Similarities Between Anthem And Fahrenheit 451

Worlds in fictional books have always had an ever-changing style. A society has a big effect on the personality of a character. There are two main types of society’s in a fictional book, a utopian and a dystopian society. A Utopian society is one that is jubilant whereas dystopian society is doleful and cheerless. The qualities of a dystopian society are in the books, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and Anthem by Ayn Rand. Free thinking is outlawed in these worlds where everyone belongs to a complacent society. By doing this, the main characters often struggle with not wanting to stand out rather than doing what they expect for themselves. In both of these texts, the protagonists face conflicts not only in the world but also in themselves.

In each world where free thinking is outlawed, the governmental entity rules by a dictatorship. For example on page 33 of Bradbury’s book, Beatty states that “Any man’s insane who thinks he can fool the government and us.” Within this quote, Beatty is informing Montag that the government is the strongest power. In a way, Beatty is also saying that without a presence of free thinking which is a very strong power, the government stands to rule us. Beatty’s acknowledgement of the government power shows through in Anthem. In Rand’s novella, not one character knows of the word “I”. Without this knowledge, the “government” so to speak, willing gives its citizens an ignorance. For example on page 22, Equality’s teachers states that “And if you are not needed...burden the earth with your bodies” (Rand). This quote shows how complacent the society is but also how the government is willing to demean Equality’s character in order to keep the world

Whether this conflict be internal or external, each character handles it with a different approach. In the heart of Fahrenheit 451, the protagonist Guy Montag, has got the decision to follow society’s conventional standard’s or to defy this and follow what he believes in. But there are people who try to help him stay on society’s standards, Beatty being one of them. For example on page 62, Beatty states “We stand against the small tide...to our happy world as it stands now” Bradbury. Within this speech, Beatty is convincing him that although the books owned by the people having a special meaning, they are doing right by society. This is also represented in Ayn Rand’s book with Equality 7-2521. Equality has the attribute of being born with a great wonder. This causes society to form an outcast of them and lead Equality to discover the substantial and significant power of light. The government is Anthem acts as a Beatty in the way that they try to convince Equality that the light is bad. For example on page 73, the Council of Scholars states “Should it be what they claim of it... by the whim of one." In this quote, the Council of Scholars tells Equality that even though their future foward invention could improve the world, street sweepers aren’t capable of being as smart as they are. The dystopian society within both books impacts how the characters deal with their