We

The novel We is a distopian work that proves the power of human instincts to love and create, and how a society in which such things are absent proves to be lacking joy in life. The society has set out times for activities and jobs of the individuals, who have been trained to work as one unit. Each person is a part of the 'machine' of the nation, and has no room to act out of order. Every job is chosen, every act is monitored, and every slight show of imagination is discouraged. Also discouraged is the love between only two people, and a desire to be with only one person. You see the character's distress when he begins to feel these emotions toward I-330, and how these emotions cause him to act out of order. To our society, this is a normal emotion that is encouraged. By showing the absurdity in the society in the book, the author speaks to the need of indivudiality and natural human emotion in society, and how without it, we would lose all the things that help give us our own faces.

The passage from We that stuck out in my mind was on page 71 in Record 13:

"Yes, good,' I said aloud to myself. And then to her, 'I hate the fog. I'm afraid of the fog.'

'That means you love it. You're afraid of it because it's stronger than you, you hate it because you're afraid of it, you love it because you can't master it. You can only love something that refuses to be mastered.'"

The reason this passage sticks out to me is because it is one of the few passages in the book that is a connection to our lives. So many of the characters thoughts and actions in this book seemed so absurd to me that I walked away with a greater appreciation for the way we are blessed to be living our lives. Yet, this tries to explain something that is a mystery to most people-love. The fact that someone in such a dry, controlled society was able to come to this realization about love was one of the first signs that she was a particularly special character in the book.
I believe that the phrase, "You're afraid of it because it's stronger than you, you hate it because you're afraid of it," explains why the society has been created in the way that it has been. OneState and the Benefactor found individuality and imagination too strong to be controlled, thus, they became comtrolling of it. Their fear of opposition and challenge from the society encouraged them to try to created a place where everyone is equal and there is no room for change.

Also, I-330 reminds me of Clarisse from Fahrenheit 451 in this passage. Both characters have an understanding of what people in our society believe are the meaningful things in life, yet in these societies, are overlooked. They also both are willing to explain these things to others, yet are careful of who they trust these thoughts with.

This novel has so far been my least favorite of the books we read this year. I think that the story itself was interesting, but the way the author went about it frustrated me. I didn't like the randomness of his thoughts; it had my mind running in all different directions throughout the book. It left me with several questions when I was finished with the book, such as their punishment process, V-1, and whether or not certain characters were alive or dead. The message the novel presents is an important one for readers to see, yet the style of writing may cloud the vision.