Fahrenheit 451 Essays (Examples)

Fahrenheit 451' vs. '1984'

Several conflicting frames of mind have played defining roles in shaping humanity throughout the twentieth century. Philosophical optimism of a bright future held by humanity in general was taken advantage of by the promise of a better life through sacrifice of individuality to the state. In the books 1984, by George Orwell and Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury have clear opposition to these subtle entrapments that was voiced in similarly convincing ways.

They first both establish, to varying degrees of balance, the atmosphere and seductiveness of the "utopia" and the fear of the consequences of acting in the non-prescribed way through character development. A single character is alienated because of their inability to conform - often in protest to the forced conditions of happiness and well being. Their struggle is to hide this fact from the state's relentless supervision of (supposedly) everything. This leads them to…

The second crucial element missing from society, in Faber's explanation, is the leisure time among citizens to critically analyze or even think at all about any meaningful information they should come across in their lives. Because the government has become so successful at capturing their attention in simple forms of entertainment, people lack the necessary motivation to take time away from those enjoyable pursuits to learn about any quality information that happens to come their way. Even if they were to hear intellectually stimulating ideas, they would probably not remember it, or they might remember it superficially but never actually use that information for anything important.

The third element missing from society, according to Faber, are the rights of citizens. Without basic rights, even if people were to accumulate meaningful information about the truth or learn to think critically and to question the actions and policies of the government, they…

1984 & Fahrenheit 451

The Pessimism of 1984 vs. The Optimism of Fahrenheit 451

Both 1984 by George Orwell and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury are futuristic depictions of totalitarian societies that value conformity over individualism. The two novels present systems of institutionalized control. There are strict laws and rules governing behavior and thoughts, and both societies are based on a hierarchy. The protagonists in the novels, inston Smith and Guy Montag, are unhappy with the control their respective societies exert on people's lives, so they attempt to find ways to usurp the systems.

Both authors examine the idea of a central authority that has no institutional checks or limitations. Both societies endeavor to control how people perceive their own reality. Through the burning of books in Bradbury's work or through mechanisms such as the thought police in Orwell's, both works feature a reality where collective security and control have…

Granger helps him reconsider the importance of his hands when he tells him it does not matter what you do "long a you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that's like you after you take your hands away" (170). This scene proves noteworthy for Montag because he realizes it is true. He even notes change will "come from our hands and our mouths" (175). Here we see a complete turnaround for Montag as he begins to accept personal responsibility rather than do what the powers that be tell him to do. He finds a sense of self apart from the government machine and he discovers he does not agree with that government. This is a significant stage in Montag's growth because he begins to believe in himself and the others. His fear and his anxiety regarding this transformation are lessening.

Fire is undoubtedly…

Philosophy: Enlightenment and Fahrenheit 451

e are a society defined by technology and machines. At the speed of light, we gain knowledge via the Internet, our lives are made more convenient and the globe becomes a smaller place to live. As a result of machines and technology, we are a 24/7 society where time is scarce and a high commodity. Even with machines to make our lives and jobs easier, we face collectively greater challenges as a result and remarkably less time for pleasure. Some would say we are adversely affected by the machines and devices we have grown so accustomed to in every aspect of day-to-day life. Everywhere we go, machines are present, technology comes into play in every process. Does science best serve our society? Have we let the machines take over to a point where we have lost control much like the futuristic Terminator films? hat are…

Inside he is changing but he continues with his life as much as he can. Beatty accuses Montag of being a hopeless romantic and does his best to convince Montag there is nothing in books that could benefit man. Beatty also blames a large part of Montag's "problem" on his encounters with Clarisse, who was "better of dead" (64). This attitude is a stark contrast with Faber and his beliefs. Faber realizes Montag's situation and tells him that what he needs can be found in books. He says, "There is nothing magical in them at all. The magic is only in what books say" (89-90). He admits something useful can be found in books and that is how they are valuable to us. e learn from others and their experiences, Faber tells him. He also tells him books "remind us what fools and asses we are" (93). Faber also encourages…

