Farenheit451/Gattaca, Relationship Between Man and Machine
ENGLISH ESSAY
Science fiction is a genre of fiction revolving around science and technology, usually conveying the dystopian alternative future context, the pessimistic resultant of society. Ray Bradbury 's Fahrenheit 451 (1953) and Andrew Niccols Gattaca (1997) both explore the values and concerns of human existence. Despite the difference in context, Gattaca and Fahrenheit 451 both extrapolate the relationship between man and machine in a metaphorical sense. Both pose similar dystopian concepts of a machine like world. Through the use of juxtapoism, satire, film noir, textual devices and symbolism, both artists are able to successfully convey their interpretation on the values and concerns of science and technology. The historical context affects both authors. Bradbury had written Fahrenheit 451 in an era affected by ww2, McCarthyism, communism and Nazis burning books, culminating with a significant influence on young Bradbury. Bradbury implements the concept of censorship, being ‘inspired by these events’, and bases the foundation of the novel around the 1933 Nazi book burning period. The 1950’s was the decade where television was found common in the average household. Bradbury satirically implements the newly ‘innovative’ television within Fahrenheit, portraying the technology through his envisionment of the destruction/ eradication the newly fond technology could bring upon humanity, hence opening up to the dystopia found in Fahrenheit 451. Andrew Niccol wrote Gattaca in the 1990’s, a decade of technological rises including the human genome project, cloning and the modification of genes. These uprising in technologies are evidence of humanities desire to reach ‘perfection’. Niccol similarly to Bradbury, satirically portrays the advancements of genetic technology within Fahrenheit 451. “ My father was right. It did not matter how much i lied on my resume. My real resume was in my cells”. One whom is a ‘god child’, has no chance competing against someone
Science fiction is a genre of fiction revolving around science and technology, usually conveying the dystopian alternative future context, the pessimistic resultant of society. Ray Bradbury 's Fahrenheit 451 (1953) and Andrew Niccols Gattaca (1997) both explore the values and concerns of human existence. Despite the difference in context, Gattaca and Fahrenheit 451 both extrapolate the relationship between man and machine in a metaphorical sense. Both pose similar dystopian concepts of a machine like world. Through the use of juxtapoism, satire, film noir, textual devices and symbolism, both artists are able to successfully convey their interpretation on the values and concerns of science and technology. The historical context affects both authors. Bradbury had written Fahrenheit 451 in an era affected by ww2, McCarthyism, communism and Nazis burning books, culminating with a significant influence on young Bradbury. Bradbury implements the concept of censorship, being ‘inspired by these events’, and bases the foundation of the novel around the 1933 Nazi book burning period. The 1950’s was the decade where television was found common in the average household. Bradbury satirically implements the newly ‘innovative’ television within Fahrenheit, portraying the technology through his envisionment of the destruction/ eradication the newly fond technology could bring upon humanity, hence opening up to the dystopia found in Fahrenheit 451. Andrew Niccol wrote Gattaca in the 1990’s, a decade of technological rises including the human genome project, cloning and the modification of genes. These uprising in technologies are evidence of humanities desire to reach ‘perfection’. Niccol similarly to Bradbury, satirically portrays the advancements of genetic technology within Fahrenheit 451. “ My father was right. It did not matter how much i lied on my resume. My real resume was in my cells”. One whom is a ‘god child’, has no chance competing against someone