Preview

Comparing Dystopic Worlds in George Orwell's 1984 and Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2266 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Comparing Dystopic Worlds in George Orwell's 1984 and Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.
Imagine this, a perfect world of complete harmony and justice. There is no wrong, and there is no right. There is only utopia. It might be the perfect place where people want to live, or the place that people dream about. It might even be the picture of the future. However, this Utopian world is revealed to have flaws. It lacks many of the qualities of life that exist today. Thus the Utopian world isn't so Utopian anymore. And the more that is revealed about the world, the more horrible it becomes. Soon, it becomes a nightmare, a world of illusions, of lies. That is the dystopic world that authors such as Bradbury and George Orwell pictures in their books, a world that exists under the image of utopia, and yet to the reader seems like a foreign, inhumane residence dominated by an all-powerful government. George Orwell's 1984, and Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 depicts two different dystopic worlds. The settings of both books are different and the characters are unique; however, both of these books are also very similar. 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 are similar dystopic literatures by a common theme of censorship in which the government withholds or censors information, by a similar thread of a totalitarian government running the dystopic world, and by a common knowledge of the truth that the protagonist and the antagonist both hold.

Censorship is a remarkable simple concept: the ability of the government to withhold or change information that passes into the public. All governments have some form of censorship, and some governments have less censorship than others. Yet censorship can also become a difficult concept to grasp, for censorship allows the government to influence how people think. The less censorship there is, the more people begin to think, which according to standards today, is a good thing. However, totalitarian governments such as the ones in Fahrenheit 451 and 1984 do not want people to think. They want people to just do, and thus it becomes a perfect



Bibliography: radbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. The Ballantine Publishing Group, 1953. Orwell George. 1984. New American Library, NY, 1949.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Ray Bradbury uses the idea of censorship to show that he is against government control and the loss of freedom in Fahrenheit 451. He demonstrates how powerful the effect censorship has on a society. Bradbury reveals a concern that a dominant government can ultimately subdue the idea of freedom of speech in any totalitarian directorate. He displays how the world will be if the government is in total control and all of humanity has lost their freedom. The world is losing touch with reality as the society insist the clock on the wall is going backwards each minute.…

    • 98 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In history and today, government censorship hides things from society. In the book Fahrenheit 451, Montag realizes that government censorship occurs and many people in his community do not question why they have certain laws. The government conceals certain things to supposedly keep the society a safer environment and not cause any problems. Government censorship happens with many things such as literature, news media, entertainment, the internet, and even communication. Most of these forms of government interference also happens in the book Fahrenheit 451. Some even share the same occurrence in society of censorship. Censorship in this book has some similarities to society today, and half of the human race do not bother to ask why censorship occurs.…

    • 955 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Fahrenheit 451, time goes by faster because of all the time that is spent on technology. Our society is becoming more and more like the society in the book because people are becoming more addicted to the technology when we should be paying attention to our surroundings in the real world.…

    • 945 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel written by Ray Bradbury, published in 1953. The story depicts a futuristic American world, where all books and literature are forbidden. It is the job of the “Firemen” to burn all prohibited books and literature. The novel was inspired by similar times in history when the reading and publishing of specific types of literature, were also controlled. In the novel, it is apparent that the management of political power affects the actions, the minds, and the feelings of groups and of individuals in society. First, the actions, the minds, and the feelings of the people in the community will be greatly influenced by the propaganda and information let out by the government and political leaders. Fear greatly…

    • 875 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A man trapped in a dystopian world where people are forced to obey certain laws he is told to follow. Some may struggle to get away from what they want to teach while most will follow the leader who tells them what they should be. These people are trapped in a society that forces them to act on the terms that they give. People are basically forced to be a mindless zombie that has not have a say so in what happens in the society. In the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a perfect example of a dystopian world with people who follow it and the others who want to escape from it. A man named Montag is the main character or protagonist of the story. In this story it…

    • 1278 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When examining Fahrenheit 451 as a piece of dystopian fiction, a definition for the term "dystopia" is required. Dystopia is often used as an antonym of "utopia," a perfect world often imagined existing in the future. A dystopia, therefore, is a terrible place. You may find it more helpful (and also more accurate) to conceive a dystopian literary tradition, a literary tradition that's created worlds containing reactions against certain ominous social trends and therefore imagines a disastrous future if these trends are not reversed. Most commonly cited as the model of a twentieth-century dystopian novel is Yevgeny Zamiatin's We (1924), which envisions an oppressive but stable social order accomplished only through the complete effacement of the individual. We, which may more properly be called an anti-utopian work rather than a dystopian work, is often cited as the precursor of George Orwell's 1984 (1948), a nightmarish vision of a totalitarian world of the future, similar to one portrayed in We, in which terrorist force maintains order.…

