Comparing Ray Bradbury‟s Fahrenheit 451 and Suzanne Collin‟s The Hunger Games

Over the centuries, mankind has tantalised itself with the prospect of a perfect world. These

visions of „utopia‟ remain objects of contemplation rather than practice, as societies of such

flawless nature must tend to the individual ideals of all, yet prevent them from interfering with

one another through a means of control. A paradox is thus introduced, as the imposition of

restraint ultimately undermines the insatiable freewill of individuals. Ray Bradbury‟s

Fahrenheit 451 and Suzanne Collin‟s The Hunger Games provide insight into utopian

societies and their eventual demise, leading to the portrayal of „dystopias‟. Fahrenheit 451

candidly hosts criticism to the rule of totalitarian government, realised through the

subordination of individual (and thus conflicting) ideals. The Hunger Games depicts a

political and scientific utopia in the Capitol; an idyllic city that exists in the deprivation of

freewill. Through representation of pertinent social themes, Bradbury and Collins expose the

defective concepts of utopia that ultimately undermine their establishment in reality.

Within any idyllic society, power and control must ensure the ideals of individuals are kept

within acceptable bounds – a form of political correctness. Ray Bradbury‟s Fahrenheit 451 is

a cynical prognostication of this ideal. Through the abolition of intellectual mediums such as

books, the government upholds a false utopia through the riddance of ideals that could

refute such delusion. The firemen‟s incineration of books symbolically represents the

relegation of values such as objectivity, criticism and analysis, which supposedly reside in

the written word. As a result, confidently self-reg...

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... of power, control and freewill in The Hunger Games and

Fahrenheit 451, it is demonstrated that humans are of uncompromising nature and thus

undermine the realisation of utopia. Within these texts, it can be realised that no population

can be controlled without imposition on their freewill and thus happiness. As a result of this,

it should be learnt that the search for „utopia‟ is a contemplative one, and can never be

attained conclusively. Perhaps however, a perfect society resides in the search; once

proclaimed by author, Daniel Lettle, “Nothing, not even a Utopia, can necessarily make the

pursuit of happiness a successful one that ends in capture. The best society can merely

allow every individual to flourish in the pursuit”.

Works Cited

Bradbury, Ray. “Fahrenheit 451.” New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks 2013.