We #1

Motifs, setting, and language for the first 3rd.  Here we go!

As far as motifs go, I'm seeing a lot of walls, lips, eyes, and glass. I'm going to address each one specifically.

Walls- It's pretty obvious, I think; the walls represent containment and control by the government.  The One State  is surrounded by a green wall that keeps out "ugly" and "stupid" nature.  D-503 feels comforted by such walls, because he knows nothing other than his life in the One State.  Walls represent the One State's idea that freedom is savage.  D-503 shares this belief, because he was raised on the idea that the four functions of arithmatic are the only things worth paying attention to.  Freedom of expression, like the "ancients" did with the piano, is frowned upon because it is not contained by numbers, equations, or the walls of the very mathematical society.

Lips- No matter who the character is, D-503 always takes the time to describe his or her lips.  African lips, pink lips, scissor lips, lips tucked inside, it's all over the place.  In a society where everyone is supposed to be the same (we wouldn't want anyone to be envious of each others' button noses, now would we?), the variety in people's lips struck me as a little odd.  Perhaps Zamyatin is trying to maintain some individuality between the characters in a society where everyone needs to be the same.  Speech and language, an important tool for expressing thought, also escapes through the lips.  People in the novel have different opinions that are beginning to emerge, such as O's want for a baby, and maybe their lips reflect their thoughts and desires that they wish to express but can't because of the One State?

Eyes- I love the comparison of eyes to windows.  It may be a bit overused, but who knows? This book is old, the whole window to the soul thing might have came from this very novel! D-503 sees both fire and darkness inside I-330's eyes, while in O's eyes he sees nothing.  I most likely has a soul (what an unfortunate condition), based on her strange behavior or sneaking around and evading the laws of the One State.  O wants a baby, which I can't tell if it's forbidden or not, but other than that none of her actions so far have really deviated from the wants of the One State. She isn't "ill", ergo, no soul, nothing in her eyes.

Glass- Glass is everywhere. Walls are glass, sidewalks are glass, even people's homes are made of glass.  I think it's a government control thing.  Everyone can see what you're doing all the time (except when you're having sex), so you had better not break the law or you'll get squished by the big glass (is it glass?) hand of the Benefactor!!  Glass contains the people of the One State, but at the same time you can see through it.  It almost gives the illusion of freedom, even though freedom is bad.  The people of the One State can see outside their confinement, but they can never escape it. 

Glass also ties in to the setting, which is the next thing I'll be typing about.  The book takes place in the One State, a city that sounds like is made entirely out of glass.  It's futuristic, I can tell because people take flying machines everywhere, and the government is extremely controling.  There are auditoriums where people are required to go see lectures, and the only normal (well to me it's normal) place in the whole city is the ancient house! It's a museum of sorts, I believe, that is colorful and opaque.  That contrasts greatly with the rest of the One State.  I think the strict schedule, everything being made of glass, and the futuristic time frame the novel is set in all give the idea that the One State is very controling.  It is also open with its citizens, though.  No secrets here! I think that's where the glass comes in to play.  Everyone seems to know the rules of the One State and what will happen to them if they break those rules.

Language.  Zamyatin likes to use math speak in a lot of his writing.  Words like "sinusoid", "parabola", and variables like X come up a lot.  I think Zamyatin chooses these words not only because he was wa mathematician of some sort, but to emphasize the views of the society he created.  Everything in the One State is planned out to a T, very exact in its operations.  The same is true for math, as there is only one right answer to an equation.  Unless there's a plus or minus sign in there, but that hasn't been mentioned yet.  The mathematical language also emphasizes the One State's want for a lack of freedom and imagination.  When doing a math problem, one isn't free to experiment, they have to stick to the formula.