Similarities Between Fahrenheit 451 And The Book Thief

Every time Liesel steals books from people, she consistently places the lives of others at risk. An example of this is when Liesel is worried about Max dying and wants to steal a book and read it to him

But, books were illegal in this day and age, so he must keep the city protected. While watching the senior burn with her books, he learned that these books are so important to some people- there has to be something special about these books. As a result of this, he stole some of her books and took them to his home to read. This example proves that the old lady develops Guy Montag’s character considering he went from being fearful and weary about owning books, to becoming curious and wanting to learn the importance and significance of books. He begins to become intrigued, going against the law and putting his job- and life- at risk.

1. Mildred says these words to Guy Montag. She tells him that books aren’t people which are found in her TV parlor which she enjoys being with. She calls the people on the TV her family. She compares the books to her TV. She says that the people on the TV tell her things and make her laugh and they are full of colors, whereas the books are black and white and don’t make sense to anybody and doesn’t make her laugh instead makes her feel bad.

I was surprised to see Guy Montag’s personality change throughout the story. In the beginning, he was an ordinary firefighter who had despised books. However, as the story escalated and he met Clarisse, his perspective upon books changed. With Clarisse’s talking and Mildred’s television family, he begins to believe that books are what are missing from his life. His view on books changes from hating them to desiring them. This change surprised me because Montag’s description from the beginning of the text about fire convinced me how deep his hatred for books is. This is significant in the story because it labels Montag as a dynamic character.

While on a job one night, Guy Montag steals a book from a woman’s house, a very serious crime in the time of the story. After he brings it home, it is revealed that he has been collecting books for quite some time. It is written that Montag shows these books to Mildred when he is shown “moving his hand and dropping books, small ones, fairly large ones, yellow, red, green ones. When he was done he looked upon some twenty books lying at his wife’s feet.” (Bradbury 63). Montag apologizes for not being truthful with his wife and then asks her to read the books with him. From this point on, their relationship becomes mostly about reading the books, protecting them from the other firemen or anyone who might report them, and discussing the books. Although this is certainly not an ideal marriage to most people, it is a step in the right direction for Guy and Mildred. They are able to connect on a level that has not yet been seen, or even described in the book. It should be noted however, that even though Mildred is a part of the secret that she and Montag have created around the books, it was certainly not her idea and she seems almost uncomfortable with it. As the story progresses, it will be interesting to see how Mildred deals with keeping such a big secret.

In the year 1953, Ray Bradbury published a book titled Fahrenheit 451. This book explores a dystopian world where houses are completely fireproof, and instead of putting out fires, firemen start them. They do this for one reason, which is to destroy all books. The author has many things he wanted to convey, one of which is that books are people. The theme of Fahrenheit 451 is that books encompass the author’s entire life and their opinions. Along with this, Bradbury was trying to show that by reading a book, the reader also shares these experiences.

Mildred is Guy’s wife which loves to watch TV and hates to express herself. She tried to commit suicide and can't even acknowledge it. Montag says, “‘You took all the pills in your bottle last night.’ Mildred responds quickly “Oh I wouldn't do that’”(19). Masking your pain will get you far away from happiness. You need to acknowledge and change for the better. Since Mildred never wanted to talk about her relationship with Guy. This makes Guy angry and can not clear his mind about something they do not talk about as well as Mildred, senselessly that is a part of her pain. It will not go away till she confronts it. Guy says, “No one listens anymore. I can't talk to the walls because they’re yelling at me. I just need someone to hear what I have to say, it’ll make sense. I just want to learn how to read”(14). This goes to show that he has been distracted by the fact that she is obviously miserable and is crying out for help with her attempt of suicide. Montag is realising that the books might make him closer to his happiness.

