Paper Research

Many conflicting bodies of mind have played defining roles in shaping humanity throughout the 20th century. Presence of a bright future held by society was taken advantage of by the promise of a better life through sacrifice of individuality to the state. In the novel 1984 by George Orwell and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, clear opposition to these subtle barriers was voiced. These books established the atmosphere and seductiveness of utopia and the fear of consequences of acting not prescribed way through character development. A single character is alienated because of his inability to conform. The characters struggle to hide this fact from the states relentless supervision. This struggle leads them to eventual conflict with some hand of the state, which serves as the author’s voice presenting the reader with the absurdity of the principles on which the society is based. The similar fear of the state’s abuse of power and the technology at the expense of human individuality present within these novels speaks to the relevance of these novels within their historical context and their usefulness for awakening people to the horrendous consequence of their ignorance.

In these novels the main characters are, or become, unable to conform to the society’s standards. These characters represent the author’s view of the utopia as they see it with the veil of ignorance removed. In 1984, we start out with a character, Winston, who is constantly observing the ironies of the world about him. Through his job at the ministry of truth, he becomes a hand of the state. It supports endeavor, Comrade Ogilvy, unimagined an hour ago, and was now a fact. He would exist just as authentically as Charlemagne and Julius Caesar. (1984, 54) As the book progresses he becomes more aware of his individuality and eventually is unable to hide to hide it. Similarly in Fahrenheit 451, Montag aware of problems with his society , but not logically emotionally. He is deeply disturbed when a medical team helps his wife appear and disappear within a matter of minutes “There are too many of us, he thought. There are billions of us and that’s too many. “Nobody knows anyone”. (Fahrenheit 451, 14) He becomes further agitated when a casual encounter with an antisocial youth, who is normal by our standards, asks him if he is truly happy. When these and other questions weigh upon his mind he begins to realize that something is fundamentally wrong with the world he is living in.