This action of doing one
thing and feeling another is a perfect statement regarding how censorship
can thrive in a community. In Farenheit 451 the citizens allowed the
government the freedom to burn books, they did this by not speaking out at
the initiation of such actions. Faber tells Montag "I said nothing. I'm
one of the innocents who could have spoken up and out when no one would
listen to the 'guilty', but I did not speak and thus became 'guilty'
myself" (Bradbury 82). hen good citizens quail in the face of attempted
censorship, then censorship will thrive. ithout the knowledge blocked by
the censors, the citizenry will flounder under the thumb of oppression.
The characters in the book who meet Montag after his escape from the city
know this is true. Granger, one of the leaders of the group tells Montag,
"All we want to do is keep…

Banning Books in High School

Book Banning and Censorship

Social groups, including religious organizations, parents, and school administration among others, make decisions daily about what material will become a part of the regular school curriculum and what material will be excluded. Many decisions are made based on the educational value of text books and other learning material. However, many decisions are unfortunately made without educational potential in mind, but rather on the basis of what is considered to be profane or proper based on the opinions of certain people that feel they have the moral authority to make such decisions. American schools have always been built on the principle that children must be protected from that which is inappropriate for them to see, hear, or experience. "American schools have been pressured to restrict or deny students access to books or periodicals deemed objectionable by some individual or group on moral,…

Dreamed of Creating Magic - and He Does

One of my dreams was to grow up and become a magician. ell, that's what happened. I'm not a science fiction writer. I'm a magician. I can use words to make you believe anything." -Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury is one of the classic authors of our day- one of the fathers of science fiction. At nearly 82 years old, and over 500 works later, he is still going strong. He is still writing, creating and producing.

Ray Douglas Bradbury was born in aukegan, Illinois on August 22, 1920. He was the third son of Leonard Spaulding Bradbury, a telephone line worker, and Esther Marie Bradbury, a Swedish immigrant. Bradbury credits his mother, with jump-starting his love of fantasy and the supernatural. His mother was fascinated with the new motion pictures. She would sneak Bradbury in with her when he was only two…

" After effectively damning her to a life as a vampire, Ibrahim, himself abused by the man who made him one of the undead, tries to 'make good' on his promise to himself to help Lina: "Despite the many shortcoming of Ibrahim's moral probity, he had known from the start that he would live his life as a vampire much the same way he had lived his life as a normal human -- trying to be good, even if he failed miserably most of the time." This is, Taylor suggests, not unlike that of a terrorist who rationalizes his conversion of another man (or woman) to the cause, that he is at least trying, and saving the new convert from a worse fate.

Taylor's extended metaphor of Islamic terrorism and fundamentalism and vampirism, of one life as an outsider in real life with life as an outsider in a science…

And there are always a few racists in any town. But I believe we have a great, open, accepting community. e entertain tourists from all over the planet, and many of them are from ethnic cultures different from ours. They say they feel welcomed here.

Q: hat use does the community foundation make of the local AM station KMHS-AM?

M: I'm glad you asked. e have learning programs for parents and students. And students make up their own little reports and broadcasts. Topics range from the environment, world news, California news and Coos Bay news.

Q: Typically what news items from Coos Bay do you use on KMHS?

M: e interview people who are doing interesting things in town and with businesses. Biologists from the college and local fishermen. The news in this town isn't really very earth shaking. Look at the list of news items on the orld's ebsite…

"Specifically, it's an extension of the familiar Amazon store (where, of course, Kindles will be sold). Amazon has designed the Kindle to operate totally independent of a computer: you can use it to go to the store, browse for books, check out your personalized recommendations, and read reader reviews and post new ones, tapping out the words on a thumb-friendly keyboard. Buying a book with a Kindle is a one-touch process" (Levy 2007). It encourages consumption and purchasing of literary material filtered through one corporation's portal. Independent bookstores that showcased new authors will find it even more difficult to survive in the new, 'Kindled' world.