    • 1086 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fahrenheit 451

    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Censorship was a very important theme in Fahrenheit 451 in a lot of different ways one of them is since people are not allowed to read books, so that is the most extreme form of censorship that exists.…

    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    F451

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the novel Fahrenheit 451, the author Ray Bradbury uses a large amount of figurative language ranging from metaphors, similes, imagery, allusions and so forth to express his ideal focus and tone. The tone in particular expresses the sort of gloomy, melancholy, ignorant world in which the people of Fahrenheit 451 live. And though there are many identifiable themes such as censorship due to the government, advancing technology, etcetera, weaved throughout the book, the overall theme expressed in the pages is the separation between those who were ignorant opposed to those who were knowledgeable, for to be knowledgeable is to have access to everything, whereas to be ignorant, is to have access to nothing.…

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Fahrenheit 451

    • 1372 Words
    • 6 Pages

    In the novel, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the author creates a picture of a society that resembles our present-day society in a variety of ways. Although a society in which government has total control over its citizens seems to be a little extreme, there are definitely clues that can be seen today that suggest that we are headed in the same direction. Some of the resemblances between the society in Fahrenheit 451 and our society today are the governments’ hypocrisy, the gullibility of the citizens who fully support the government, and the fact that books are becoming rather extinct due to advances in modern technology.…

    • 1372 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The reasons censorship is harmful and how it was portrayed in the book “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury. In the book “Fahrenheit 451” there is a dystopian society in which no one knows about anything. Most of the stuff is censored to them and the media is their family. Technology is taking over today’s society just like it did in the book and we might end up like them, who knows?…

    • 990 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Potter Stewart once said, “Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself.” Stewart’s personal definition of censorship is constantly portrayed throughout Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 as readers see free-thoughts being restricted by government efforts. This can be seen first as government-directed firemen burn books to keep citizens from developing their own opinions on matters. Secondly, ideas and questions are kept off limits by distracting people through the technology surrounding them. Finally, censorship is enforced by removing situations where people can ask questions, such as in classrooms at schools. Fahrenheit 451 is a novel that gives us prime examples of ways a government can suppress and censor individual ideas and free thought.…

    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many countries have different kinds of leadership. They range from dictators to royalty, to multiple people having government leadership. The purpose of the government is to deal with laws, foreign countries, and, in a way, to gain power. The government will do what it takes to maintain power in the world and over its people. Censorship is one of the ways to prevent its people from knowing its countries flaws. Fahrenheit 451 provides a first-person view for life in a world of censors. The book provides details of the many things the government can censor. This includes Literature, News and Media, Entertainment, Internet, and all forms of communication.…

    • 1246 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Censorship of media is a subject that has been hit heavily throughout history. The idea of censorship seems to give people a negative view of how society would turn out with complete censorship of media. Many authors see it as their responsibility to try to warn people of the dangers of complete control of media, as authors have a voice to a wide range of people. Ray Bradbury’s Novel Fahrenheit 451 uses the theme of censorship to describe how controlled media can affect a society’s ability to think individually.…

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Censorship fears dissent. When someone challenges a book they are worried by the different, and new ideas that a book can cause to be created. When different ideas are formed, now opinions form as well, and so does dissent. It is the goal of censorship to eliminate this differentiation in thought. It was precisely this censorship that Ray Bradbury was looking at when he wrote Fahrenheit 451. He looked at what would happen if all books were banned, instead of just books that people found offensive. The result was a dark and oppressive society that was devoid of any free thought and new ideas besides those created by the presiding powers that controlled the media. Bradbury was writing about the future that he saw occurring based on the increasing…

    • 1910 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Censorship has been a controversial topic for as long as it has existed. Should media and books be censored? And if so, who gets to decide what is? Censorship prevents people from being able to have their own thoughts, since everything is delivered in a "safe" form. This results in the inability to involve or move forward in society. These topics are explored thoroughly in Fahrenheit 451, a book written by Ray Bradbury in 1953. The story takes place in a dystopian society where all books are banned and free thinking is discouraged and punishable. It is told from the point of view of our protagonists, Guy Montag, whom of which is a firefighter that (ironically) sets fire to books, destroying them. From his perspective do we witness the true dangers of censorship and how it prevents the characters from thinking for themselves which, if continues, will cause humanity to fail ro evolve and move beyond their mistakes.…

    • 693 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays