Paper Summary:

This paper reviews and analyzes Evgeny Zamyatin's science fiction novel, "We", in light of recent events in the US. In particular, it discusses how reading Zamyatin's novel impacted the reviewer;s outlook on 9/11, anti-gay legislation and the credit crisis in the US. According to the review, the book is about a totalitarian society in which there is no personal liberty. The protagonist, D-503, was one of the architects of this society, and the paper examines his beliefs about the society he helped create. The paper concludes by stating that reading "We" made the reviewer aware of dangers society faces if citizens allow the US government to erode personal liberties, trading safety and the false sense of happiness it instills, for freedom.

From the Paper:

"Even after 9-11, I gave little thought to the small changes to personal liberty that were occurring in American society. While I noticed the media criticism of Bush Administration-led political changes, I felt no restrictions on my personal liberty. Moreover, like millions of people before me, at least right after 9-11, I felt that those changes were acceptable. I asked myself: what good is freedom if one is not around to use it? Like so many people before me, my answer startled me. While I had always been a fan of personal liberty, when faced with the nameless, faceless specter of an enemy who personally hated me, though we had never met and would likely never meet, I felt like exchanging a few of my theoretical personal liberties for real safety was a fair trade. Furthermore, I continued to embrace that thought, even when I began to see things like the passage of Proposition 8 in California, which took away the rights of gays and ..."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Zamyatin, Evgeny. We. Trans. Clarence Brown. New York: Penguin Books, 1993.

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