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I found the relationship between D-503 and I-330 to be one of the most interesting topics in the novel. In what I consider a tragedy, D-503 suffers greatly at the hands of I-330. She uses tactics such as lust, daring, and disattachment (yes I may have just made up that word) to keep pulling D-503 in closer, but to keep him far enough away to not interfere at the same time. It is clear that D-503 falls in some sort of one-sided loving relationship with I-330. He puts himself through much of the tortute he endures because he cannot get her out of his head. He appears to hate her, yet love her endlessly all at the same time. These mixed up feelings confuse D-503 so much that he nears the point of insanity. He goes against OneState and pushes O-90 away all because he is blind to anyone or anything, but I-330. The irony and tragic humor is that I-330 does not feel this way at all towards poor D-503. The only thing she is really putting into the relationship is the occasional pink ticket to satisfy D-503 just enough until the next time. I-330 leads D-503 on regarding many different issues from how she feels towards him to her interest in the Integral. The key is, though, that her interest in D-503 is the Integral. Without the ship, D-503 is worthless to her. When I-330's plans to capture the Integral are foiled, she turns on D-503 and brings his world crashing down around him. Everything comes full circle for him as he finally understands and believes the truth that I-330 was only using her sex appeal to make him a puppet of hers to use for her purpose. The shock and devastation numb D-503 out of existance basically. With how terrible D-503 felt on the inside, it was probably better for him to finally undergo the Benefactor's surgery.



"You didn't really go to the Bureau of Guardians, did you?'
'I was. . . I couldn't. I was sick.'
'Yes. Well, it's about what I expected--something was bound to stop you, no matter what [sharp teeth, smile]. But now you are. . . in my hands.'" (Zamyatin 53)


Talk about a weak-willed character. This scence occurred early on in the relationship between D-503 and I-330. They had not even spent much time together, let alone had he had time to figure out what his feelings were. At this point, it was pure seductiveness that prevented D-503 from reporting I-330's transgression. Zamyatin adds the descriptive brackets to prove the reason why D-503 did not report her. [Sharp teeth, smile] supports the idea that this early in the novel, D-503 was still purely entranced by the physical aspect of I-330. This scene foreshadowed numerous scences where D-503's weakness (or love for I-330; does not matter how you say it because in this case they are synonomous with each other) is exploited.


I thought Yevgeny Zamyatin did a phenomenal job at writing this novel. I was impressed with it from cover to cover. His character development was fantastic. The way he built up the tragic relationship between D-503 and I-330, only to bring it crashing down all at once at the end for both of them was a unique characteristic, which is absent from many novels. The use of syntax is extremely prevalent throughout the novel. D-503's confused, random thoughts, his unfocused thought processes, and incomplete ideas and thoughts contribute to the excellent overall portrayal of his character. The scheduling aspect of the lives of the characters in the novel was not a far-fetched idea. We are all on so many defined schedules already, that it is not difficult to imagine a society like OneState in terms of scheduling at all. Overall I enjoyed reading the work.