"An instant. The hand fell, loosing the current. A sharp blade of unbearable light. A shudder in the pipes of the Machine, a crackling that you could hardly hear. The spread-eagled body was covered by a light, sparkling little puff of smoke, and then before our eyes it began to melt, and melt, and it dissolved so fast it was horrible. And then-nothing. A puddle of chemically pure water, which just a moment ago had been in a heart, red, beating up a storm.
This was all simple, we all knew about it. Dissociation of matter-check. Disengagement of the atoms of the human body-check. Still, every time it happened, it seemed like a miracle. It was a sign of the superhuman might of the Benefactor. (Zamyatin 48).
This quote describes the execution of R-13 by the benefactor. Somehow, through the advanced futuristic technologies of OneState, the benefactor has the power to turn a human being into pure water. The horror, brutal process, literally melts R-13 into nothing but a drinkable liquid. The execution is witnessed by D-503.
This quote has to be my favorite it shows 2 very important points to the novel overall. The first is the power of the Benefactor. The fact that one being, a machine, has the power to destroy a human being in a flash of light, contributes to his similarity to a god figure. It places a power in him, that even if someone did not like the society, they would be so afraid that they would stay silent. This is similar to the acts committed by the Soviet Government, who executed anyone who promoted revolution. The second point, is the rational, uncaring sense of the people there. They have just witnessed a fellow citizen be destroyed, and they do not care. D-503 is still thinking in his robotic, rational way saying, "Dissociation of matter-check. Disengagement of the Atoms of the human body-check".
No comments:
Post a Comment