Russian Literature - Essay Example

Concept of ‘We’ as a Social, Political and Cultural Entity Lit Trans 204 Lisa Woodson The two letters word ‘we’ is a symbolic representationof unity and strength. Similarly in Zamyatin’s essay the author is observed to be speaking to the masses about various aspects of knowledge, circle of life and revolution. For everything may it be revolution, the cycle of past present and future or insurrection for a new change is like a chain reaction in which one thing leads to another. For Zamyatin ‘we’ represents a social and political entity in which every single member of this entity is required in order to move forward.

For example he talks about revolution in the words, ‘revolution is everywhere, in everything. It is infinite…some day an exact formula for the law of revolution will be established. And in this formula nations, classes, stars, books will be expressed as numerical quantities.’ (108). the reference to numerical quantities is the figurative reference to one social and political body. Zamyatin in his essay discusses the dependent existence of everything in this world. He states that not only a man’s present, past and future are interlinked but also an individual’s every wise decision or a mistake accounts for his future actions.

Since making mistakes and then bearing the consequences or dealing with them is a very humane reaction and resultantly it is a sign of life. As mentioned in the text, ‘all truths are erroneous…today’s truths become errors tomorrow’ also it is stated ‘the dead-alive also write, walk, speak, and act. But they make no mistakes: only machines make no mistakes and they produce only dead things the alive-alive are constantly n error, in search, in question, in torment’ (110). Hence this concept of alive-alive and making errors in a broader sense is linked with unity as he talks about past, present and future as a family chain of a –‘grandfather, father and grandson’ (51) because man can never exist as an individual because Zamyatin believes man is a product of his past and the most important constituent in building up of a future.

Hence it is observed that for Zamyatin unity is everything. According to his perception of life and human existence human beings exist as a whole body socially, culturally and politically. However every individual gives this one entity or solid body new dimensions to explore.