Bradbury, Ray, Fahrenheit 451 and Orwell, George, 1984 (Government and Censorship)

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Comparative Essay
Introduction
In literature, analysis of stories that are related to real life but presented in a fiction form is a fascinating experience especially when the authors are trying to make a satire out of their story while also warning the readers through their work. This paper analyzes two novels that have given an image of a dystopian state and an individual who attempts to challenge the system. Even though the two authors are from different parts of the globe and a huge gap of years between the two publications, there is a significant similarity on the topics that are presented by the two novels.
Analysis of Fahrenheit 451 and George, 1984
The settings where the stories of the two books Nineteen Eighty-Four and Fahrenheit 451 are located have several similarities of a typical dystopian society. The difference sets in the approach that is taken by the two authors regarding the order of the whole world. In George Orwell’s book, the world is categorized into four various parts. The first parts include the super-states which are composed of Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia making the first three with the last portion being the remaining part of the globe which is considered as a neutral area which is being fought over by the super-states (Orwell, 15). Orwell describes the society in which the main character lines in detail. The home country of the character is Oceania and has North and South America, Australasia, Southern Africa and the British Isles.

The primary philosophy in Oceania is known as Ingsoc since the governments in these countries applies the totalitarian philosophy. Ingsoc is an expression of Newspeak for English Socialism, and Newspeak is the primary language in Oceania that is used by party members (Orwell, 34). The people who live in the primary setting of the book do not have control over what happens in other states, and they do not have the authority to learn any new culture or even language. The people who live in the country are always informed about the war that the country is participating in even though there is an alteration of data and articles so as to fit the situation.
George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four depicts the Oceania society in the form of a pyramid where the top has the infallible and powerful Big Brother. The Big Brother is followed by the Inner Party which has close to six million individuals that account for only two percent of the population of Oceania. The people who form the Inner Party mostly serve in the State’s brain (Orwell, 45). The different sections of the Party from different parts of the pyramid and have a definite number of persons depending on the level that it is situated in within the pyramid. The Proletarians form the bottom part of the pyramid and are taken to lack significant intellect. The Ministry of Truth has various independent departments that focus on the production of entertainments for the Proletarians in the form of music and literature. In the pyramid, the proles are considered too inferior to the individuals who are above them. They are considered to be more of animals than humans who are commanded and do what are told whenever they are told.
Orwell depicts Winston as an opportunist who feels the proles can be used to bring down the Party since they outnumber the party members. But this is not likely to happen as the proles do not have any political inclinations or feelings and therefore do not have any perception of the political situation or the war that Oceania is involved in. Big Brother who is the leader of the society is the depicted as a man who has a black mustache and hair with an appearance that is identical to Joseph Stalin who was a prominent leader of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union (Orwell, 70). Big Brother is only seen in inscriptions on coins and posters across Oceania. Whenever Big Brother appeared on the screens, he only gave information about the war or specifically to give orders while the people of Oceania bow down during that period to celebrate his wisdom and intellect. The style of speech by Big Brother is said to be military since his tactic is easily imitated by the Ministry of Truth staff when they altered his recorded speeches to suit the current political situation. The Big Brother is said to have the responsibility of being an object of the people’s emotions since it is much easier to feel emotions towards an individual rather than an abstract object or entity. Other people even imply that Big Brother is not real.
In sharp contrast to Orwell’s 1984, there is no further description of where the book is set even though assumptions are made that the book is set in the future U.S a fact which can be determined through the characters having names with an American accent. The book does not make any explanations regarding the remaining part of the world. In Fahrenheit 451, there are also no details on the type of the government and assumptions are made that there is a similarity with the real world’s government only that there is an exaggeration of the powers that the state have over the media. There is an obsession by the government with correctness in politics as is depicted by the ever censorship of the feelings of the minority through burning of books by firefighters and only allowing the existence of shallow literature that is considered to be harmless. The responsibility of the firemen is not to put out fires since all the houses are proofed of fire but rather to start fires in houses that have books which need to be burned. According to Captain Beaty, the firemen are an organization that was formed by the government and consists of official censors, executors, and judges.
In both books, dystopia is completely depicted differently even though there is a similar topic such as the decline of intellectuality, censorship of the media, war and possession of aspiration to fight for a brighter future. One of the most important themes that are present in both books is censorship, and both authors have a different perception regarding the topic. In Nineteen Eighty-Four, the information in articles is in most cases rewritten to fit the situation in which the country is in so as to enhance the trust that the people have in the party and the Big Brother (Orwell, 32). On the same note, Orwell hypothesizes that inappropriate documents are gotten rid of through memory holes while literature and entertainment mediums such as movies are artificially created specifically for the proles. On the other hand, in Fahrenheit 451 all the media which are mostly in the form of books are discarded by being burnt except for those that are considered harmless (Bradbury, 65). This is related to the decline in intellectuality which is well depicted in Fahrenheit 451 as people are more concerned with simplicity and therefore the simplified versions of media perfectly suit their needs.
Another common and important theme that is present in the two books is war. George Orwell in Nineteen Eighty-Four clearly depicts the political themes and shows the exact details of the war that Oceania participates in. The common knowledge is that the three super-states are always at war which is mostly geographical. The super states are mostly similar since all of them are strong and have natural defense protection. The book also gives the reader any information that they might need to understand the motivation behind participation in wars by the Big Brother (Orwell, 39). Orwell resonates that the super states are at war over the neutral fourth part of the world that is situated between the superstates. The war is motivated by economic reasons since the area has valuable minerals and is also a cheap source of labor. None of the super states have ever had a full control of the rest of the globe even though Oceania conquers Africa by making a surprise attack, but the reader is not sure whether this achievement is true or just a manipulated information given people to influence their perception towards their country. In Fahrenheit 451, there are no specific details about the war except for the statement that there were two atomic wars before the events that took place in the book. The book gives the reader an imagery of jet planes crisscrossing the sky with characters expressing fear about an imminent war. The moment the war starts the whole is the city is reduced to crumbles within a short time (Bradbury, 35). The differences that are portrayed by both books while depicting war can be attributed to the difference in the time in which the books were written.
The two books also portray the theme of censorship through which the two writers expressed their fear that there will be modifications to literary materials in the name of ensuring political correctness. The two writers try to depict the censorship of media that is being practiced in the developed nations especially the West where books are rewritten or modified in any case they are not suitable for promoting the political agendas of the country. In Nineteen Eighty-Four, the author describes a situation where the residents of Oceania are not given the opportunity to have any say or information regarding the other states since the Big Brother does not want the people of Oceania to know the culture or habits of their enemies.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the two novels depict that even though the two authors have different backgrounds regarding culture and politics, their description of dystopias shares similar characteristics and features. It is very likely that the similarities are attributed to the experience that the authors had in the Cold War and the era of totalitarian in the Soviet Union. The two authors also portray their protagonists as having similar features regarding character development and characteristics. The two books also describe the future world, but a few of their predictions can be seen not to be right in the modern world even though there are several real world equivalents that are corresponding to their predictions.
Works Cited
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. 1st Ed. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1953. Print.
Orwell, George. 1984. 1st ed. 1948. Print.