Brianna Pan Ms. Lammers Honors English 2 Period 1 2 September 2014 Fighting Against a Dystopian Society Imagine living in a dystopian society where one has limited control over their thoughts and memories. In both novels, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and 1984 by George Orwell, the two protagonists, Guy Montag and Winston Smith, live in an oppressive, overbearing society where the government controls the citizens within in the social structure but decide to trust their instincts of rebelling. Both protagonists suffer from isolation and alienation as Winston and Montag realize that they do not share the same values as others do. In Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag lives in a futuristic environment where people are forced to not read books, think independently, enjoy nature, and socialize with others, but instead they are allowed to watch an …show more content…
Lammers Honors English 2 Period 1 2 September 2014 The Color of Water by James McBride Passage Responses 1. “You want me to talk about my family and here I been dead to them for fifty years” (McBride 1). This quote recalls Ruth’s account of being a part of a bitter separation from her family, which was the result of her painful past. Ruth explains that she has become “dead” to her family because of her marriage to James’ African-American father, Andrew Dennis McBride. Her Jewish family also performed a ceremony of the dead for her, thus, they treated her as dead to them and never spoke to her again. 2. “I was born an Orthodox Jew on April 1, 1921, April Fool’s Day, in Poland” (McBride 1). This quote states that Ruth was born into a Jewish family. Even though Ruth is Jewish, the author later comments on how Ruth’s father hated African-American people. Her father’s beliefs has made her become her own person in what she believes in, which makes her more determined and courageous. 3. “She and my father brought a curious blend of Jewish-European and African-American distrust and paranoia into our house” (McBride