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R-13 is a poet and D-503’s friend. They share O-90 as a sexual partner, and the three of them exist as a harmonious triangle at the beginning of We. Once I-330 seduces D-503, however, their triangle quickly disintegrates as D-503 becomes jealous of R-13, with whom I-330 is also intimately involved. Like S-4711 and I-330, R-13 is involved with MEPHI, though D-503 is unaware of this. R-13 performs his duties to the One State, writing poetry that praises the beauty of math and logic, but he also harbors disdain for the One State’s condemnation of individuality and artistic expression.
R-13 Quotes in We
The We quotes below are all either spoken by R-13 or refer to R-13. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Record 8 Quotes
“Oh come on—knowledge! This knowledge of yours is utter cowardice. Yes, that’s it—really. You just want to build a little wall around infinity—and you’re afraid to look behind it! Peek over it and you’ll have to squeeze your eyes shut—ha!”
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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R-13 Character Timeline in We
The timeline below shows where the character R-13 appears in We. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Record 5
...his records. He’s been addressing his readers too familiarly, as though they were his friend R-13, not alien creatures with no inside knowledge of the One State’s intricacies. Because everything about...
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Record 8
...to turn in themselves and their loved ones for illegal activity. There, he runs into R-13 and O-90. R-13 accuses D-503 of daydreaming, jokingly telling him that he should have been...
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D-503 invites R-13 over to work on math problems, but O-90 hesitates because she and R-13 have a...
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In response to R-13’s story about the poet, D-503 expresses gratitude that the days of individual creativity are gone....
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Record 9
...the Machine—a mechanical surrogate for the Benefactor, consisting of “quadratic outlines” and heavy, stone hands. R-13 rises and recites poetry condemning blasphemous poetry that insults the Benefactor. R-13 sits. The Benefactor...
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Record 11
Twenty minutes later, R-13 arrives. D-503 is happy for the company, as he doesn’t want to be alone with...
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D-503 respects R-13’s plans for his new poetry and thinks about how he admires his friend’s clarity and...
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This makes D-503 think about his night with I-330. He asks R-13 if he’s ever tried nicotine or alcohol. D-503 can read the concern in R-13’s face....
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Record 12
...Sex Day with O-90, as it will restore order to his life. D-503 thinks about R-13’s new poems and sees S-4711 and his “twice-bent” body behind him, though he pretends he...
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...demand to know about what he was thinking. However, he feels confident that his thoughts—on R-13’s poetry, on the beauty and predictability of math, on the collective superiority of the One...
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Record 14
...upsets O-90, who immediately leaves. D-503 anguishes alone, noting how I-330 has taken away both R and O from him. Despite this, he seems to know he still has feelings for...
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Record 16
...room for her, but she never arrives. He imagines she is with another man, like R or S. D-503 frets over S, believing he has been watching him closely over the...
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Record 25
...that seems to connect S and I-330. D-503 suddenly sees S converge with I-330 and R-13. He feels viscerally jealous, but remains still and silent.
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...O-90 on a projection screen, here hands placed protectively across her stomach. Suddenly, D-503 sees R-13 holding I-330 in his arms. Her unif is ripped and she is covered in blood....
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...State is beginning to dissolve. He shifts his narrative to his interaction with I-330 after R-13 left them alone: sitting on a bench, bleeding, I-330 tells D-503 that tomorrow is always...
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Record 39
...stumbles over a corpse. He looks more closely at it and sees that it is R-13. D-503 arrives at the Bureau of Guardians. Inside, ciphers wait in line to undergo the...
(full context)
