Fahrenheit 451 And The Truman Show Comparison Essay

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The characters and the theme of Fahrenheit 451 have many distinct characteristics that allow for it to be compared to The Truman Show. Fahrenheit 451 and The Truman Show both present the theme that people generally accept the reality they are given. Characters in the film and novel portray this theme by setting artificial reality against actual reality. What is shown as reality to the people in the film and in the novel is not what the actual world is. The reality presented is that knowledge is power and in both Fahrenheit 451 and The Truman Show there are people without knowledge and people with knowledge. People who have the knowledge use the power received from it to keep the people without knowledge under their control. Society controls the characters, which allows the main …show more content…

After reading the novel and viewing the movie, many parallels can be drawn between the main characters of Guy Montag and Truman Burbank as they portray many similarities and differences. As their stories begin, Truman and Montag accept the reality of the world with which they are presented. They both live in a world which they believe is real but as their stories unfold they come to the realization that they should not have confidence in their world anymore. The theme is similar in both the movie and the novel; Truman and Montag are on a journey to self-discovery as they try to find the meaning in their lives. At the beginning of The Truman Show, Marlon, Truman’s best friend said, “It’s all true. It’s all real. Nothing here is fake. Nothing you see on this show is fake. It’s merely controlled.” What Marlon says relates not only to The Truman Show, but to Fahrenheit 451 as well. Although the lives of both Truman and Montag are controlled, their inner natures are not. They are real people, with real feelings, living a real life, in a controlled