If you Don't Feel that it's Right, Then Change it

Author's Note: This is my Comparative Essay on Fahrenheit 451. I am comparing the characters from the stories Harrison Bergeron and Fahrenheit 451.

There are people in our world that want things to happen, and then there are the ones that actually make things happen. In the stories Fahrenheit 451 and Harrison Bergeron, there are characters just like these. These characters both lived in a world where their government controlled them. Some characters sat back and watched, but others, such as Montag and Harrison, tried to make an impact on the world.

Fahrenheit 451 and Harrison Bergeron both have very controlling governments. Like most of the characters in these two books, Mildred and Hazel kept quiet and didn't try to change anything in the world. Hazel knows what is wrong and how to fix it, but she is to afraid to say anything. In Fahrenheit 451, instead of reading books, you have to watch T.V., so Mildred followed those directions. She isn’t happy with the world and knows there's something wrong, but she doesn't seem to care about it. These two characters are very similar because they know that the world is messed up, but they don’t want to give any effort to change it.

While Mildred and Hazel sat back and watched, Harrison and Montag did the exact opposite. They know something is wrong, and they did something to fix it. Montag realizes that he is ruining the world by burning books. Once he figured that out, he immediately tries to make a difference and gives effort into changing that. On the other hand, Harrison has always known that there was something wrong. He was smarter and stronger than any other of the citizens. He knew he had to change the government, and that’s exactly what he tried to do.

Although Montag and Harrison have very similar personalities, they are also very different. Harrison knew from the start that there was something messed up in this world and spent every day planning how to over throw the government. But Montag learned that books were good, after he met a free spirited girl. He then from that point tried his best to bring back books. Although Harrison was killed, the day he tried to over throw the government, he at least left the earth with a great impact. We will never know if Montag did help bring back books, but all we hope is the best.

There are two different kinds of people in this world, ones that want things to happen, and ones that make things happen. So think to yourself, which one are you?

Fahrenheit 451 Quote

During any story, authors like to add interesting idioms to make the people reading the book think. In the book Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury did this. The idioms are what make you want to continue reading and that’s what the one I chose did.

I chose an idiom where Faber is talking to Montag and stated "Not if you start talking the sort of talk that might get me burnt for my trouble." This quote really made me think because literally it means that Faber will get burnt to death for the mistakes he has made, which kind of seems ridiculous, but then again that’s what really would happen during this time period. You would actually get hurt the mistakes he made! Another way to look at this quote would be that Faber is going to be in a huge amount of trouble if people find out that he is trying to get rid of the book burning. This is the way I took the quote. For example, when people say "That was a piece of cake," they don’t actually mean that it was like a piece of cake, they mean "That was easy." That’s the same thing going on in my quote.

Unlike a lot of idioms, Ray Bradbury likes to change it up. Just like my example, the idiom was detailed so that made you think more about what he was trying to say. In the end you realize Faber was just trying to say that he will get in a lot of trouble if someone finds out.