talk about the last revolution?”

…

W: “Don’t you as a mathematician know that only differences-only differences-in temperature, only thermic contrasts make for life? And if all over the world there are evenly warm or evenly cold bodies, they must be smashed against each other! in order to get flame, explosions! And we shall smash! "

Zamyatin was trained as an engineer. He has deep understanding about mathematics and thermodynamics. That makes his writing fascinating. The book is pro revolution, violent revolution. Only violence can break loose the ossified society. Only violence can cut deep into the soil to aerate the land.  Yet it was the first book banned by the young Soviet government. The Soviet government was just born out of a revolution. But it definitely was not interested in a new revolution.

No authority or would be authority is interested in further revolution. Mohamod was the last prophet in Islam. Jesus was God's only son in Christianity. Jehovah was the only God in Judaism. It takes only one final fight to achieve communism in Marxism. Rich countries are at the End of History. Rich countries are developed countries and poor countries are developing. The dominant economic theory is general equilibrium theory. All popular social theories are sophisticated versions of "happily ever after" fairy tales. Men and women don’t mind working hard for a few days. But they demand eternal rewards. Any promise short of eternity is not worth biting.

The book is titled We. The following sentence from the book might give us some idea why the book is so titled. “And the natural road from nothingness to greatness is to forget that one is a gram and to feel that one is one millionth of a ton!” Being part of a giant machine, each of us becomes more powerful. Each also becomes less individualistic. The key to happiness is for each individual to become part of we. We are fans of the same football team. We are members of the same respected profession. We fight the same enemy. But to some people, becoming part of we can be suffocating.

Zamyatin couldn't get his writings published in Soviet Union. He pleaded to Stalin for emigration and got his permit. Zamyatin left for Paris in 1931. But life abroad wasn't happy. He died in 1937 in poverty, at the age of 53. While in Paris, he refrained from criticizing Soviet policies, hoping to return to Soviet Union some day. I couldn't find more detail about his life abroad.