Common Themes of Despair in Fahrenheit 451 and “Dover Beach” In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury uses the poem Dover Beach to portray sadness in a society without books. Guy Montag reads this poem in an attempt to get Mildred or one of her friends to realize their own unhappiness. Fahrenheit 451 is written with the same tone and melancholy that Matthew Arnold first felt and showed through his poem, Dover Beach. It speaks to the heart and insinuates many deep and truthful thoughts that invade deep into readers’ minds. The poem, “Dover Beach”, begins with a false sense of contentment and betrays the reader by making us think there is nothing wrong. Matthew Arnold lures us into the poem with dream-like visions of serenity and calmness, yet gives
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The quote “Listen! You hear the grating roar...” (McGhee 3) gives an unpleasant sensation and makes a point to show that listening can cause people to look about themselves in different ways. This shift in emotion creates the scene to be looked upon in a negative way and changes the whole visual of the poem from content to feeling depressed. The “grating” of the pebbles on the beach opens eyes to the reality of the scene and symbolically gives note to the unhappiness in a world of perfection. Even though there is not an option to choose what is being listened to or what is being felt, emotionally, it can make people think of thoughts, memories, and truths that push them into reality. The reader begins to accept the emotion and dismisses the initial contentment of the sea. The acceptance of this reality and eternal sadness is similar to the way that Montag changes his views of society after he meets Clarisse and begins to relate to her and come to know her. The quote from Fahrenheit 451 “He didn’t know what there was about the afternoon, but it was not seeing her somewhere in the world.” (Bradbury 29) shows how attached Guy had grown to Clarisse. Before Clarisse, he only thought of how happy he was burning books and living a decent life although he knew that somewhere deep inside himself, something was missing. Montag could not understand how Clarisse could be so …show more content…
Arnold speaks through the poem admitting and possibly confessing the effects of the tragedy that have caused his sadness. In the quote, “are even lovers powerless to reveal to one another what indeed they feel? As on a darkling plain swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, where ignorant armies clash by night” (McGhee 4). Arnold shows sorrow and questions with shock, how two people, or united groups of people, could have such little communication and sympathy for each other. Love between two people is a strong bond that connects who they are, and causes many of the decisions that they may, or may not, make. The importance of communication between the two of them is what love is somewhat based upon. Without that communication and trust to show what one another feels, love is weakened. Montag and Mildred were married only ten years and neither one of them knew how or when they first met. Montag is found to be distraught by this and it is obvious that they did not have a strong relationship because of their fake personalities and what they were both hiding from each other. The quote from Fahrenheit 451, “For it would be the dying of an unknown, a street face, a newspaper image, and it was suddenly so very wrong that he had begun to cry, not at death but at the thought of not crying at
The quote “Listen! You hear the grating roar...” (McGhee 3) gives an unpleasant sensation and makes a point to show that listening can cause people to look about themselves in different ways. This shift in emotion creates the scene to be looked upon in a negative way and changes the whole visual of the poem from content to feeling depressed. The “grating” of the pebbles on the beach opens eyes to the reality of the scene and symbolically gives note to the unhappiness in a world of perfection. Even though there is not an option to choose what is being listened to or what is being felt, emotionally, it can make people think of thoughts, memories, and truths that push them into reality. The reader begins to accept the emotion and dismisses the initial contentment of the sea. The acceptance of this reality and eternal sadness is similar to the way that Montag changes his views of society after he meets Clarisse and begins to relate to her and come to know her. The quote from Fahrenheit 451 “He didn’t know what there was about the afternoon, but it was not seeing her somewhere in the world.” (Bradbury 29) shows how attached Guy had grown to Clarisse. Before Clarisse, he only thought of how happy he was burning books and living a decent life although he knew that somewhere deep inside himself, something was missing. Montag could not understand how Clarisse could be so …show more content…
Arnold speaks through the poem admitting and possibly confessing the effects of the tragedy that have caused his sadness. In the quote, “are even lovers powerless to reveal to one another what indeed they feel? As on a darkling plain swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, where ignorant armies clash by night” (McGhee 4). Arnold shows sorrow and questions with shock, how two people, or united groups of people, could have such little communication and sympathy for each other. Love between two people is a strong bond that connects who they are, and causes many of the decisions that they may, or may not, make. The importance of communication between the two of them is what love is somewhat based upon. Without that communication and trust to show what one another feels, love is weakened. Montag and Mildred were married only ten years and neither one of them knew how or when they first met. Montag is found to be distraught by this and it is obvious that they did not have a strong relationship because of their fake personalities and what they were both hiding from each other. The quote from Fahrenheit 451, “For it would be the dying of an unknown, a street face, a newspaper image, and it was suddenly so very wrong that he had begun to cry, not at death but at the thought of not crying at