Fahrenheit 451 & Gattaca Comparative Study - Historical Context
Throughout time Science Fiction writers have produced their work, using the concept of dystopia as a method to express their outlook and opinion on the issues within their existing societies, in which they are writing from. The writer delivers a message to the audience, educating them about the current contextual concerns and the possibility of the dystopias that are developed as a result. This is demonstrated in the novel Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury and the film Gattaca, directed by Andrew Niccol. Both of these composers illustrate their fears for the fate of their society through the structural and language features of their texts. Ray Bradbury explores the value of using knowledge and independent thinking rather than blindly following the ‘rules’, without a second thought or question. Andrew Niccol uses the reality of scientific methods, addressing the responder of the direction society is heading in and the fatal result of the future if we were to mess with the balance of nature.
Like all texts, Fahrenheit 451 is a product of its time. It was published in the early 1950s, during a time recovering from World War II and facing the Cold War, which caused key contextual concerns of this period. During the McCarthy era, the rise of the mass media contributed to the themes and ideas explored by Bradbury’s dystopian fiction novel. These ideas include the danger of censorship, knowledge vs. ignorance and the role of technology which are explored in a world where people are so busy that they do not stop to think or notice beauty or to really communicate with the people around them. This is a world where the media feeds the minds of numbed masses whose highest goal is happiness; a goal that persistently eludes them.
Although Gattaca was created many years afterwards, Andrew Niccol’s futuristic film also explores the contextual concerns within his present society; the twenty-first century. Niccol looks at the role of science and technology and the concerns
Like all texts, Fahrenheit 451 is a product of its time. It was published in the early 1950s, during a time recovering from World War II and facing the Cold War, which caused key contextual concerns of this period. During the McCarthy era, the rise of the mass media contributed to the themes and ideas explored by Bradbury’s dystopian fiction novel. These ideas include the danger of censorship, knowledge vs. ignorance and the role of technology which are explored in a world where people are so busy that they do not stop to think or notice beauty or to really communicate with the people around them. This is a world where the media feeds the minds of numbed masses whose highest goal is happiness; a goal that persistently eludes them.
Although Gattaca was created many years afterwards, Andrew Niccol’s futuristic film also explores the contextual concerns within his present society; the twenty-first century. Niccol looks at the role of science and technology and the concerns