Where It All Goes Down
The One State
The One State is essentially a single giant city, the only one left in the whole world. It is defined both by what's in it and by what lies outside of its walls. Inside, everything is serene and clear. Everything is literally made out of glass, where everyone can see everyone and the very notion of privacy must be state-sanctioned. The streets are laid out on grids, the buildings are completely uniform, and even the people move in uniform lockstep.
Outside, everything is different. We're in caveman territory, with vast forests full of birds and a few tribes of primitives getting down with the whole "hunting and gathering" thing. These two worlds don't come into contact until the very end, but the contrast between them makes for some sizzling drama. It's almost as if the setting reflects the two sides of humanity—order and chaos—warring within our souls. Hmm…
It's also worth noting here that, while the One State is completely fictional, it has its share of real world parallels. Author Yevgeny Zamyatin, was a Russian by birth, and initially supported the 1917 revolution that brought the Communists to power. He grew very disillusioned with what happened there in the 1920s, however: the use of censorship, the collectivization of industry, and the treatment of Soviet citizens as tools to be used and discarded rather than people with value or worth. The One State displays many of the traits of Soviet Russia, simply dialed up to a slightly more intense level. Zamyatin had to work under the shadow of extreme censorship (which in that time and place could lead to jail or even execution), but it's hard not to look at the setting and see shades of the government that the author was living under when he wrote it.