The Moral Influence of Literature
In an immoral society where technology hypnotizes the people, books are illegal and philosophical thinking is frowned upon; individualism no longer exists, people claim to be happy but feel little emotion, and mistakes are never learned from. However, corruption and immorality remains the result when the obsession of literature and philosophy influence a man’s lifestyle. Philosophy and literature should be learned from, but with reason, adapted into our lives. Through the use of allusions,paradoxes, and motifs, The Picture Of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury emphasize the statement.
The paradoxes in both novels evoke thought in the characters, influencing their views. In The Picture Of …show more content…
As a result, Dorian questions why a stranger was able to reveal Dorian to himself but Basil never altered him. The effects of Lord Henry’s influence are shown when Dorian sees the painting; he realizes that he will wrinkle and age, resulting in his envy of the painting. Throughout the novel, Dorian progressively changes as he obsesses over Lord Henry’s paradoxical thinking and imitates it. A similar idea of the influential power paradoxes hold is evident in Fahrenheit 451. Paradoxes are used to show corruption and irony in the society to the characters and the readers. The evocation of thought rises when the few people who escaped the hypnotic effect of technology begin to ask the question ‘why?’. The immorality in the society becomes apparent to Montag when he meets Clarisse. Clarisse herself is a paradox as she is deemed antisocial because she does not fit into the society where everyone is hypnotized by the ‘parlour walls’ and no one asks questions. However, by her definition,“Social to me means talking to you about things like this.” (Bradbury
In an immoral society where technology hypnotizes the people, books are illegal and philosophical thinking is frowned upon; individualism no longer exists, people claim to be happy but feel little emotion, and mistakes are never learned from. However, corruption and immorality remains the result when the obsession of literature and philosophy influence a man’s lifestyle. Philosophy and literature should be learned from, but with reason, adapted into our lives. Through the use of allusions,paradoxes, and motifs, The Picture Of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury emphasize the statement.
The paradoxes in both novels evoke thought in the characters, influencing their views. In The Picture Of …show more content…
As a result, Dorian questions why a stranger was able to reveal Dorian to himself but Basil never altered him. The effects of Lord Henry’s influence are shown when Dorian sees the painting; he realizes that he will wrinkle and age, resulting in his envy of the painting. Throughout the novel, Dorian progressively changes as he obsesses over Lord Henry’s paradoxical thinking and imitates it. A similar idea of the influential power paradoxes hold is evident in Fahrenheit 451. Paradoxes are used to show corruption and irony in the society to the characters and the readers. The evocation of thought rises when the few people who escaped the hypnotic effect of technology begin to ask the question ‘why?’. The immorality in the society becomes apparent to Montag when he meets Clarisse. Clarisse herself is a paradox as she is deemed antisocial because she does not fit into the society where everyone is hypnotized by the ‘parlour walls’ and no one asks questions. However, by her definition,“Social to me means talking to you about things like this.” (Bradbury