Foreboding The Future
...dvancement of society, deal with the threat of technological advancement and the decay of social interaction. Donald Watt, a critic, claims that both novels are raising the same question. They “address themselves to the issue of technology’s impact on the destiny of man,” he says about the books. Watt claims that while Fahrenheit 451 is perhaps shorter and more to the point, both books are important pieces of “postwar dystopian fiction.” Another critic, James E. Davis, has similar thoughts about the focus of Nineteen Eighty-Four. “Another major emphasis of the novel is the use of technology . . . to eliminate individuality and privacy,” he says. While the themes of Nineteen Eighty-Four and Fahrenheit 451 are quite similar, the plots of the two books are nearly identical. Winston Smith, the protagonist of Nineteen Eighty-Four, lives in a futuristic society where his actions are constantly monitored by the government. Guy Montag, the protagonist of Fahrenheit 451, also lives in a futuristic society where people are controlled and intellectual superiority is frowned upon. In both societies, citizens are not supposed to read, write or even think independently, but they are supposed to have their lives controlled by a full-wall television. One of the most noticeable parallels between the two books is enlightenment through a young, pretty girl. Winston develops a strong hatred for the Party, which is the name for the government which he lives under and works for. His outlet for this hatred is his girlfriend, Julia. By having sex for pleasure he is satisfyingly disobeying the government’s wishes. Similarly, Montag meets a young pretty girl who helps him realize that he doesn’t believe in what he does. As a fireman, his job is to destroy all literature, which he realizes he doesn’t want to be a part of. Montag rebels against his authority by not showing up for work, while Winston rebels against the government by reading the manifesto of the Brotherhood, which is an anti-government group. Both protagonists end up being punished for their actions. While Winston is arrested and tortured, Montag is forced to burn down his own house. When Winston is released he feels no hatred for the Brotherhood, but when Montag is finished burning down his house, he kills his captain and flees into the wilderness. The plots follow an extremely similar pattern, the only difference being that Winston failed in his attempt at rebellion, while Montag succeeded. The parallels are so strong between the two books that a reader of both books, at first glance, might think that Bradbury stole some ideas from Orwell. Although the theme and plot of the two books, Fahrenheit 451 and Nineteen Eighty-...