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Allegory In Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

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Both Plato and Bradbury’s stories represent the true nature of a dystopian society by showing fire as an illusion shadows as a reality and curiosity as the truth. These examples are shown in many ways throughout both texts in multiple ways. The first way both stories represent a dystopian society is by showing fire as an illusion. In the allegory of the cave the fire is used to paint the shadows on the wall where the prisoners are facing. The fire primarily creates the illusions of living shadows and has control over everything in the cave. It therefore gives the prisoners misleading information and forces them to think that what they see is real. If there was no fire in the cave, the prisoners would not see the shadows of the puppets and be closed in the darkness with no idea of the surroundings. …show more content…

The firefighters give an illusion that the fire is helpful and cleanses while in reality it conceals , destroys and burns away change. One key example of this is when Beatty says “Burn all and burn everything. Fire is bright and fire is clean.” What Beatty means in this sentence is that the burning of books erases the past and allows the past to be rewritten and also allows the control of the citizens mentality. Fire is the ultimate tool to keep the dystopian society in order in Fahrenheit 451. The two Authors of the allegory of the Cave and Fahrenheit 451 also perceive shadows as a reality. The Shadows in the cave are the only form of interaction with the outside world in the cave and create a sense of reality to the prisoners viewing them. This is clearly shown when one of the prisoners manages to escape the cave and returns to tell his friends. However his companions refuse to believe him and think he has gone mad because they have been forced into a reality that is false in every

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