The Kindle's domination extends not only to fiction, but also to news. The Kindle "not only displays the news" but it "also speaks it with a computerized voice" with free downloadable new pronunciations for the week's newsmakers (Arango 2009). However, the domination of the Kindle…

Parents who are predisposed to limit children's exposure to violence will do so as a matter of course. Parents who don't feel that way, will not. Therefore, if parents can't be relied upon to police their children, then society must- because what social order wants to have violence-overloaded children heaving their criminal behavior upon it?

In the mid-1950's a Senate sub-committee began to investigate the "sources of the moral rot at the core of an otherwise flourishing postwar America," (Knox, 4). This committee looked at the comic book industry, movies, and particularly at television. While these efforts did little to nothing to curb interest in subjects considered to be anti-American, or "immoral," it does show the depth of time and effort that has been spent on this issue - at every level. However, over the course of time, television has become more liberal rather than less. So, in response, the…

Book Censorship: An Advocacy EssayI. INTRODUCTIONToday, the debate over book censorship in the United States is not only heated and emotionally charged, it has resulted in actual violence in the nations communities. The reasons that some groups want books in the schools and libraries censored are multiple, but they all boil down to fundamental disagreements concerning what types of materials young people should be allowed to read and discuss. Certainly, there is little disagreement concerning providing young learners with outright pornographic materials or literature that promotes violence, baby-killing, drunkenness, incest, or fratricide, but censorship advocates are on a very slippery slope when it comes to defining materials that are sufficiently offensive to warrant censorship. Indeed, the Holy Bible includes all of the foregoing issues as well as others that many people would find objectionable if they were in any other source. In this regard, one authority points out that, Censorship…

The shots in the scene reuniting Indy and Marian are impersonal, long shots and medium shots.

The scene introducing the relationship between Indy and Marian quickly cuts in to the Nazi whose expertise is one of torture. He has come for the same thing Indy has, and the close ups are Marian's facial expression of fear as she's about to lose her eye to a red hot poker. Indy comes to the rescue and the final Nepal scene is a montage of dynamic action where Indy and Marian make their escape.

The film cuts to the Middle East, where Indy and Marian have traveled, as have the Nazis, in search of the ark. The first part of this Act II, so to speak, introduces Indy's good friend and his Middle Eastern contact. The scenes in the Act II employ a series of medium and long shots as Indy and Marion…

Humanities

Importance of the humanities in the professions:

A comparison of "Paul's Case," Muriel's Wedding and Andy Warhol's rendition of Marilyn Monroe

The modern concept of 'celebrity' is that anyone can be famous, provided that he or she embodies an ideal of glamour, using material trappings like clothing and possessions to show his or her 'specialness.' This is a common method of 'selling' a particular product in business.

The idea is paradoxical -- on one hand, celebrities are special, on the other hand the media suggests everyone can be a celebrity and 'famous for 15 minutes' if they buy the right item.

This can be seen in "Paul's Case" by Willa Cather, about a boy who feels as if he is above his classmates.

Paul desires to have a celebrity-like status, based upon his perceptions of himself as having innately refined tastes.

But this costs money, and Paul is unwilling…

China Syndrome

Several interesting facts surrounding he China Syndrome are worth bringing out at the beginning of this paper. First, Jack Lemmon, Jane Fonda, and Michael Douglas, the principal actors in the film, were all actively anti-nuclear at one time during the 1970s and 1980s in California and Oregon. Fonda in fact flew from Los Angeles to Eugene Oregon in 1976 to appear as a celebrity on behalf of the proponents of Measure B, a ballot proposition (which failed) that would have restricted the further development of nuclear plants in Oregon pending the establishment of a safe repository for the highly radioactive "nuclear waste."

he same kind of ballot measure that was voted on in California in 1976, and was defeated because of massive advertising by the utilities, which used scare-tactic V commercials showing a family eating dinner by candlelight (the direct implication was that the lights would go out…