Comparisson and Contrast: Fahrenheit 451 Essay

Of all literary works regarding dystopian societies, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is perhaps one of the most bluntly shocking, insightful, and relatable of them. Set in a United States of the future, this novel contains a government that has banned books and a society that constantly watches television. However, Guy Montag, a fireman (one who burns books as opposed to actually putting out fires) discovers books and a spark of desire for knowledge is ignited within him. Unfortunately his boss, the belligerent Captain Beatty, catches on to his newfound thirst for literature. A man of great duplicity, Beatty sets up Montag to ultimately have his home destroyed and to be expulsed from the city. On the other hand, Beatty is a much rounder

People always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself. This is the case as well in Fahrenheit 451, the novel, written by Ray Bradbury, is the story that follows a normal man, Guy Montag, who lived a normal life in his civilization post apocalptic as a fireman. Although where he is from, it is not a fireman’s duty to put out fires, but rather to burn books. It is because of his profession he battled his conscience to find answers to his many questions. Throughout this book, Montag changed his perceptive on literature in his society for the better because he became a critical thinker and stopped being passive like everyone else where

Montag’s and Beatty’s characteristics and views towards their society and government are similar and different in many ways in the book Fahrenheit 451. Montag’s and Beatty’s personality is best described as being a moral and narcissistic in the beginning of the book because they do not see the difference between right and wrong and they only care for themselves. They just do what they are told to do from the authorities no matter how wrong the task may be. Montag eventually changes as a human being, he becomes open-minded and sees how wrong he had been this whole time. But Beatty’s personality never changes throughout the book.

Before Captain Beatty was killed, he was taunting Montag while Montag was holding a flamethrower, but did not have anything to defend himself with. Beatty knew Montag would kill him if he kept taunting Montag, so he kept on until it finally happened. Throughout the novel, Beatty seemed to be the bad guy who represented the evil side of society, but this reveals otherwise. Montag was doing what Beatty could not by defying society’s law against books. When Montag burned his own house down, that seemed to put Captain Beatty over the edge and accept the fact that Beatty was a coward who executed actions that he did not agree with. An additional important character in the novel is Professor Faber. Faber serves as a mentor to Montag in the book. He does not agree with the established rules of society, yet never personally takes action throughout the book. He describes this lifestyle in a conversation with Montag: “I’m one of the innocents who could have spoken up and out when no one would listen to the ‘guilty,’ but I did not speak and thus became guilty myself” (Bradbury 78). Faber looks back with regret on his earlier life when the ban on books began. He did not want to take action due to the fear that persecution would fall upon himself. Those experiences are what make Faber a good mentor to Montag; Faber has learned from them and is glad that Montag is not scared to do what Faber could not.

In a dystopian society, everything may seem fine and normal, but underneath all that is an unstable society that may crumble with the right spark. Lord of the Flies by William Golding and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury are two characters who have to face the dystopian world and the nature of humankind. Although, a quest is actually depicted in both, as the characters undertake similar journeys of self-knowledge. In Golding’s Lord of the Flies, the dystopian traits where the boys are deserted on a sterile island show that they are slowly turning into savages and plotting against one another due to the destructive society that they are in. Meanwhile,

The first way Bradbury shows a corrupt society is the sacrifice of aesthetic for convenience. After Montag falls ill and misses work, Captain Beatty comes to his home. They talk about Clarisse, who has gone missing. Beatty states that she is better off dead, as she was not a conformer. When Beatty leaves, Montag remembers something that Clarisse had told him. She said, “My uncle says the architects got rid of the front porches because they didn’t look well…. the real reason, hidden underneath, might be they didn’t want people sitting like that, doing nothing, rocking, talking; that was the wrong kind of social life” (60). The porches are removed from homes because they encourage behaviors that the government does not want. Places like these encourage conversation and the sharing of ideas. The government does not want people to think for themselves, and only think the meaningless thoughts that are drilled into their heads without them even noticing. If people spread ideas, they might want to live a different way, might want to learn on their own and start thinking for themselves. This mindset would challenge the ways of the government, who wants to make everybody the same. Later, after Clarisse has inspired Montag to take a book before it was burned, he brings one to Faber’s house. He asks Faber about what was in books, as they

Faber is an English professor who encourages Montag to start reading books. Faber mention “’Do you know why books such as this are so important? Because they have quality’” (pg 83). Faber tells Montag that books are important because they have quality. He helps Montag to read and to understand why books are important. Also, Faber believe ‘”we do need knowledge… The books are to remind us what asses and fools we are’” (pg 86). Through Faber’s suggestions

Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel written by Ray Bradbury that depicts a futuristic American society where books are banned and independent thought is persecuted. Bradbury uses his imagination to take a hard look at a world consumed by technology, and he presents predictions about pleasure, violence and anti-intellectualism that are alarmingly similar to the modern American society. Notably, in both societies people find pleasure in entertainment that is endlessly preoccupying. Second, people are violent and careless. Finally, anti-intellectualism and suppression of independent thought affect both societies, as firemen ban books in Fahrenheit 451 and, in the

Censorship amounts prohibition of expression of someone’s ideas, thoughts which may be detrimental and prejudicial to a particular class of people. The book Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, revolves around the idea of censorship as a bane to the society and culture. The book touches on various consequences of censorship like social isolation and infringement of thoughts. Bradbury has given an accurate representation of the society leading to an end as censorship proceeds to prohibit literature. Literature is power and censorship is suppressing it. Suppressing

In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, we can see a lot of things wrong with the society, things that most people think could happen to us, but is it really that unrealistic? Ray Bradbury didn't think so when he wrote it because he was writing about his own time period, shortly after WWII, but the themes he wrote about are still present today. In the novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury criticizes illusion of happiness, oppression, and loss of self, not only his fictitious society, but our society in real life, too.

Therefore, through books, Montag becomes conscious of the monotony of his previous life, and now rebels against the very foundations of his society. Due to this intellectual illumination, Montag begins to acknowledge the details of the world around him, details he had once ignored: ‘”Bet I know something else you don’t. There’s dew on the grass this morning.”’As enlightenment dawns on Montag, he finally begins to realise the power within books (i.e. they hold the key to power through knowledge) and this is his ‘crime’ against society: ‘There must be something in books, things we can't imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house...’ Despite his newfound interest, Montag is still struggling to understand the concept of literature. Once again however, Montag is pushed in the right direction by Professor Faber. Under Faber’s guidance, Montag recognises that ‘There is nothing magical about [books] at all. The magic is only with what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment.’ This quote exemplifies the fact that although books are the combination of mere ink and paper, it is the beliefs and the knowledge within a book that are so incredibly powerful.

Faber believes there are three main reasons why people should read."'Number one, as I said: Quality of information. Number two: leisure to digest it. And number three: the right to carry out actions based on what we learn from the interaction of the first two.'" (84) This shows why knowledge is important because books contain much information. They also provide an activity when in times of boredom. Faber explains the real importance of books to Montag and he realizes the affect books have on society, such as educating people and making them less oblivious. Faber also explains the confusion of the material in books. "'So I thought books might help...'No, no, it's not books at all you're looking for...There is nothing magical in them at all. The magic is only in what books say,'" (82-83) Knowledge is not books themselves, it is what is in the books. Faber refers to what is in the books as magic, meaning it has a way of affecting someone and has importance. Faber closes his conversation with Montag by explaining that the importance of knowledge is necessary. "'You can't guarantee things like that! After all, when we had all the books we needed, we still insisted in finding the highest cliff to jump off. But we do need a breather. We do need knowledge. And perhaps in a thousand years we might pick smaller cliffs to jump off.'" (86) Faber says with all the books his society has, people still give themselves

Thomas Paine once said, “Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness.” In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Montag, the protagonist, works as a fireman. Throughout the novel, he begins to discover his true self. In this utopian society, people are conceited and have little or no emotions. Similarly, many in our society are self-centered and have limited feelings. Even though both societies have numerous characteristics in common, the two societies have multiple differences.

Beatty and Faber both understand books as Beatty can use quotes correctly in a specific context and Faber can comprehend and teach the concepts to Montag. They also believe numbers are stronger than an individual as Beatty demonstrates this by referring to how the government is on their side. Faber indicates this when he talks about how there is no one to speak up with anymore. However, they have different perspectives on the cost of pain and pleasure. Faber believes pleasure is more costly due to no one realizing realities of life, whereas Beatty thinks pain costs more because he thinks the current state of society brings pleasure. This is significant because these points all relate to the society of the story as books, strength in numbers, pain, and pleasure are all factors of the plot. Overall however, Beatty and Faber are mostly comparable as they have more similarities than differences. Fahrenheit 451 effectively shows comparisons between two characters presented in the plot and their role in the

Every society has its own societal issues. Whether that's problems over religion, science, class, or greed. Everyone has the option to pick what side of history they want to be on--what they want to be remembered for. Whether that’s fighting for transgender rights as can be seen in the 21st century, or fighting to be considered a free man as can be seen in the 19th century. This fight can be seen throughout history books and literary classics such as Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. In Fahrenheit 451, the main character, Guy Montag is fighting against the technological revolution taking place in the 23rd century. He battles with a society full of censorship, where everyone is too caught up with their