Essays on Fahrenheit 451

The Theme of Dystopian Society in the works of Orwell, Huxley, and Bradbury

Introduction All the three books, 1984 that was published in 1948 and written by George Orwell, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World that was written in 1931, and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 are the examples of dystopian literature. Dystopian literature is the kind of fiction that offers a negative perspective on the society of the future and the problems which are likely to be faced by humankind as a result of their political, environmental and economic activities. While utopian fiction portrays the future being advanced and prosperous as a result of the improvement of technology that assists them ...

Since the book Fahrenheit 451 was written in the 1950s, it belongs to an era starkly different than the present. There exist quite a few differences between modern society and that discussed in the novel, however, there are several ideas discussed and presented by its writer which are similar to today’s society as well. There are several similarities such as the need to have fast cars and always seem to be in a hurry. In the novel, the people are shown to have an urge to drive cars very fast. This approach is quite relevant today as people ...

451 Degrees Fahrenheit Numerous medieval utopia promised happiness to man on earth. Who has anything against this? Maybe it was the writer of the 20th century, who dared to encroach on the sacred right of mankind? The fact is that Bradbury has created a dystopia, the plot of which is an impartial view on the future society, tat quite clearly reminds us of the present and the society we have now. We too are acquainted with the same attempts to show a person the path to true happiness, which lies in the ruthless negation of everything negative in the ...

Fahrenheit 451 – A World Close to Home?

Can a fictional society from a story that was written in the past substantially reflect the modern United States that people know today? Perhaps it can. Although the dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 is fictional, its contents can be seen to parallel, perhaps to a lesser extent, some societies today. Looking at the current state of the United States and the world presented in the book, it is evident that there are a variety of similarities: think about specific areas, such as war, technology, social interaction, censorship, communication, family lifestyles, work lifestyles, authority, power, government propaganda, freedom, education, the concept ...

Although the dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 is fictional, in many ways its contents can be seen to parallel, perhaps to a lesser extent, some societies today. The similarities of the events depicted in the book and modern circumstances is hard to ignore. In addressing the book and its relationship with the modern United States, it will be possible to compare the similarities between the fictional, future world of Fahrenheit 451 and the current reality of the country. Looking at the current state of the United States and the world presented in the book it is evident that there are ...

Bradbury is considered to be a science fiction writer that draws the future in his works. It's amazing how up-to-date is Bradbury’s distant future today. Involuntarily we think of plasma screens, stupid talk shows and soap operas, loud music in headphones, fast pace of life, high-speed vehicles, drunk teenagers, pills to fall asleep and so on. It is modern New-York, Los-Angeles, Moscow, almost the entire planet lives in this tempo. In the preface to the novel, Ray Bradbury wrote about the history of the creation of his masterpiece. In the 30s of the last century a writer was ...

As in Ray Bradbury’s infamous dystopian book Fahrenheit 451, today’s society holds a disdain for books, preferring experiences that are more immediate and less intellectual. Written almost a century ago, this novel predicted a social structure that has great resemblance to what one can see today in many respects. One of the most interesting is the preference for immediate, true sensations instead of the textually-based and more intellectual benefits and pleasures that books may bring. In the book, Beatty states, “books say nothing! Nothing you can teach or believe. They’re about non-existent people, figments of imagination” ( ...

My final research paper will be based on the perception of free will and censorship in the society. Free will is afforded to all human beings, but many persons fail to understand that free will without a high moral standard is similar to removing free will from humans. Arguably, free will and censorship are often misunderstood by many persons. The government takes away the free will of persons when they implement censorship on persons, but persons also censor their thoughts and actions when they censor themselves from the truth because of a lack of knowledge that can help to ...

Fahrenheit 451 was written partially as Ray Bradbury’s response to the McCarthy era. During this period, the American government, led by Senator Joseph McCarthy, created what many called a “witch hunt,” seeking out any politicians, public figures, and even members of the general public who may have been involved in communism. The Hollywood film industry was also a target of the McCarthy trials. Many people were falsely accused and lives were ruined. Because McCarthy was on a mission to find anyone who was involved in the Communist party, people were afraid to speak or write anything that could be ...

Judgment 1

There are a number of important characters introduced in the beginning of Fahrenheit 451, and at first they do not seem believable. Certainly they aren’t believable in the context of today’s society, but when considered in the context of the dystopian future they are in, they begin to make much more sense (Bradbury 26). The character of Clarisse is the only character that seems a little forced; she is necessary to the plot, of course, but she does not seem to be as complete of a person as some of the other characters.

Judgment 2

The thing that is interesting about the ...

