Discuss how the historical and/ or social context has influenced the construction of ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and gattaca.
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” The historical context has a large influence on the construction of texts. Fahrenheit 451 depicts an epiphany for a politically correct firemen. He has a realisation of the ignorance and a growing distain for conformity in a claustrophobic society. Through this realisation he becomes an individual away from the intellectual obsolesce of society. In Gattaca - Vincent goes against a society where genetic engineering of humans is common and DNA plays the primary role in determining social class and employment …show more content…
The Human Genome Project started in the 1980’s had the potential for major steps forward in understanding how DNA could produce certain characteristics in Humans. It also threw up a number of moral issues relating to potential abuse of gene manipulation and discrimination against those with the wrong genes! In Gattaca the novel is constructed around a society based on a hirarchy of Genetic purity, which at the time was a major discussion point, with many people believing they would be worse off through the decoding of their genes. An American citizen spoke his thoughts in the early 90’s saying,”With the use of genes, don 't you think that many more people will be discriminated against? If you had a 76% chance of getting cancer, would insurance companies have the right to deny you coverage?. Your genes could control your entire life and you could never have the chance to do what you want. If you had a 76% chance of getting cancer, would insurance companies have the right to deny you coverage?”. This idea is very prevalent in Gattaca where Vincent being an ‘invalid’ is denied equal job employment because of his defective heart condition and bad eyesight. “Theres no gene for fate”.The movie ultimately speaks out against the discrimination that is thought to come through genetic modification and gene …show more content…
You could conceive naturally a thousand times and never get such a result.” The idea of discrimination is carried into gattaca through the unequal opportunities faced by Vincent. At the time of its production, the fight was not for equality of genes but equality of the disabled. With the projected genome program taking place many believed as stated before that a whole new sought of discrimination would arise. The inequality faced in Gattaca is of this nature and portrays the inability of humans to accept others for who they are not what they are. As seen in Gattaca, your genetic makeup (in this case) does not determine a person, their actions, or there ethics. Vincent being a hard working individual who 's passion and drive surpasses others with no challenge has the genetic makeup of a potato. Overall the values in the society of the time to accept others for who they are not what they are had a major effect on the establishment of this text. It being a main theme in the the film where anti-conformist behaviour is frowned upon by conformists but as an audience is appreciated and
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” The historical context has a large influence on the construction of texts. Fahrenheit 451 depicts an epiphany for a politically correct firemen. He has a realisation of the ignorance and a growing distain for conformity in a claustrophobic society. Through this realisation he becomes an individual away from the intellectual obsolesce of society. In Gattaca - Vincent goes against a society where genetic engineering of humans is common and DNA plays the primary role in determining social class and employment …show more content…
The Human Genome Project started in the 1980’s had the potential for major steps forward in understanding how DNA could produce certain characteristics in Humans. It also threw up a number of moral issues relating to potential abuse of gene manipulation and discrimination against those with the wrong genes! In Gattaca the novel is constructed around a society based on a hirarchy of Genetic purity, which at the time was a major discussion point, with many people believing they would be worse off through the decoding of their genes. An American citizen spoke his thoughts in the early 90’s saying,”With the use of genes, don 't you think that many more people will be discriminated against? If you had a 76% chance of getting cancer, would insurance companies have the right to deny you coverage?. Your genes could control your entire life and you could never have the chance to do what you want. If you had a 76% chance of getting cancer, would insurance companies have the right to deny you coverage?”. This idea is very prevalent in Gattaca where Vincent being an ‘invalid’ is denied equal job employment because of his defective heart condition and bad eyesight. “Theres no gene for fate”.The movie ultimately speaks out against the discrimination that is thought to come through genetic modification and gene …show more content…
You could conceive naturally a thousand times and never get such a result.” The idea of discrimination is carried into gattaca through the unequal opportunities faced by Vincent. At the time of its production, the fight was not for equality of genes but equality of the disabled. With the projected genome program taking place many believed as stated before that a whole new sought of discrimination would arise. The inequality faced in Gattaca is of this nature and portrays the inability of humans to accept others for who they are not what they are. As seen in Gattaca, your genetic makeup (in this case) does not determine a person, their actions, or there ethics. Vincent being a hard working individual who 's passion and drive surpasses others with no challenge has the genetic makeup of a potato. Overall the values in the society of the time to accept others for who they are not what they are had a major effect on the establishment of this text. It being a main theme in the the film where anti-conformist behaviour is frowned upon by conformists but as an audience is appreciated and