Fahrenheit 451 Comparison

Compare and contrast how the two texts utilise allusion, contradictory ideas, and symbolism to explore various concepts.
The novel 1984 written by George Orwell and Ramin Bahrani’s film Fahrenheit 451, based on the 1953 novel written by Ray Bradbury are two texts that explore dystopian societies in cataclysmic decline with tyrannical governments. Through the protagonists Winston Smith and Guy Montag, respectively, audiences are presented with two very different totalitarian societies which maintain control through extensive censorship and enforcement agencies. Written in 1949, 1984 presents the city of Oceania that is in a constant state of war to enable peace and allow the government to maintain the right over the freedom of the citizens,

[foreshadow literacy concepts]
Literacy and historical allusions are utilised by Orwell and Bahrani to highlight and warn audiences of censorship, unquestioning acceptance, and the dangers of having a totalitarian state. In 1984, Orwell’s many biblical allusions portray the idea that there is a lack of religion in the dystopian world. This is evident as Winston during the “Two Minute Hate”, a concept where the citizens are in a sense ‘switched on’ to direct their hate towards enemies of the regime showcased on telescreens. Fuelled by the hate talks on the screen Winston envisions “tying the dark-haired girl on the screen “naked to a stake and shoot[ing] her full of arrows like Saint Sebastian”. This allusion is towards Saint Sebastian who was killed for just being a Christian, the same situation is seen in the novel as like Saint Sebastian, members of the Party are killed for what they believe in and tortured similarly, placing ‘Big Brother’ into an all-power god like figure. As a result, this evokes a sense of horror in the audience and the allusion to Saint Sebastian emphasizes the human cost of government control. In contrast,

In 1984 the government, ‘Big Brother’ promotes its oppressive and totalitarian regime as utopic by utilising slogans such as “War is Peace”, “Freedom is Slavery”, and “Ignorance is strength” which are the moto of The Ministry of Truth, this being ironic as the ministry is focused on manipulating the public opinion and maintaining the power of the ruling party. These paradoxical slogans create a sense of confusion and disorientation for the audience by presenting contradictory ideas as if they were true highlighting how the government has a desire to control all aspects of it citizens. The paradox of “War is Peace” lies in that the government is creating war in Oceania to establish peace uniting the citizens in the hatred of a common enemy, through this constant war the government can maintain control. The manipulation of the citizen by the government is further seen through the slogan “Ignorance is Strength” as it is stated that “until they become conscious, they will never rebel and until after they have rebelled, they cannot be conscious”, which essentially shows the audience the extent of the brainwashing the citizens have undergone. Similarly in Fahrenheit 451, paradox is seen through the government’s promotion of its censorship on books which