1984 And Fahrenheit 451 Essay

The novels 1984 by George Orwell and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury are both classic dystopian novels published around the 1940s and the 1950s. International conflict helped the authors develop the ideas for 1984 and Fahrenheit 451, yet the novels’ resolutions and ultimately imagined impacts of a dystopian future on society are varying. The Russian Revolution in 1917 partially inspired 1984’s totalitarian government regime as Orwell feared the effects communism would have if successfully applied to world powers. In 1984, Orwell explains how the evolution of political extremes in the early 1900s, especially during World War II, could potentially be surpassed by totalitarianism perpetrated by the fictional government entity named The Party: …show more content…
Bradbury’s protagonist of Fahrenheit 451 is a firefighter named Guy Montag. Montag’s role as a firefighter entails spraying censored literature, and often the literature owner’s residence, with kerosene and burning it. Rather than succumbing to the pressure to conform to his role, Montag realizes the importance of books and freedom of speech, so he breaks from his role in society to preserve the legacy of authors past and present to help rebuild society after the inevitable warfare occurs. Like Winston Smith, Montag escapes his oppressive role in society only to find that “[He] can’t make people listen. They have to come round in their own time, wondering what happened and why the world blew up under them” when he questions the persistence of society’s ignorance after warfare destroys the majority of the city (146). The key difference that separates Winston Smith and Guy Montag; however, is how they choose to accept the unknown future. Where Winston retreats into his world of mindless functionality after losing his battle with Big Brother, Montag survives and works to carry on his act of rebellion and the memory of books lost to the

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