Anthem And Fahrenheit 451 Essay, Research Paper

One charge of imaginative literature is to give us insight into the world around us, fellow human beings, and ourselves. The novels Anthem and Fahrenheit 451 both hold examples of a world in which people are striped of their individuality. In one sense these novels can be seen as a utopia gone bad. For thought being striped of your individuality is now looked upon as a negative it was meant so that there would be more unity among the people.

In the novel Anthem by Ayn Rand, the society depicted is a collective society. In this type of society a person is subjugated to their group whether it be to a race, class or state. In this society the individual is owned by the group and has no right to a private existence, which means no right to lead his own life, pursue his own happiness or use his own property.

People were not given names but yet they were labeled. The main character who is labeled Equality 7-2521 is far more gifted then his peers. Those who control the society (the world council) see this as a threat and give him the job of street sweeper . In the novel one follows Equality 7-2521 s struggle to become an individual. His happiness is not satisfied when he must share it universally with all men. Not every man can be as happy as the next, so for that it is wrong to lessen the happiness of one who is successful so to match the spirit of his peer. But this did not hold true in the world of equality 7-2521 for an individual exists only as part of a group, and their worth is measured by their service to the group. That explains the meaning behind the reason why people are not to be looked upon in the first person but instead must hold title We instead of I . When Equality 7-2521 was a child, he was taught to recite a pledge which states we are nothing, mankind is all, by the grace of our brothers are we allowed our lives. We exist through by, and for our brothers who are the state. Amen . If one is made to believe this as a child, there will be no need to question it when they are grown, for they will see no other way.

In the novel Fahrenheit 451 we see a lonely man named Guy Montag who is searching for answer which are deeper then those which are given to him. He believes that he will find those answers in books. Montag is a fireman, but not the type of fireman as we have today but instead one whose job is to burn books as a means of censoring the society and an attempt to keep people ignorant. People in the society don t mind for they are more interested in things such as television. There is no longer a need to learn more for everything is controlled by technology. Those in the society have become blind to the gradual change and have simply accepted their ignorance.

These novels present insight into the world around us and into ourselves. The novel Anthem shows that individuals happiness is self contained and is due to ones own self-fulfillment. People should be entitled to the right of being an individual and to holding their own identity. To strip someone of his or her identity is immortal. In the novel Fahrenheit 451 the world has allowed technology to take over their everyday lives and have become too lazy to mend for themselves. This statement holds true for today, for with the invention of machinery, there is no longer a need for manpower. People will no longer do simple tasks like sharpening a pencil. They would much rather get mechanical pencils or sharpen their pencils in an electric sharpener. The value of a book has also decreased due to television and movies. Some people schedule their days around their favorite TV shows. Some hold the mentality that there is no purpose in reading a book when u can simply go out and rent the movie or get the cliff noted. These to me are all examples of technology gone badly. Though the purpose of technology is to make life for man easier, something s have gone way too far