The Obsolete Man Vs Fahrenheit 451 Essay

“The Obsolete Man” takes place in a futuristic time in which books are banned and the occupation of a librarian is seen as a crime. In the episode, Romney Wordsworth, who served as a librarian, is put on trial for being obsolete, or outdated. The episode is essentially focused on two sides of the argument, Wordsworth acting as the protagonist and advocator of books, while the Chancellor is seen as the evil counterpart who holds the ultimate power in the matter. Later, the Chancellor rules that the librarian is in fact obsolete, and Wordsworth is sentenced to death. While watching the episode, I was able to point out several similarities, universal themes, and political and social ideas that can be related to Fahrenheit 451. The most obvious similarity between these two works is the idea that books are looked down upon in both societies, making them seen worthless and dangerous. In Fahrenheit 451, Montag had a passion for books, but when he shared his ideas with others, like Mildred’s friends, they reacted with disgust and were intolerant towards his beliefs. Society in the story was so opposed to the idea of books that the role of firefighters were to burn books so that no one would have access to them. Similarly, in “The Obsolete Man,” Wordsworth also has a …show more content…
In both of these stories, the antagonists, Beatty in Fahrenheit 451 and the Chancellor in “The Obsolete Man,” died ironically because they did not accept the beliefs of Montag or Wordsworth. In Fahrenheit 451, Beatty served as a firefighter that burned books, and he died of a fire. This is similar to the Chancellor’s death in “The Obsolete Man” because his job composed of serving death to those that advocated for books, but he was too ruled as obsolete in the end of the story. The two antagonists’ ironic death hints at the fact that they were wrong about their decision to not trust in books and the truth that they