We is a classic anti-Utopian literary work. With the gradual development of the author's thoughts, the novel imagines events and characters, all of which are represented by code names. After reading this book, my first feeling was that it was too similar to Sophie's World and too full of philosophical ideas.

The reason why author Yevgeny Zamyatin doesn't use an all-round perspective (weaving among the characters) is that he wants to describe the protagonist's inner world in a more delicate way and gradually analyze the thought process of d-503, the narrator. He is constantly thinking about his life and going through considerable inner self-struggle and criticism. In the end, it is believed that we can never get rid of the shackles brought about by the "savior" who created us. Mainly, this novel is written for the European ruling class and focuses on criticizing autocratic centralization, which limits freedom and restricts the existence of our individual selves. In this work, the qualities of European rulers of the past are compared to those of mercury (a liquid metal with high density), descending into the world. This is further compared to rainfall, as both water and mercury metaphorically imply the coercion and pressure imposed by centralized rule on people's lives.

These symbols do not specifically refer to a certain person. The code number pattern represents the characters in general, and reflects the author's intention to show that society under the centralized rule depicted in the story was a digital yet intelligent existence. The author avoided attaching too much emotion to the characters. The appearance of a blockade of human nature seems to have been created, as the atmosphere is cold and abstract, and most readers are unaccustomed to this. Also, the author's expressive technique is used to illustrate the nature of the characters, who do not show emotion. An example appears where one character’s expression is described as "forming a sharp triangle of irony, with two deep wrinkles from the nose to the corner of the mouth."

The book conveys a sense of worry that people will be destroyed because of excessive oppression through centralization, and that the self will cease to exist. Another work in the classic anti-Utopian trilogy, Orwell’s 1984, also conveys themes about the loss of freedom and fear of death or persecution. In contrast, the third work, Huxley’s Brave New World, reveals concerns that  people would "entertain each other to death," by becoming overly amused by and immersed in unimportant distractions. All three works feature deep thinking about human nature and offer profound criticism of the current and future social circumstances. Such outstanding ideological contributions seem to point the way for the future development of mankind.