The author reveals a character named Mildred to show how censorship influences her in an unfavorable way. While Montag argues that books are important, Mildred yells “Books aren't people... My ‘family’ is people… Why should I read.”(69) Due to the fact that restrictions are present in the society featured in the novel, Mildred is blinded by the essential fundamentals of life, Mildred does not understand

The burning of the books relates to other themes in the story as well, it is another example of the power of words. It is a strange idea that something as beautiful and powerful as stories could be used for such a violent and spiteful act. Liesel stealing the book represented a connection between the two groups; the Jewish and the not Jewish, so to speak. It proved that although this act was something that would be frowned upon, Liesel didn’t care what descent the author was, or what religion they were, the only thing that mattered was that they had

Zusak as the author, demonstrates Liesel as a thief to compare her with other rebellious Germans. Throwback to the book Arrival On Himmel Street, death has written “Her knees entered the ground. Her moment had arrived. Still in disbelief, she started to dig. He couldn’t be dead. He couldn’t be dead. He couldn’t-” (23), these words indicate the similarities between Liesel and many other Germans during the period. As we all have known, during World War II, many German families has to suffer from separation. Childrens are separated from their parents, siblings are supported by each others. Just like Liesel, many in the time were departed from their parents on their way to their foster parents. Unfortunately for some of them, their siblings, who share the same journey with them cannot make it to the destination. Not only Liesel shares faiths with the rebellious German who are affected by the World War II, she is also experiencing the same feeling that they are sensing. They are all angry, they are in disbelief, that their loved ones have left them behind in the lonely world. Correspondingly, in the book The Woman With The Iron Fist, Issa has spoken “This is what I have to put up with, these rich bastards, these lazy swine…”(43). These words have spoken for the majority of Germans at the time. Through the words, the abusive tone of the character Issa, we can clearly see the spark of rebellious. Although these words were not directly from Liesel, we all know that “Who

While there are many comparable characters between the story and the film, the most prominent similarities are with Jon Anderton and Guy Montag. For example, both men had government jobs in the beginning that they both deemed was ‘respectable’, but in the end had betrayed to follow their own free will. In “Fahrenheit 451”, Guy’s wife Mildred had turned him in after an incident regarding her and her friends, while similarly in “Minority Report”, Jon’s ex-wife Lara had informed Burgess of Jon’s arrival in secret. Beatty and Lamar Burgess are also comparable, as they both were leaders of an association that was intended to prevent an action even though they both committed the crimes, and they both died at the hands of the protagonist.

“That’s awful! ...Why should I read? What for?”(Bradbury, 73) Mildred hates the fact that her house and her ‘family’ would burn down if Beatty and the other firemen found out about Montag and his books. Mildred doesn’t understand why Montag wants to reason with her and what he finds so special in books. Mildred is a selfish woman who cares only about herself and her friends. As long as nothing happened to her ‘family’, she’d be fine.

In the novel, books are illegal to have in possession and a fireman must burn them. Books are said to make you question and when Guy starts to read books, he does begin to rebel and question society’s way of life. This conflict would be man vs. society because Guy doesn’t agree with society’s way of life. Even Guy’s own wife, Mildred, does associate with him that often because she is busy connecting with the soap operas on television. Another major conflict would be Guy against the police. Guy becomes a wanted criminal after refusing his house to be burnt, killing Beatty, and running from the police. This would be a man vs. man conflict because Guy is running from the police. A passage that reinforces the conflict is… “Books aren’t people. You read and I look around but there isn’t anybody...” “Now,” said Mildred “my ‘family’ is people. They tell me things; I laugh, they laugh! And the colors!”(69) In the passage Mildred and Montag are arguing about why you should read books. Mildred says she would watch her ‘family,’ which she is referring to her television

Many, if not all, novels portray a theme, a subject of discourse, discussion, meditation, or composition, within them. The theme is the heart of the story. It is used as the central focus, and expresses the intended lesson, conclusion, message, or point of view of the author. Countless novels share communal themes, some of which include Fahrenheit 451 and Oryx and Crake. These are two distinct novels with many dissimilarities, yet they share common similarities within them, both carrying parallel themes. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury paints a dystopian future where the government has forbidden books and orders them to be burned through the work of fireman. These firemen include the likes of Guy Montag, who begins to question his life after an encounter with his young neighbor. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood takes a whole different turn, her story centers on Snowman, who used to be known as Jimmy before the world was wiped out by a deadly plague. Snowman, who’s now the only human to survive, is tasked with conveying his wisdom and morals onto the Crakers. Although these novels seem to be completely diverse, they both are about the fall of society through the censoring of information.

Liesel took education in to her own hands and she started reading books, learning to read and write with the help of foster father, Hans. Liesel’s silent defiance consisted of her stealing books. It started off in the cemetery with the Grave Digger’s Handbook, but later on she took a book from a fire created by authorities “Quote”. She defies Nazi censorship and read books that broaden her viewpoint, Liesel understands that words have an immense power.