Throughout the course of his Records, D-503 struggles with understanding his own emotions as well as the motives of the ones around him. His confusion in response to his immediate attraction to I-330 is explained in comparison to an irrational number. “This woman was just as irritating to me as an irrational term that accidentally creeps into your equation and can’t be factored out,” (10). Proven here, is the fact that mathematics is not always certain, and unattainable ideas, such as infinity and a never-ending number cannot be fully grasped by the human mind, similarly to D-503’s feelings of love and personal preference. Often times in math, when one does not want to directly deal with an irrational number, it is used in another form. For example, the square root of two is an irrational decimal, but instead of using it in the decimal form, it is written as √2. When one finds themselves facing a dilemma or a reality that they do not wish to deal with, it will often be pushed aside and excuses will be made, similarly to hiding the irrationality of the square root of two. When D-503 becomes fully acquainted with his feelings of love for I-330, he disguises these feelings as hate, which is an emotion much more familiar and comfortable to him than love. I loved this quote because i enjoyed to clever parallels drawn between love and mathematics.
Interstingly, each book we've read about utopias/disutopias have a wall of some sort. However, this wall I found to be particularly intriguing. What does this Wall represent and why, of all colors is it the color green? At the surface, the Wall is representative of a boundary,both physically andm entally. Physically, the Wall retains the members of OneState and confines them to their orderly, restrictive world away from the wild and untamed ways of nature. Mentally, OneState and the Wall restrict analytical thinking of ideas that cannot be taken at face value. Feelings and emotions, things that need to be experienced in order to be understood (and maybe still remain a mystery), are rationalized to the point where emotions become impersonal.
Green is the color of nature. It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility. Green has strong emotional correspondence with safety. Green has great healing power. It is the most restful color for the human eye; it can improve vision. Green suggests stability and endurance. Sometimes green denotes lack of experience. While green symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility (things found in nature), these things are found on the opposite side of the Wall. There is not growth of the mind present in OneState, and harmony may exist to some extent, but it is a forced, ignorant harmony. Green symbolized safety, just as the Wall represents safety for the Benefactor and other governing bodies. The Wall does not allow for the members of OneState to obtain the outside knowledge they need to revolt against their suppression. Green denotes the lack of experience. The people of OneState are very inexperienced with emotions, causing internal struggles that lead to feelings of guilt for D-503 as he feels that he is breaking the laws of the Benefactor.
I must first establish that I am not a fan of science fiction or futuristic novels. While I did not particularly enjoy the plot of this story, I really enjoyed the development of D-503. The insight into his mind and the descriptions of the world around him provided me with a vivid picture of this surreal lifestyle. I found myself having to reread a page when I realized I had not actually been paying attention to what I was reading. I did enjoy the inclass discussions on this book though (which tends to be my favorite part of reading any book for school) and the immense amount of symbolism and use of satiric writing provided me with much to think about and relate to society today.
Interstingly, each book we've read about utopias/disutopias have a wall of some sort. However, this wall I found to be particularly intriguing. What does this Wall represent and why, of all colors is it the color green? At the surface, the Wall is representative of a boundary,both physically andm entally. Physically, the Wall retains the members of OneState and confines them to their orderly, restrictive world away from the wild and untamed ways of nature. Mentally, OneState and the Wall restrict analytical thinking of ideas that cannot be taken at face value. Feelings and emotions, things that need to be experienced in order to be understood (and maybe still remain a mystery), are rationalized to the point where emotions become impersonal.
Green is the color of nature. It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility. Green has strong emotional correspondence with safety. Green has great healing power. It is the most restful color for the human eye; it can improve vision. Green suggests stability and endurance. Sometimes green denotes lack of experience. While green symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility (things found in nature), these things are found on the opposite side of the Wall. There is not growth of the mind present in OneState, and harmony may exist to some extent, but it is a forced, ignorant harmony. Green symbolized safety, just as the Wall represents safety for the Benefactor and other governing bodies. The Wall does not allow for the members of OneState to obtain the outside knowledge they need to revolt against their suppression. Green denotes the lack of experience. The people of OneState are very inexperienced with emotions, causing internal struggles that lead to feelings of guilt for D-503 as he feels that he is breaking the laws of the Benefactor.
I must first establish that I am not a fan of science fiction or futuristic novels. While I did not particularly enjoy the plot of this story, I really enjoyed the development of D-503. The insight into his mind and the descriptions of the world around him provided me with a vivid picture of this surreal lifestyle. I found myself having to reread a page when I realized I had not actually been paying attention to what I was reading. I did enjoy the inclass discussions on this book though (which tends to be my favorite part of reading any book for school) and the immense amount of symbolism and use of satiric writing provided me with much to think about and relate to society today.
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