The Underlying Connections Between Fahrenheit 451 and Dover Beach
All throughout the analysis of Dover Beach there were many clear parallels to the novel Fahrenheit 451. Matthew Arnold an English poet during the Victorian Era of literature (1822-1888) saw a conflict between people, because of the new wave of scientific facts brought on by Darwin 's Origin of species. This collided with the already existing group of religious people. Many religious people who lived by their beliefs and faith in God did not want so many people to be drawn to the thought process of science, where it is based on facts and concepts. This clash inspired Matthew to write his poem, because of the confusion, …show more content…
Fahrenheit 451 and Dover Beach have many similarities which are evident in the societies as well as the parallel views of the speaker and the protagonist.
To commence, there are evident connections between the poem and the novel, because the shore and the society both represent the same thing. In the poem it states, “hear the grating roar of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,” (Stanza 2 Lines 9-10). The pebbles are representing the people in the society, because of the grating roar they make as the waves fling in. These new waves or tides are pieces of information that go against what the people believed from the past. This example of people being offended by new information is clearly reminiscent to the Victorian era 's reaction to Darwin 's Origin of Species. This is also similar to Fahrenheit 451, because as Beatty stated, “All the minor minor minorities with their navels to be kept clean,” ( Bradbury 57). This quote is referring to how easily offended people in the society were to each other, and led to the censorship of anything found offensive, specifically books. So the direct connections are that the pebbles were offended by the waves and made a grating roar, which is mirrored by Fahrenheit 's society being …show more content…
According to the poem, “The Sea of Faith was once, at the full, and round earth 's shore Lay like folds of a bright girdle furled,” (Stanza 4 Lines 21-23). The sea of faith represents religion as a whole which was fine in the readers ' eyes at first. The poem also states, “the world, which seems to lie before us like a land of dreams, So various, so beautiful, so new,” (Stanza 5 Lines 30-32). This shows that the author at first saw the society he or she was living in as a utopia. Later in the poem the speaker exclaims, “ But now I only hear I only hear its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,” (Stanza 4 lines 24-25). This shows that the author began to realize how depressing the views of religion became after being challenged. More proof of this would be when the speaker claims, “Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light, nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain,” (Stanza 5 Lines 33-34). This also shows the speaker 's realization of society 's flaws, because everything he thought it was, it really wasn 't showing that it was a dystopia. Similar to this is Montag 's change in his realization of society. In the book Montag went from, “Montag grinned the fierce grin of all men singed and driven back by flame,” (Bradbury 4). To Montag