Wild Duck #3

I think Gregers, Gina, and Werle are at fault for what happens. Gregers is the instigator in the story and causes all the events that transpire. He uncovers the truth and makes it his mission to let everyone know and has no regard for the consequences that could later happen. Gina and Werle are also to blame because they both knew everything that was happening and never took it upon themselves to tell Hjalmar or anyone else the truth. They kept everything a secret for far too long. If they told the truth from the start the following events like Hedvig's death may not have occured. I think Hedvig and Hjalmar are without blame. Hjalmar never really knew about the lies and was unaware of what had happened. He could have also been more perceptive and noticed that things added up. Hedvig should have no blame because it was about her and she couldn't have known anything about what was happening. Gregers deserves to take responsibility for almost all of the problems because he is the one that starts all the drama and problems that happen in the play. It is possible that none of the events would have happened if Gregers did nothing about what he learned. Gregers is the only character that takes responsibility for the blame because at the end of the story he accepts that he is the 13th man at the table showing that he is the one who is not a part of the group and caused all the problems.

Wild Duck #2

Ibsen uses the motif to show how lies are a sickness that damages your body and mind. Characters are seen as sick by Gregers if they are unaware of the truth. Relling views people as sick if they try to tell others the truth. “Beg pardon—but it wouldn’t be you who brought that stench in with you from the mines up there?” (174) This could be because it isn't Gregers place to tell or because Gregers is doing it for personal reasons. “No, worse luck. He’s no crazier that most people. But he’s got a disease in his system all the same.” (177) Gregers makes it his life mission to reveal all the secrets that are hidden from Hjalmar. He is only doing this because it is a way for him to get back at his father. Werle and Gregers have problems that started when Gregers was a kid. People with the disease also drink alcohol like Hjalmar and Molvik. “And demonic natures aren’t made to go through life on the straight and narrow; they’ve got to take detours every so often. Well—and you’re still sticking it out there at that dark, hideous mill.” (172) Relling acknowledges the disease and the people that have them and knows how to help them. He is also a doctor which supports this claim.Gregers on the other hand does not but is committed to his ways of helping Hjalmar which only makes things worse.

Wild Duck #1

Greggers has false conceptions about himself. He thinks he is a righteous guy who is on a life mission and will do anything to accomplish it even if it means hurting people. Greggers views himself as a high and mighty person for being on his life mission. He also believes in some religion about the "summons of the ideals". From what other characters said about it it seems bad but he thinks he's good for worshiping it. Hjalmar seems to have misconceptions about everybody. He doesn't really know the truth about anyone and blindly accepts what he is told. He views Old Werle as a good man who helped him out, and Greggers is his good old friend who only has his best interests at heart. When in reality Greggers is trying to be helpful but all he ends up doing is hurting him in the end. Hjalmar embraces the facades of the other characters because he is unaware that the other characters have facades. Relling clearly sees Greggers' facade and will constantly confront it. He will call Greggers out on the things he says and does to Hjalmar and his family.

We #3

Motif- The same motifs that were discussed in the first two journals are still being used in the last part of the book. The primary concept that comes from a lot of the motifs in the story is a soul. The soul is referenced through the use of mirrors, imaginary numbers, and fog. All of these obscure what something truly is, isn't tangible, or is a reflection showing the real you. The soul can also be linked to imagination. An imagination pulls away from logical and clear thinking. That is why the government considers an imagination to be a disease and comes up with the Great Operation which cuts out the part of the brain dealing with imagination. "On the following day, I, D-503, went to the benefactor and told him everything I knew about the enemies of happiness. How could it have seemed so difficult before? Incredible. The only explanation I can think of is my former sickness (the soul)" (232). The government is able to gain complete control of the society through this operation and D is ultimately subjected to this operation and follows the government blindly. Zamyatin is trying to show that if the government suppresses ones imagination there is no way to revolt and overthrow the government.

Setting- The setting is still the same. There is a place outside the Green Wall that is more known now. On the outside there are people unlike those on the inside. They are covered in fur and have adapted to living outside the wall. "All this was so incredible, so unexpected, that I stood calmly (yes, calmly!) and looked" (156). D is able to see that they are the people that have the imagination and might be possible of overthrowing the government. Outside the walls there is no influence of the government. This makes them the best possible way for the society to be changed into something better.

