Hard Boiled Fiction Analysis

Non fiction novels are great ways to make people aware of real life issues that happen everyday. People face poverty issues, racial issues, and environmental issues everyday of their life and are affected more than others. For example the environment is affected because of the different things people do in their everyday lives, like things that deal with fossil fuels and gas. Another example is race and how people are treated because of their specific race or religion. Issues like these are happening all around the world and most likely can be found in a nearby non-fiction novel.

Science has proven that reading can provoke positive changes in us as human beings. Annie Murphy Paul is the author of the article ‘Your Brain on Fiction’ published on March 17, 2012. Annie explains how researchers have discovered that reading can initiate different parts of the brain, this is the reason why sometimes literature can make the reader so engaged and attached to a piece of writing. Research also explains how reading has the ability to produce activity in our brain’s motor cortex. Finally, Annie explains how reading fictional pieces can change how you interact with other individuals.

Webster’s Dictionary defines character as, “the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual”, these qualities can range from a simple opinion, to an action, to a character’s lifestyle. While Guy Montag from Fahrenheit 451 and Wade from Ready Player One are both uniquely distinct, they share many qualities that unites them as one.

Books are banned and burned. Feelings begin to fade. All written imagination and controversial thoughts are considered illegal crimes. Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel written by Ray Bradbury in the early 1950’s. The novel primarily focuses on a fictional U.S society within the 21st century, where books and literature are illegal. Books have been banned in this society due to the controversy over many topics and opinions. Rather than Fighting fires, firemen produce fires. The firemen burn the illegal books and the houses which shelter them. Throughout the story Fahrenheit 451, censorship has affected society by dehumanizing citizens, creating fear of individuality, and causing more rebellion, conflict, and crime.

Death, rape, murder, psychopath: words that vehemently cry for horror and taboo yet carry a mystique and fascination to not only the criminally obsessed, but also to the average person. As a result, authors and directors tend to capitalize on the viewing public’s urges for crime and thriller, often recreating stories of the world’s most tragic, sadistic serial killers in history through biographies, documentaries, television shows, and movie adaptations. Unfortunately, these dramatizations can sometimes overshadow the impact of these crimes, exploiting the violence for entertainment rather than the tragedies itself. However, in 2012, illustrator Derf Backderf revolutionized a new medium to portray the true crime genre with his graphic novel My Friend Dahmer. This comic book style memoir details of

The 1950s was not only a time of a growing threat of communism and the fear of nuclear war, but it was also a time of increasing satisfaction in the latest consumer product: the television. TVs captivated the American public to the point where books were being forgotten about. Though books were still being bought and sold, some never made it to the shelf because of the growing amount of government censorship. The government not only censored books, but they also censored movies, content on radios, and other creative works. This censorship controlled what the American public read, watched, and heard, which in turn limited the information available to the public. Ray Bradbury, an author of this era, wrote one of his most famous books, Fahrenheit 451, inspired by the new technology and government corruption in the 1950s. Through Bradbury’s use of effective character development and symbolism, he is able to illustrate the problems of government censorship and technology in his futuristic dystopia in his novel Fahrenheit 451.

Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, is a uniquely shocking and provocative novel about a dystopian society set in a future where reading is outlawed, thinking is considered a sin, technology is at its prime, and human interaction is scarce. Through his main protagonist, Guy Montag, Bradbury brings attention to the dangers of a controlled society, and the problems that can arise from censorship. As a fireman, it is Guy's job to destroy books, and start fires rather than put them out. After meeting a series of unusual characters, a spark is ignited in Montag and he develops a desire for knowledge and a want to protect the books. Bradbury's novel teaches its readers how too much censorship and control can lead to further damage and the repetition of history’s mistakes through the use of symbolism, imagery, and motif.

In the story The Outsiders, Cherry Valance said "things are rough all over".By this she means that the greasers aren't the only ones who have it hard.The Socs have more wealth but they have problems that money can't solve.The greasers don't have much money and think that money will solve their problems when it wont.

