Although Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 preceded The Wachowskis’ The Matrix by almost half a century, they share many themes -- both overt, and covert. In Fahrenheit 451, the protagonist Montag goes through three phases of life: being oblivious to the dystopia, being in conflict about it, and resolving to be liberated from it. Montag’s ‘awakening’ was caused by his own curiosity and internal dissatisfaction with his life and the world he lived in. However, the actions that he took seemed to be completely subconscious, and not planned. In comparison, in the Wachowskis’ The Matrix, the protagonist Neo made the conscious decision to take the red pill, which represented his desire to learn the truth about the world.
In the books Fahrenheit 451 and Anthem, by Ray Bradbury and Ayn Rand, the societies displayed are very different from modern day societies. In Anthem the main character, Equality 7-2521, is a young man who lives in a society where there is absolutely no individuality personality wise and it is basically considered a sin to be different than others. In Fahrenheit 451 the main character, Guy Montag, lives in a society where no one thinks independently, it is illegal to read, and no one really cares about anything. Both societies restrict free thinking, but both do it in ways different than the other. In both books the main characters meet someone who changes their lives for the better.
Imagine you lived in a society where you were told who you could love, who you could talk to, who you could even look at. Some people believe going back in time would bring back a kinder, gentler society. In the book, Anthem, the narrator describes the society he is living in as very contained and controlled. In the movie, The Village, a young girl named Ivy lives in a society where it is still controlled by a group of people but there is a lot more freedom.
North Korea, the modern day dystopia, has many similarities. There society is similar to a prison camp. They do not have a lot of human rights. North Korea is related to Anthem because the people who live in this society are closely monitored and controlled heavily by their governments. North Korean prison camps are a big part of North Korean society.
In several ways the novella Anthem can be compared to the modern day communist dictatorship North Korea. Although they are similar in some places they are completely different in other ways. Ways they are able to be compared and contrasted are the forms of government, the state and mentality of the citizens, and development or progress as a civilization. Although it is often said that anywhere can be better than a certain place, such as people saying that school is the worst place that exists for a relatable example, there are various different factors that play into the overall condition of something that it can be extremely difficult to tell. To finish the previous thought, school can be hated because people are put up to endure hours upon
However, in Anthem it is slightly more difficult because in Anthem no one can possess materials, so they cannot reference any technology. You only know it takes place in the future because of the geography. Old roads, abandoned buildings, and grimey subways that inhabit the city. Moreover, Anthem and The Giver are akin in that all of the citizens of both societies are assigned careers. In Anthem, Equality 7-2521 is assigned placement as a streetsweeper.
Technology and electricity has regressed, everything that had been from the “Unmentionable Times” is nonexistent now, this new society started from complete scratch. In summary, Harrison Bergeron and Anthem have major differences in their societies, but they both end up to be dystopias. It does not matter of one has electricity or one has families or one has flying cars. The only part of a society that matters is the way they treat the people.
Both 1984 and Anthem have very oppressive governments, but their laws are completely different from one another. In 1984, the government is strange when it comes to rules, there is nothing that is illegal, the people are allowed to do whatever they want, but if they do anything or even look slightly suspicious, the “Thought Police” will kidnap, torture, and kill anybody who has gone against the government. The government believes that if people are allowed to have emotions, they will become angry at the government, and revolt, and that’s why emotions are illegal (I will call it illegal because even though there are no laws, doing certain things will get you in trouble, so to avoid confusion, I’m going to continue saying it’s “illegal”), including emotional attachments to other people. People having sex for the purposes of procreation is perfectly legal, but having sex because you love the
“An unexamined life is a life not worth living” - Socrates. Both ‘The Matrix’ and Plato’s allegory of ‘The Cave’ develops a question of reality and how the world is perceived. This can be closely connected to one of the great Greek philosopher’s sayings where an “unexamined life is a life not worth living”. Socrates states this due to the increasing number of citizens who lived their lives without questioning the world around them. ‘The Matrix’ and Plato’s allegory explore how when the world is properly examined the outcome is a new understanding and perception of life.
The stories have similar main characters and depict government control nicely. However, “Harrison Bergeron” shows more ways that the government could attempt to make society equal. Having a mental handicapper impedes their minds, which is extreme. Also, the sash weights that they are forced to wear are more crippling than the jobs that people in Anthem are forced to do. The conditions in Anthem are wrong and morally incorrect, but they do not meet the same level of unfairness that they do in “Harrison Bergeron”.
“O Brother Where Art Thou?” is a comedy, adventure film produced in 2000. Many of the scenes in this film are based off the Odyssey, which is an epic poem by Homer. It is based on a true hero’s journey back home. There are many correlations and yet differences between the Odyssey and the film. Although the overall plot of “O Brother Where Art Thou?” is vaguely similar to the Odyssey, there are certain “episodes” that closely mirror the film’s classical influence.
The Oracle in Oedipus tells him his true prophecy, but he refuses to accept it, whereas Neo is given inaccurate information but he chooses to go with the Oracle, however, Oedipus still ended up facing the truth and Neo experiences the opposite of what the Oracle explained to him, demonstrating that no matter if one chooses to accept one’s outcome or not, their fate will come true. In Oedipus the King and The Matrix, both Oracles chose a different way of revealing the futures of the protagonists, but it didn’t differ the end result of their lives. The Oracle in Oedipus the King is very straightforward and tells Oedipus the truth, “Revealed at last, brother and father both/ to the children he embraces, to his mother/ son and husband both-he sowed
Fisrt of all, one novel that interconnects with V for Vendetta is The Matrix by Joshua Clover. For example, some similarities are that both want to overthrow a manipulative government who is control by insane people with extreme ideologies. In fact, that main characters of both texts want to find someone that could help them to destroy the people in charge, who controls the dystopian society, this way they can free society from an illusion that prevented them to see the real freedom. Moreover, in the novel The Matrix a man named “Morpheus awakens Neo to the real world, a ravaged wasteland where most of humanity have been captured by a race of machines that live off of the humans” (Plot Summary). This connects to V for Vendetta, because just
