Examples Of Dystopia In Fahrenheit 451
Kellee Vest
Matthew Simon
English 103-011
12 September 2014
Utopia: Dystopia in Disguise “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. … We need not wait to see what others do” (Gandhi). The quote above explains that if one seeks social or personal change, both aspects must change together or not at all; they have a symbiotic relationship with one another. Change must be a cause and effect reaction, meaning that if a change is made, others will see the change and do the same. A thematic example of this would be the film Pleasantville. In the film, the society is one commonly described as utopian or perfection but in reality …show more content…
Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is set in a futuristic yet believable mid-twentieth-century America where: the people of the society have “started and won two atomic wars” (73), books have been deemed unrighteous, and anyone who partakes in reading books or even having them in their households are threatened by the firemen to have both their belongings and households burned to ashes. The technological advances in the novel supports the dystopian genre by showing that because of the rise of new technologies books have become obsolete and with books being gone the general level of intelligence is seemingly low. People are more focused on what is already available to them rather than what the outside world has to offer. The firemen own an eight-legged Mechanical Hound that hunts and chases those who escape from the firemen’s raid, four-wall televisions hold the entertainment for the members of the society, “Seashell” radios are in the ears of some as they sleep and even transmit entertainment full of commercials so the town never has to be bored. By having these advances, there is no need for people to have ingenuity or creativity in any part of their daily lives: work, school, or entertainment. These luxuries interrupt them from seeing that the way they are living is leading them into a false …show more content…
The families and individuals of Fahrenheit 451 are empty, loveless, suicidal, and displeased; these characteristics originate because they are truly living in a false utopian society, if everything was perfect like the government had planned it to be there would be no world wars, no death, no crime, and a lot more emotion. On boring nights in the town, the firemen let rats, chickens, and cats loose in the streets and then release the Hound on them, creating a betting game on to which will die first. The women of the society take nightly drives out to the country, driving fast and hitting rabbits or dogs for their own entertainment. Teenagers of the society will often do the same only striking pedestrians instead of small animals. The lack of emotion across the board causes Guy Montag to come to one of the most honest realizations of the novel, when he states, “We have everything we need to be happy, but we aren’t happy. Something’s missing” (82). This realization is what sets him apart as a rebel in this society. He sees that there is more to life than being violent and living in a painted happiness. In agreement with this ideal is Rafeeq O. McGiveron, of Critical Insights, he states, “yet even as they serve governments that quash thought and emotion and individuality, often in the name of some greater societal goof, they are not mere yes-men or slogan-mongers”
Matthew Simon
English 103-011
12 September 2014
Utopia: Dystopia in Disguise “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. … We need not wait to see what others do” (Gandhi). The quote above explains that if one seeks social or personal change, both aspects must change together or not at all; they have a symbiotic relationship with one another. Change must be a cause and effect reaction, meaning that if a change is made, others will see the change and do the same. A thematic example of this would be the film Pleasantville. In the film, the society is one commonly described as utopian or perfection but in reality …show more content…
Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is set in a futuristic yet believable mid-twentieth-century America where: the people of the society have “started and won two atomic wars” (73), books have been deemed unrighteous, and anyone who partakes in reading books or even having them in their households are threatened by the firemen to have both their belongings and households burned to ashes. The technological advances in the novel supports the dystopian genre by showing that because of the rise of new technologies books have become obsolete and with books being gone the general level of intelligence is seemingly low. People are more focused on what is already available to them rather than what the outside world has to offer. The firemen own an eight-legged Mechanical Hound that hunts and chases those who escape from the firemen’s raid, four-wall televisions hold the entertainment for the members of the society, “Seashell” radios are in the ears of some as they sleep and even transmit entertainment full of commercials so the town never has to be bored. By having these advances, there is no need for people to have ingenuity or creativity in any part of their daily lives: work, school, or entertainment. These luxuries interrupt them from seeing that the way they are living is leading them into a false …show more content…
The families and individuals of Fahrenheit 451 are empty, loveless, suicidal, and displeased; these characteristics originate because they are truly living in a false utopian society, if everything was perfect like the government had planned it to be there would be no world wars, no death, no crime, and a lot more emotion. On boring nights in the town, the firemen let rats, chickens, and cats loose in the streets and then release the Hound on them, creating a betting game on to which will die first. The women of the society take nightly drives out to the country, driving fast and hitting rabbits or dogs for their own entertainment. Teenagers of the society will often do the same only striking pedestrians instead of small animals. The lack of emotion across the board causes Guy Montag to come to one of the most honest realizations of the novel, when he states, “We have everything we need to be happy, but we aren’t happy. Something’s missing” (82). This realization is what sets him apart as a rebel in this society. He sees that there is more to life than being violent and living in a painted happiness. In agreement with this ideal is Rafeeq O. McGiveron, of Critical Insights, he states, “yet even as they serve governments that quash thought and emotion and individuality, often in the name of some greater societal goof, they are not mere yes-men or slogan-mongers”