“Ray Bradbury’s writing danced along the boundaries between mystery, sci-fi, horror and fantasy”. (Brin 1) Ray Bradbury is an Author, famous for his science fiction short stories and novels. Many of his ideas influenced the stories of Hollywood. His short story “The Veldt” is similar to that of the movie “Smart house”. His idea of childhood not being completely innocent that he establishes in “The Small Assassin” can be seen in many horror films both past and present. The ‘butterfly effect’ that Bradbury uses in his short story “The Sound of Thunder” was used in the Doctor Who episode “Father’s Day.

Holden Caulfield lives his life as an outsider to his society, because of this any we (as a reader) find normal is a phony to him. Basically, every breathing thing in The Catcher in the Rye is a phony expect a select few, like Jane Gallagher. What is a phony to Holden and why is he obsessed with them? A phony is anyone who Holden feels is that living their authentic life, like D.B. (his older brother). Or simply anyone who fits into society norms, for example, Sally Hayes. Holden’s obsession stems from his fear that he may become a phony one day. So, he spends the book running from adulthood by doing childish things and struggling to keep his life from changing.

“The Catcher in the Rye” is a novel written by J.D. Salinger in 1951. The book is one of the most controversial books ever written and its popularity comes from the author’s rough attitude towards society from the perspective of a teenager. “The Catcher in the Rye” is thought to be J.D. Salinger’s masterpiece and it is listed as one of the best novels of the 20th century. In 2009 Finlo Rohrer affirmed that even 58 years later after the book has been published it is still considerate “the defining work on what it is like to be a teenager”. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Catcher_in_the_Rye)

In Ray Bradbury’s dystopian Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag experiences a paradigm shift as he transforms from a disoriented fireman to a learner who wants to gain knowledge through literature. Montag struggles with his newfound fascination with what was once trivial items because of his inability to ask questions under the bonds of conformity. However, the society prohibits people from reading for fear that they would express individuality and perhaps even rebel once they gain knowledge. Through the use of characterization and diction, the Bradbury demonstrates Montag’s desire for individuality and the society’s command of conformity in order to build a suspenseful mood, which keeps the reader’s interest.

Citizen Kane tells the story of Charles Foster Kane, a millionaire newspaper tycoon, who had recently passed away. The story unfolds in a sequence of overlapping narratives told by different narrators, all with different views of Kane. Their opinions of Kane give the audience different perspectives of the man thought to be one of the most powerful figures in America. The events recalled are told by the narrators to reporters trying to decipher Kane’s famous last words “rosebud”, but because of their advance older age they seem to be contradictory and unreliable. Their accounts are out sequence and often coincide with themselves. Kane brings together non-linear and composite storytelling from multiple points of view unlike traditional Hollywood

There are numerous amounts of techniques authors use in their novels to project a message, and interest the reader. However, certain styles may not work due to the fact that it possibly can result in an overdoing of such style, causing the reader to get bored and stop reading. The novel “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley Is a novel about developments in reproductive technology, sleep-learning, psychological manipulation, and classical conditioning that come together to change society. This book has a unique science-fiction theme and takes place in the future. Another book called “Alias Grace” by Margaret Atwood is a fictional book based on a true story about a girl named Grace who gets wrongfully convicted of a double murder. Brave New World is a fictional novel, with non-fictional features such as classical conditioning, which is an actual psychological experiment. Also, Alias Grace is a fictional book based on a true story, which shows some similarities between the two books.

From the outset, I have to say that “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger has been one of the most important and influential pieces of literature I have ever read. At its core, the book is a superb coming of age novel which discusses several extremely powerful themes such as the difficulties of growing up, teenage angst and alienation and the superficiality, hypocrisy and pretension of the adult world. These themes resonated deeply with me and were portrayed excellently through the use of powerful symbolism and the creation of highly relatable and likable characters. One such character is Holden Caulfield whom the story both revolves around and is narrated by.