Monday, April 21, 2008

God and stuff...

So we are writing about D-503 and God and stuff...for our paper...

Some thoughts I've had so far...

The Benefactor is D-503’s God. In Psalm 95 God is described as a “great King above all gods” who formed the sea and the land, and who should be knelt down to in praise. The Benefactor is the Creator of D-503’s world, the One State. D-503 describes the Benefactor as “glowing in the sun's rays” and “coming down to us from heaven” similar to the way the Bible glorifies God. Psalm 104 exclaims, “O Lord my God, thou art very great!” In the same way, D-503 praises the Benefactor throughout We as if he were God. He exclaims continually throughout the novel, “I swear by the Benefactor” and "Thanks to the Benefactor!" , showing that he glorifies the great leader of the One State. D-503 reads the “Daily Odes to the Benefactor” and seeing the Benefactor as an “icon”, longs “to compose poems and prayers” to him.

Since childhood D-503 has always loved Unanimity Day, a great holiday which he compares to “Easter”. Each number is presented with a new unif for this day, making sure that all are wearing their “Sunday best”. This day is the symbolic yearly election of the Benefactor in which all raise their hands in “majestic unison” to “place in the Benefactor’s hands the keys to the imperishable fortress of [their] happiness”. This is the day in which “the heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory” and it is meant to remind the congregation of the One State that they are “the Church, one and indivisible".

Quotes from We and the Bible...

4 comments:

Sterbenz said...

i do enjoy how you are bringing actual verses from the bible and comparing directly to quotes from the book. i was just wondering did you do any research into the author and uncover his religious background. Are the quotes you found supposed to directly reflect God by using the bible's ideas or is it just a coincidence that the wording and ideas are so similar.

Crista Beck - Dating Coach and Matchmaker said...

I purposefully looked for quotes from the Bible to show D-503's relationship with God...Ooops..I mean...the Benefactor.

Ellen M said...

Zamyatin was Eastern Orthodox and so I definitely believe that the similarities between We and the Bible were intentional.

jmartinez said...

Oh for sure. It's hard to not relate Zamyatin's rhetoric in WE to verses from the Bible.