François Rabelais

Carnival is the birth of a whole new life; it is a time of joy and unity. Spectacular, outrageous events are planned throughout the span of the celebration. “Carnival festivities and the comic spectacles and ritual connected with them had an important place in the life of the medieval man (Mikhail Bakhtin, Rabelais)”. These over the top events won over the people’s hearts in the Renaissance and in the Middle Ages. During Carnival festivities, rules were thrown out the window and laugher was the focus point. “A boundless world of humorous forms and manifestations opposed the official and serious tone of medieval ecclesiastical and feudal culture (Mikhail Bakhtin)”. Laughter was not won so easily, effort had to be placed in your scheme; you…

the Oxford English Dictionary as “an imagined or hypothetical place, system, or state of existence in which everything is perfect, especially in respect of social structure, laws and politics” (). Both Francois Rabelais and Thomas More describes the utopic world to depict the ideal human society, however, both describes a society in which dystopian features are extremely emphasized to the extent that it overshadows the essential utopian features. This shows that there is a thin line between an…

What makes this novel unique, is that it focuses on the concept of how to live and how to die. This theme is even prevalent in the title as it is called Looking for Alaska rather than simply Alaska. The word “looking” implies an adventure because in this story, it is the journey that matters. Miles leaves Florida in search of a “Great Perhaps.” This idea comes from Francois Rabelais. Miles describes him in this quote: “He was this poet. And his last words were ‘I go to seek a Great Perhaps.’…

In the novel, Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, Montag, the book-saver, tried to escape the world of the overwhelming technology. Social activities were replaced by inane TV shows where clowns tear their limbs apart, families are replaced by the “family” on the television, and where thoughts are stopped by deafening TV commercials. Bradbury’s vision of today seems to be precise seeing that people started to care less about each other, people stop thinking due to the overload of technological…

Although many underlying messages are prominent throughout this novel the main overlying theme is that blind acceptance of societal norms is a catalyst for the loss of oneself .This is expressed continuously by the action taken by characters throughout the novel. At the start of Fahrenheit 451 Montag seems perfectly happy accepting his occupation of destroying literature as a fireman. This false sense of happiness begins to come unraveled as Montag meets Clarisse. Clarisse helps to establish…

Wayne Dyer once said, “The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don't know anything about” In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, ignorance is a common theme. From the thoughtless decisions Guy Montag realizes he has been making when he meet Clarisse, to the harsh rules the town has to destroy any literature, and the effect of burning the books has on the town people. The ignorance shown in the novel is greatly shown on page 95, due to the encounter of Guy Montag with…

The banning of books has been a terrible part of history since the beginning of printing and distributing of literature. Censorship is brought about by too much control and fear. This means that the author's freedom of expression was destroyed, their work is not allowed to be viewed. I believe that censorship should not be allowed, as many of the reasons that books are banned are silly. The reason books are banned ranges greatly; and the people who do the banning are even more numerous. Some…

The role of books in both novels is slightly different, but both come back to a general theme that is used in both novels. In both novels, the authors use books as something that provides knowledge to a community but the government is trying to suppress this knowledge. In “The Book Thief” books play a role in several different ways. Liesel steals a book which then helps to teach her how to read and write. This makes her very interested in reading new books. Liesel then starts to steal more…

The main character of Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451, is Guy Montag. Montag is a firefighter, a burner of books, with very limited perspective on the flawed society he lives in. As the book progresses, Montag experiences many uncomfortable feelings as he starts to learn the consequences of his role. Montag goes from an ignorant participant to a discontented rebel. The book opens with a detailed description of Montag, his burning of a house, and his “fiery grin”. Montag describes burning…

In the book Fahrenheit 451 the quote “Stuff your eyes with wonder, he said, live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories,” has a deeper meaning than what is thought. This quote represents more than just being the wise words of Granger’s grandfather. The words have a different meaning to each person who reads this novel. The inspirational aspect it has impacts me in a positive way. In the novel Granger is talking to…