Fahrenheit 451 (spoilers likely)

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dandelions
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Fahrenheit 451 (spoilers likely)

Post by dandelions »

Discuss <i>Fahrenheit 451</i> here :)
KauKrazy
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Post by KauKrazy »

I've finished reading and thought I'd start off the discussion, seeing as it is that nobody has posted yet. I think the issue that we had with Handmaid's Tale is also relevant here - could it actually happen? What do you think? Could everything eventually lead up to the situation that Beatty described?

Oh, and I just read from Wikipedia that we're getting a re-make movie in 2007 :D
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dandelions
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Post by dandelions »

Somehow, I found this one a lot more plausible than <i>The Handmaid's Tale</i>- both were well-written, but it really seemed to me as if the scenario in this book could in theory happen anywhere, whereas <i>The Handmaid's Tale</i> was set up in such a way that it really had to be America (and the book says as much).

I wish Montag hadn't set fire to that guy! I don't know why, but I really didn't think that would have happened. The destruction of the city in the end seemed a little...cheap, too, somehow. As if he couldn't think of a better way to end it, after the chase itself.
AngharadTy
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Post by AngharadTy »

I agree with Jazzy on all counts, heh. The premise is much more believable, and the ending seemed strange. On the one hand, when you've got a book all about fire, it seems almost natural to end it with fire; but still. I think there'd be a better way to do it. Then again, he published many books, and I've yet to finish a full novel. ;P

When I was younger (yeahhh I read this in grade school, oh well--I have read it since!), the thought of a bunch of people being books bothered me. They couldn't possibly remember every word! The meaning of the story would change! But now I find that interesting. Oral traditions meant that stories changed every generation--every telling, too, most likely.
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dandelions
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Post by dandelions »

I thought it would be better for them to remember chapters of lots of books than whole volumes; more entertaining, too, but easier to forget, I suppose since you can't just make educated guesses about what you've forgotten based on what you remember. Plenty of books can only plausibly end one way.

Did anyone else read Huxley's preface? From the nineties, I think it was. I thought it was interesting how this story's partly pieced together from other short stories he'd written, and how this only got published with the help of <i>Playboy</i>.
danceu4ia
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Post by danceu4ia »

dandelions wrote:Somehow, I found this one a lot more plausible than <i>The Handmaid's Tale</i>- both were well-written, but it really seemed to me as if the scenario in this book could in theory happen anywhere, whereas <i>The Handmaid's Tale</i> was set up in such a way that it really had to be America (and the book says as much).
REALLY? I totally thought Handmaids tale was more believable, as woman have already been treated like that in the past, and in some degree, are still treated like it today (as "controllable property", I mean), and the bible [Old Testament] <i>does</i> say some pretty bad stuff about women, or at least put forward some pretty oppressive ideas.

I felt Fahrenheit 451 was slightly more unbelievable...how would a dictatorship ever get rid of all the books? And who would support such a decision? Both men and women would protest such a change, and when humanity is united, usually the obstacle can be overcome.

In Handmaids tale, the changes began a bit like pre-Holocaust Germany, one group became a scapegoat, then another, then another, until half the population was wiped out. By then the Republic of Gilead had already formed an "army" and was able to overcome any resistance, because the people remained separate.


Maybe if 451 had more of an explanation other than the whole "books offended" idea...seemed rather vague to me. Books offend today, but people who don't want to read them, don't read them, the people that obsess over "politically correctness" (not a word, I know :P) are outnumbered by the people who just want to read a good book.

Since these are both dystopian fiction, when I read them, I prefer to judge them based on my own personal question; "How easily would this be accomplished?"

In the Handmaid's Tale, I believe that Gilead could be accomplished fairly easily, with the proper strategem, because it involves, as I said before, the division of the people.
Maybe I missed it (feel free to point it out if I did), but the people in Fahrenheit 451 were still capable of socializing, interacting, with no man (or woman) lesser than the other...why are these people still in a dystopian society?


If you have any questions about my probably non-sensical entry, feel free to ask!
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