Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in We, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Individuality vs. Collectivism
Alienation
Fear of the Unknown
Repression of Desire
Summary
Analysis
D-503 is trying to write, but he hears I-330 and U arguing outside his apartment. I-330 bursts in and accuses U of trying to keep her from D-503. U confirms this. D-503 screams at U to leave. He tells I-330 that U is upset because she wants to be registered to him. I-330 says this doesn’t matter because, after yesterday, she is completely beholden to him, as he now knows about her involvement with MEPHI and could turn her in at any moment. He assures her that he isn’t the person he used to be.
On the surface, U’s motivations for keeping D-503 and I-330 stem from her loyalty to the One State; however, she also seems to be motivated by jealousy, as I-330’s presence threatens her own relationship with D-503. This shows that even highly loyal ciphers like U can’t help but be influenced by their repressed human desires.
Themes
I-330 tells D-503 that the One State’s auditoriums were shut down today and that she saw “them” in the auditorium with medics and tables. D-503 doesn’t know who I-330 is referring to, or whether he is for or against “them.” D-503 tells I-330 that it’s crazy of her to be against the One State and urges her to abandon her rebel organization and join him in subservience, but she refuses.
D-503 is confused about whose side he is on, which evokes tortured desire to both please his romantic love and his honor his obligations to the collective. I-330 is surer of her desires, refusing to abandon MEPHI.
Themes
I-330 grabs D-503’s hairy hands and tells him that people on the outside have had relationships with people from the One State, and that it’s possible he has some wild blood in him—and that perhaps this is why she loves him. D-503 demands to know who these wild people are, and how they became that way. I-330 tells him that MEPHI developed out a small group of survivors left beyond the Green Wall.
I-330 confirms what D-503 has always feared and repressed about his hairy hands: that they are evidence of his innate ties to human nature and freedom.
Themes
I-330 is interrupted when the doctor appears at the door to warn them that the Guardians—including S—are headed their way. Hurriedly, D-503 begins to write words praising the Benefactor. The Guardians arrive in D-503’s room. U arrives with them and reminds S that D-503 is the designer of the Integral and a loyal, dedicated citizen of the One State. S orders D-503 to show him what he’s been writing. S approves of D-503’s words and the Guardians leave. U tells D-503 he’s lucky she defended him. D-503 later discovers that the Guardians had arrested three other ciphers.
When D-503 hurriedly writes positive words about the Benefactor, he simultaneously covers for I-330 and affirms his allegiance to the One State. He is torn is between remaining a loyal part of the collective and acting on his personal desires. U’s decision to cover for D-503 demonstrates her desire to put the wellbeing of the individual she cares for over the welfare of the collective.
Themes
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