Language- As D's "disease" worsens he doesn't finish his thoughts more frequently and also begins to drift away from his logical point of views. "And the same within me: I must not think, I must not think, I must not think, or ..." (226). D tries to not think about what he should do and commits himself to an idea without even thinking it through. This shows how his soul affects him. But after he undergoes the Great Operation he goes back to his logical flow that he wrote in during the first journal entries. "And i hope that we shall conquer. More than that--I am certain we shall conquer. Because Reason must prevail" (232). D is back to his logical way of thinking following Reason. After his imagination is taken out he reverts back to his normal way of thinking which is beneficial to the One State. Zamyatin is showing that an imagination should go together with logic or else you will blindly follow what you are told.

We #2

Motif- The imaginary number comes up again and I believe it is associated with the "soul" that D now has. The square root of -1 is an imaginary number. It is something that is not tangible, much like the soul that D has. "It seemed to me that I was seeing through thick glass something infinitely huge and at the same time infinitely small, scorpionlike, with a hidden yet constantly sensed sting-the (square root of -1)" (102). I think these also relate to the motifs of a mirror and shadows. Mirrors are a way of looking at yourself. You are able to see yourself in the reflection. D sees "two" of him in a mirror. I believe he is seeing who he is in the society and also a person with a soul. I think your shadow could also be related to your soul. It is something that constantly follows you and is a part of you. You can never get away from your shadow.

Setting- The Green Wall that surrounds the city and keeps out foreign animals and nature that the government can not control. Walls are able to keep the equation of the society simple by keeping out uncontrolable variables. This makes the control the society has over the people much more easy to monitor and makes it less to worry about. There are people outside the city that the government is unaware of. These people might eventually come into the city and destroy the control that the government possess. "Man ceased to be a savage only when we had built the Green Wall, when we had isolated our perfect mechanical world from the irrational, hideous world of trees, birds, animals..." (93). Although the Wall is able to keep the outside not part of the equation they maintain their control. But even though the government ignores the outside it doesn't mean that it can't affect the equation.

Language- D's journals make it difficult to come to complete conclusions because not all details can be accounted for in his journals. He says that he tries to write down everything that happens in the journals without leaving anything out, but it is incredibly difficult for him because of what he is experiencing. "I have not written anything for several days, I don't know how many. All the days are one day" (85). Also D leaves ideas that he is talking about unanswered. He will be talking about something and just suddenly stop leaving the idea incomplete and unfinished.

We #1

Motifs- I found a repetition of the colors blue and pink. Pink is used to describe the character O-90 and blue is used when describing D-503. Blue and pink are both gender specific colors so I think Zamyatin did this to highlight the difference between men and women in the society. There is also constant use of the letter X. X is a variable commonly used to solve algebraic equations and is the "unknown". X is used to show the unknowns or problems that D faces. This helps show how the society is based around logic to solve all problems. Even in a world based on logic there are still unknowns. Another math concept that is used in the book is the square root of -1. The square root of -1 is known as an imaginary number. "This irrational number had grown into me like something foreign, alien, terrifying" (39). It is very difficult for D to understand the concept of an imaginary number because it is not tangible. This imaginary number can be linked to the imagination that the people in the society lack.

Setting-All of the apartments are made of glass. Anyone can see into the apartments, except when the shades are down. No one has any secrets or privacy. There are also Guardians who has the job of watching everyone and making sure they follow the rules. These things help show what the society is. The people living there have no privacy and are under constant surveillance and under some control. The entire city is surrounded by the Green Wall. "Then, in the distance, blurred by green spots-out there, behind the Wall" (25). This is a wall that surrounds the city and keeps the outside from effecting the city. This being animals and nature. Nature must be damaging to the control the government can keep on the people.

Language- The narrator speaks in a very mathematical way. "Is it not clear, however, that bliss and envy are the numerator and denominator of the fraction called happiness" (21)? He uses math terms and writes explaining the logic he uses to understand things. D also seems to lose his train of thought at times. He will be writing in his journal and then cut off on some tangent. This helps show how in this society the people are very logical and think things through, but also when something doesn't make sense they struggle with finding a solution and look at multiple different views to solve it like an equation. The book is also written in the form of journals. This makes it difficult to know what is happening through out the story. The reader is only aware of what D writes in his journal.