A Comparison of Fahrenheit 451 and Dover Beach Essay

A Comparison of Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold and Prayer Before Brith by Louis MacNeice 'Dover Beach' by Matthew Arnold, written in 1867, and 'Prayer Before Birth' written in 1951 by Louis MacNeice share many similarities despite being written nearly on hundred years apart from each other. This essay will explore the issues and ideas that both poems share, in addition to drawing attention to some of the key differences. 'Dover Beach' is about the thoughts of a man on his…

Ray Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit 451 speculates on a future society in which there is no real knowledge, just a façade of lies because there are no testaments of truth, books. This book shares a plot much like that of the Warner Brothers' blockbuster, Matrix, in which the human race is kept in the shadow of the truth by being put into a virtual reality. In both stories a destroyed civilization is being suppressed by an evil leader. Also, in both of these works have an average man rise from the ashes…

The society of Fahrenheit 451 constantly presents characters with instances in which they must react to social injustice. The most prominent examples of this come to the reader through the eyes of Guy Montag as he slowly evolves from a blinded Fireman to a man who discovers the truth about his society and dedicates himself to saving books in hopes of creating a new society. Even in the beginning, deep down Guy knows what the firemen do is wrong, “Montag grinned the fierce grin of all men…

Dover Beach is located in England, on the eastern shores near France. It is also the setting, and title of a poem written by a well educated man named Matthew Arnold, who is well known as the first modern critic of poetry. According to an article in The Literary Encyclopedia, Arnold was a very spiritual person, but claimed poetry prevailed over philosophy, science, and religion, due to the principle that those things are based on facts, which can be proven wrong over time. The article also said…

Winston Smith vs. Guy Montag The two protagonists in Fahrenheit 451 and 1984 both started out somewhere, following the rules and doing what they were told, and towards the end of the book you see them change and become completely different people. In 1984, the reader experiences a nightmarish world that Orwell imagines through the eyes of the protagonist, Winston Smith. In Fahrenheit 451, the protagonist, Guy Montag is on a desperate search to find and understand his own life and purpose. These…

English 2342 20 April 2011 Dover Beach and Fahrenheit 451 The classic poem, Dover Beach, written by Matthew Arnold, is a statement about losing faith as a result of enlightenment. In an emotionally charged scene in Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451, fireman Guy Montag reads the poem aloud to his wife and her friends. Bradbury could have chosen any piece of literature for Montag to read as a means of unveiling his collection of hoarded books and his newfound interest in reading them. Bradbury…

The Power of Language in Fahrenheit 451 In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 there are those who defend the cause of language; those who attempt to destroy the value of words and those who are victims of the abuse of power over language and thought, wielded by the government. The fireman, Montag, attempts to use language as weapon against the entrenched ignorance of his dystopian world. Conversely, the Fire Chief Beatty, uses the power of language as a weapon against those who would free humanity…

Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury’s Prediction of the Future TREVOR YOUNG Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel written by Ray Bradbury that depicts a futuristic American society where books are banned and independent thought is persecuted. Bradbury uses his imagination to take a hard look at a world consumed by technology, and he presents predictions about pleasure, violence and anti-intellectualism that are alarmingly similar to the modern American society. Notably, in both societies people find…

At first glance, Anthony Hecht's "Dover Bitch" is not only funnier than Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach", but also describes a more "liberated" relationship; the poem is as free from what some would consider stuffy Victorian morals as it is from references to Sophocles. Hecht's urbane and flippant persona tends to win over its audience, whether they find irony in the poem that adds to their appreciation of "Dover Beach", appreciate the poem as a criticism of Victorian morals, or laugh at Arnold's apparent…

Ray Bradbury writes Fahrenheit 451 during a time free thinking seems to be slowly disappearing thanks to the advances in technology such as television and the radio. These advances are becoming the principal vehicle to exercise the imagination, once entertained by the knowledge provided by books. As a child Bradbury learnt about the burning of the library of Alexandria thousands of years ago. He was fifteen years old, and Hitler was burning books in the streets of Berlin. These events from the past…