Compare And Contrast Bergeron And Fahrenheit 451

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Recommended: Dystopian literature themes

In Fahrenheit 451 and Harrison Bergeron, the society the character's live in is a dystopian society, which means everyone is the same. This may sound like a great way to live, but the way everyone is forced to be the same isn't great for the people. In the book Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag, is a firefighter for his city. But firefighters don't put out fires in this society, they start them. In this society, books are illegal to own or read. A firefighter's job is to burn books so nobody "gets hurt". History has been changed so that they believe firemen always started fires and Benjamin Franklin was the first fireman. One day on the job, they get a call that someone has been hoarding books in their house. When they get there, there's a woman yelling that they can't take …show more content…

This escalates, which ends up with the woman burning herself to death along with her books(37). Montag calls in sick the next day, and Captain Beatty, his boss, comes to his house and tells him every fireman gets this way at some point. He tells Montag the history of firemen and books. He tells him everyone had books back then, and that since the US Constitution said "all men are made equal", the people who are illiterate should be equal to the literate(55). The issue of censorship declared books illegal to everyone, to make the people happy. Beatty explains to Montag, "If colored people don't like Little Black Sambo, burn it. If white people don't like Uncle Tom's Cabin, burn it."(57) This explains how the government wants everybody to be happy in their society. Overtime, Montag grows to enjoy books, to the point where he starts hiding them in his own home(63). He ends up running from the city to get away from the authorities, and finds himself with a group of ex-teachers and people who read books before the book

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    Fahrenheit 451 is a novel that was written based on a dystopian society. It begins to explain how society copes with the government through conformity. Most of the characters in this story, for example: Mildred, Beatty, and the rest, start to conform to the government because it is the culture they had grown up in. Individuality is not something in this society because it adds unneeded conflict between the characters. The government tries to rid of the individuality it may have. Individuality was shown in the beginning quite well by using Clarisse McClellan and Montag. Clarisse McClellan shows her individuality quite clearly, more towards Montag. After Montag has been living off conformity, he decided to start questioning the world and ends

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  • Similarities Between Fahrenheit 451 And Harrison Bergeron

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    Harrison Bergeron is missing some rights and although has equality, the society has many flaws. Fahrenheit 451 shows that basic rights that are lacking in the book, are also a problem in todays world. Harrison Bergeron and Fahrenheit 451 both present dystopian societies that have lack of freedom, similar to today's

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  • Similarities Between Harrison Bergeron And Fahrenheit 451

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    In Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 Montag exhibits conflict between character and society, when he yearns to keep books despite society's rules. Mildred finds Montag's books hidden and runs to do something about it but Montag stops her and says, “we can't burn these, I want to look at them, at least look at them once” (Bradbury 66). Montag is having conflict not only with society but himself, as he struggles to accept the censorship. Likewise, in Vonnegut's “Harrison Bergeron” characters struggle to be unique in a society where uniformity is favoured. For example, even a melodious voice is unfavoured proven as the television announcer, “began again, making her voice absolutely uncompetitive” (Vonnegut 3). Sameness is valued in Vonnegut’s society, even sounding diverse is unacceptable. When homogeneity is preferred over uniqueness, humanity is lost. As in Fahrenheit 451 this character is resisting the conformity that society is forcing upon them. Thus, the conflict of text-to-society relates to both Fahrenheit 451 and “Harrison

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  • Censorship In 'Fahrenheit 451'

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  • The Transformation of Guy Montag in Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

    729 Words  | 2 Pages

    At the beginning of the book Fahrenheit 451, Montag is a loyal citizen and firemen, who has rarely questioned the beliefs of society. He sees the world as any ordinary citizen (in this society) would, and is perfectly content with seeing flames eat the words and thoughts of a person. Montag would never question society as he “grinned the fierce grin of all men singed and driven back by flame” (Bradbury 3). This means that he did not really feel the emotions that he should have felt, and was blinded by society. He felt he was doing good for society, even though he had no evidence except for the book the firemen read from to learn about their profession. The quote “Established, 1790, to burn English-influenced books in the Colonies. First Fireman: Benjamin Franklin. Rule 1. Answer the alarm swiftly. 2. Start the fire swiftly. 3. Burn everything. 4. Report back to firehouse immediately. 5. Stand alert for other alarms” (Bradbury 34-35) gives examples of how ignorant Montag was. He thought that because it was written in a book and because everyone else believed it, he also should believe it. Montag was the perfect citizen in his perfect society, but h...

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