Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury are two well acclaimed novels (Goodreads) displaying the theme of censorship in literature. Both are dystopian novels written in the postmodern era (Oxford), thus portray many themes from World War II such as nuclear war, war poverty,, and totalitarianism. They follow the journeys of the protagonists as they realize the corruption of the society they live in, and attempt to resolve it. Although both protagonists arrive at different conclusions, it is clear the plots contain many parallels. This will be shown through comparisons between the plots, the societies they live in. the ideologies of the governments, and the themes of blindness and isolation. In Fahrenheit 451,
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The television, a primary source of entertainment, depicts gruesome, meaningless scenes conveying an erroneous notion of death and promoting violence. In a scene from White Clown, a show Mildred and her friends enjoy, “Three White Cartoon Clowns chopped off each other 's limbs to the accompaniment of immense incoming tides of laughter” (Bradbury 102). Clarisse mentions to Montag “[She is] afraid of children [her] own age. They kill each other” (Bradbury 32). This corrupt ideology on death also makes suicide commonplace; Gloria, a friend of Mildred’s lost her husband to suicide, and Mildred herself had attempted suicide before. In addition to death being taken lightly, a lack of love is evident in this society. As explained by Mildred’s friends, children are “ruinous” (Bradbury 105), born so “the [human] race must go on” (Bradbury 104), home from school three months a day, and are not shown affection by their parents. Furthermore, love is almost non-existent between couples; Montag sleeps on an “open, separate” (Bradbury 13) bed from his wife, and Mildred’s friends are apathetic about their husbands at war. The mindless nature of this society engenders it …show more content…
Unlike Bradbury’s depiction of passive control, the government, in this society has a constant public presence, and extends its control physically, psychologically, through technology, and over language, information, and history. (Sparknotes 1). Rather than an absence of information, citizens are required to “doublethink” and simultaneously accept contradictory facts in accordance with the government; thus history, information, and language are constantly reworked in consonance with “Big Brother.” Telescreens, televisions with cameras, are also used as a manipulative tool by the government to constantly broadcast propaganda and monitor its subjects. In addition, perpetual war, another method used by the government, kept citizens of the large lower class deprived of necessities, thus mitigating any desire to revolt. Although Big Brother maintained a greater appearance in the public, the governments in both novels utilized similar methods to attain control over its
The television, a primary source of entertainment, depicts gruesome, meaningless scenes conveying an erroneous notion of death and promoting violence. In a scene from White Clown, a show Mildred and her friends enjoy, “Three White Cartoon Clowns chopped off each other 's limbs to the accompaniment of immense incoming tides of laughter” (Bradbury 102). Clarisse mentions to Montag “[She is] afraid of children [her] own age. They kill each other” (Bradbury 32). This corrupt ideology on death also makes suicide commonplace; Gloria, a friend of Mildred’s lost her husband to suicide, and Mildred herself had attempted suicide before. In addition to death being taken lightly, a lack of love is evident in this society. As explained by Mildred’s friends, children are “ruinous” (Bradbury 105), born so “the [human] race must go on” (Bradbury 104), home from school three months a day, and are not shown affection by their parents. Furthermore, love is almost non-existent between couples; Montag sleeps on an “open, separate” (Bradbury 13) bed from his wife, and Mildred’s friends are apathetic about their husbands at war. The mindless nature of this society engenders it …show more content…
Unlike Bradbury’s depiction of passive control, the government, in this society has a constant public presence, and extends its control physically, psychologically, through technology, and over language, information, and history. (Sparknotes 1). Rather than an absence of information, citizens are required to “doublethink” and simultaneously accept contradictory facts in accordance with the government; thus history, information, and language are constantly reworked in consonance with “Big Brother.” Telescreens, televisions with cameras, are also used as a manipulative tool by the government to constantly broadcast propaganda and monitor its subjects. In addition, perpetual war, another method used by the government, kept citizens of the large lower class deprived of necessities, thus mitigating any desire to revolt. Although Big Brother maintained a greater appearance in the public, the governments in both novels utilized similar methods to attain control over its