Contrast-comparison essay. Oliinyk Kateryna
Dystopia over totalitarian system
World War
II has found its response in the art. One of the ways of representation a totalitarian
system in literature was actualization of the dystopia genre. The promises of
the society’s equality given by the communism and superiority of the nation
given by the fascism attracted lots of people. But the results of the war
showed that the fairy-tale has a thorny path. George Orwell in his novel “Nineteen
Eighty-Four” started the wave
of the dystopia’s literature and cinematography. Another one point of view on
this issue had Ray Bradbury in his “Fahrenheit 451” .
It is interesting to compare how the writers deal with the ideal state.
The first and basic thing of totalitarian
system is maintenance
of the control and fear among people. To show this George Orwell devised a
conception of a ‘Big Brother’ – the head of the state. In the movie based on
the novel the telescreen appears in every scene. This screen is a closed-circuit
television at the same time. With the help of this thing there was a
translation of the war, uncovering of the betrayers, and agitation. The state
of war gives an unite and a frightened society to a party. Likewise, there were
the same screens in the “Fahrenheit 451” . As well as in George Orwell novel, Ray
Bradbury wrote about the
similarly purpose of these things – to show propaganda and caching spies. But in
the Bradbury’s case there was another war – a struggle was between the books and
the firemen who burned them down. What is more, there was a ballot to betray
someone suspected in a book’s crime. So, people live in danger and under control
like in “Nineteen Eighty-Four”.
The second important feature of dictatorial
organism was shown in both books is a lack of education which leaded to stupidity.
While Ray Bradbury was
making the story, he step by step created the society of improvident dilettantes.
The newspapers were substituted by comics, the spear time – by television.
People turn to dependent consumerists. The same thing we meet in George Orwell.
An education system consists of stories of the political direction of the main
party. The Past were rewritten in a special Ministry of Truth. Even language
was transformed to a newspeak for economy and rejection of all the possible notions
that could be combined in dangerous thoughts.
On the
other hand there is a difference between films. The ending of “Fahrenheit 451”
is hopeful. The reason is the power of resistance which is represented by the group
of intellectuals who like to read. They hid in the forest and each one memorized some book by his heart. What is more,
in the movie version there was no death of the girl, but new learned book by
the hero. In contrasting to this happy end the final of the “Nineteen
Eighty-Four” convince the
readers of the complete fatality of the human society. The system written by
the George Orwell leads
to the transformation of the human mind. A prohibition reduced the family and personal feelings.
After breaking the prohibition,
after falling in love with a girl the hero got his punishment. All the torture forced
him to betray the last human feeling. So, as the result of the work of
so-called Ministry of Love the hero became a simple one in the totalitarian system (‘another brick
in the wall’), because now he loved a Big Brother only.
To sum up,
with a keeping under control and fear, leaving with no education and
prohibition of human feeling, a totalitarian system kept the power. So, both writers
use a dystopia genre to discrown a possibility of the ideal society and unmask its
illusory advantages.
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