1984 and Fahrenheit 451

1035 Words3 Pages

Much can happen in a matter of minutes; a man can go from thinking he is happy to thinking his life is falling apart, or can change from hating someone to loving them. These experiences sound outlandish, but they happened to Guy Montag, the main character in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, and Winston Smith, the main character in George Orwell’s 1984. These two dystopian novels are about the characters discovering major problems in their societies, and then trying to fix them. Montag lives in a society where television controls people’s lives and books have become illegal. On the other hand Smith lives in Oceania, a territory led by a totalitarian regime. This regime is headed by Big Brother and is referred to as the Party. By examining Fahrenheit 451 and 1984, it is seen, not only through the dehumanized nature of society, but also through the theme of lies and manipulation that both Orwell and Bradbury wish to warn of a horrifying future society.

When one first examines these two stories, they see a dehumanized society which is one way Orwell and Bradbury present their warnings about society. Both authors show this through lack of positive emotions, particularly love. In Fahrenheit 451, a teenager named Clarisse McClellan rubs a dandelion under Montag’s chin. Since the dandelion doesn’t rub off, she says Montag isn’t in love. He originally denies this, for he has a wife name Mildred, but later he realizes “That awful flower the other day, the dandelion! It had summed up everything” (Bradbury 41). Montag has reached the conclusion that he doesn’t love Mildred, his own wife! This epitomizes the dehumanized society of Fahrenheit 451, a society in which there are no strong emotions. Emotions are part of what defines being human. W...

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...his manipulation of people’s knowledge creates a mindless society, so manipulation is a method Bradbury uses to convey his warning. By presenting the theme of manipulation and lies Orwell and Bradbury exhibit their warnings about society.
Complementing a dehumanized society with manipulation and lies is the method used by both Bradbury and Orwell to present their warnings about society. At the end of Fahrenheit 451, the city Montag escapes to join a secret civilization living in the woods and the city is destroyed. On the other hand, Winston is caught by the regime who tortures him and eventually converts him to their beliefs. Despite these different endings, both authors, through merely ink and paper, warned of, and could have helped prevented world filled filled with hate, ignorance, and misery.

Works Cited

1984 by George Orwell
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

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