Thesis statement: Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian classic that depicts a world rife with conformity and indolence caused by the fascination with television and disposing of books. It portrays a conspiratorial world where both government and citizens conform to forms of happiness that outlaws and shuns critical independent thought. The Conspiracy of The Burn is the reality of the future to come. This is a glance at thoughts of history and ideas of our past. The freedom of choice in society has become a mental fatigue for happiness. This paralyzing problem surrounding the choice to write and display ones emotions and opinions in books ...

Essay

The Martian Chronicles, a science fiction short story collection is dated by 1950 year, was written by a famous fiction-writer, Ray Bradbury. This story collection tells about the colonization of Mars by humans, running from their troubled and devastated Earth; about the conflict between the aboriginal creatures of this planet and the newcomers, resulted in annihilation both Earth and Martian races. But, The Martian Chronicles isn’t only the science fiction story collection at all, but it can be a version of mythology, made by Ray Bradbury with involving a lot of sci-fi techniques as rocket ships and space travels. The author ...

Essay

The Martian Chronicles, a science fiction short story collection is dated by 1950 year, was written by a famous fiction-writer, Ray Bradbury. This story collection tells about the colonization of Mars by humans, running from their troubled and devastated Earth; about the conflict between the aboriginal creatures of this planet and the newcomers, resulted in annihilation both Earth and Martian races. But, The Martian Chronicles isn’t only the science fiction story collection at all, but it can be a version of mythology, made by Ray Bradbury with involving a lot of sci-fi techniques as rocket ships and space travels. The author ...

The film Fahrenheit 451, which was directed by the stalwart director François Truffaut, was made fourteen years after the novel with the same name was published. Ray Bradbury’s literary work and the film have certain conspicuous similarities as well as differences from one another. However, the basic plot of the book was maintained while making the film without too much change. As the book was adapted into a film, certain key characters and scenes were left out in the process. Faber is one such important character which is missing from the film. The book by Bradbury portrays ...

Duality, Duplicity, and Death Defied:

A Brief Look at the Textual and Filmic Versions of Fahrenheit 451 The movie can never be “as good as” the book, some will complain. Of course not. Two different media, and two very different opportunities for artistic expression conveyed differently in terms of everything from time (time passing in a book is only translated in so many or so few ways in film) to technique (representation, action, and intonation are going be interpreted for you in a movie and might not always be done to satisfaction at that). But ironically enough, especially in the latter instance, that is exactly ...

Introduction

Point of Comparison The first point of comparison between a happy pig and depressed human can be observed in the major character of Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. After Gatsby’s meeting with Daisy, there was an apparent change in him. It seems that Daisy has a strong characteristic that changed Gatsby from a happy pig into a depressed man. The mere fact Gatsby has the materialistic possessions that only the intellectual individuals would have attained made Daisy believe that Gatsby is in fact a person of intellect. On the other hand, Gatsby’s blooming interest on Daisy opened him up to a profound change. ...

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 features a dystopian future wherein “firemen” are given the task of burning subversive books that challenge the governmental establishment. In this world, reading is outlawed, as the current mode of thinking is anti-intellectual, and bereft of learning or knowledge. The protagonist, Guy Montag, one of the firemen, has his ideas about his job and the world in which he lives in challenged by an intellectual love interest. This work provides provocative, exciting science fiction about a member of the establishment changing their ideas about the horrific future in which they live, and fighting for both survival ...

The 2009 superhero film Watchmen, directed by Zack Snyder, takes place in an alternate version of 1985 in which Nixon has been elected a third term, superheroes have been banned from operating without the consent of the United States government, and the world is on the brink of nuclear destruction. In order to set up this world, and convey a lot of information about the politics and characters of the time, Snyder and co. created a nearly 6-minute long title sequence to the tune of Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'" that tells us everything we need to know about the ...

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 features a dystopian future wherein “firemen” are given the task of burning subversive books that challenge the governmental establishment. In this world, reading is outlawed, as the current mode of thinking is anti-intellectual, and bereft of learning or knowledge. The protagonist, Guy Montag, one of the firemen, has his ideas about his job and the world in which he lives in challenged by an intellectual love interest. In the novel Logan’s Run, another dystopian future sees the protagonist, a law enforcement officer called a Sandman, tracking down those who do not voluntarily kill themselves at age ...

The works of Ray Bradbury have long been held up as examples of speculative fiction: the forms of genres which, generally, encompass a wide range of imaginative features. His work often presents common themes such as those with pertain to the future, space, science fiction and the dystopian qualities of future societies. For example, in Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury discusses a future society where books are banned: presenting the reader with a hint of anti-meta narrative, given that the book is the very thing in the readers’ hands. This also represents Bradbury’s most famous work: it is universally accepted as being one ...