Themes of Dystopia in Ray Bradbury's 'Fahrenheit 451' and George Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty-Four'.
ABSTRACT
Adanya pemikiran tentang dunia utopia dan distopia masih membuat banyak
orang bertanya-tanya sejauh mana syarat-syarat dan batasan-batasan yang ditetapkan
oleh masyarakat untuk menetapkan definisi tentang kedua dunia tersebut. Pandangan
orang tentang utopia dan distopia sangatlah beragam, tergantung dari sudut mana
orang memandangnya karena pemikiran setiap orang akan berbeda satu dengan yang
lainnya.
Saya memilih novel Fahrenheit 451 dan Nineteen Eighty-Four karena melihat
di dalam kedua novel ini terdapat unsur yang sama, yaitu tentang pemikiran utopia
dan distopia. Kedua novel ini diambil dari abad yang sama, yaitu abad 20. Ray
Bradbury adalah seorang Amerika sedangkan George Orwell adalah seorang British.
Kedua pengarang ini menjabarkan tentang utopia dan distopia yang serupa namun
tidak sama karena dipengaruhi oleh masalah kehidupan negara masing-masing yang
berbeda.
Walau kedua pengarang novel in berasal dari negara yang berbeda, dapat
terlihat di dalam kedua novel ini bahwa tujuan hidup dan usaha manusia dalam
meraih utopia memiliki suatu kesamaan.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE
.………………………………………………………….……..
TABLE OF CONTENTS
i
…..………………………………………….….
ii
………………………………………………………………..
iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study …………………………………………...
Statement of the Problem ………………………………………..…
Purpose of the Study ……………………………………………….
Method of Research …………………………………….………....
Organization of the Thesis …………………………………………
1
3
3
3
4
ABSTRACT
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF THEME THROUGH CONFLICTS IN RAY
BRADBURY’S FAHRENHEIT 451
..………………….………
5
CHAPTER THREE: ANALYSIS OF THEME THROUGH CONFLICTS IN
….........
17
…………………………………....
28
………………………………………………………..
33
APPENDICES:
Synopsis of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 .....…………………..
Synopsis of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four ..…………….
Biography of Ray Bradbury .………………………………………
Biography of George Orwell ………………………………………
35
36
37
38
GEORGE ORWELL’S NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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APPENDICES
SUMMARY OF FAHRENHEIT 451 BY RAY BRADBURY
Montag, who is a fireman, lives in one of the states in America. As a
fireman, he is given power by the government to burn houses in which books are
hidden that are forbidden by the government. One day on the way home to his
house, he meets his new neighbor, Clarisse McClellan. They have a short
conversation. She asks whether Montag is happy with his life. From this
conversation, Montag knows that a long time ago houses used to be burnt by
accident and it was the fireman’s job to stop the flames. Montag realizes that his
life is not happy. He has a cold wife, whose name is Mildred.
Clarisse and Montag become closer but one day Clarisse is gone. Nobody
knows where she goes.
One night, an alarm rings. It indicates that they must go to burn a house. It
is a house of an old woman. The woman is also burnt with her books. The death
of the woman influences Montag’s thought about books and life. Now he is eager
to know about what is the meaning of one of the books and begins to read the
forbidden books. Montag looks for help from an English professor named Faber.
The alarm rings again and Montag is shocked that the house he must burn
is his own house. After burning his house, he kills the firemen’s captain and runs
away. However, the government does not let Montag escape. Using their high
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technology, the government tries to find him. Faber commands him to leave the
town and try to find hobo camps. It is a walking camp for books lover. This camp
consists of people who memorize books and they have a hope that one day books
can be published again. The war starts and the city is burnt to ashes. The hobo
camp decides to go to the city and help the people.
SUMMARY OF NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR BY GEORGE ORWELL
London is the capital city of Airstrip One in a huge country called Oceania.
The country is controlled by The Party, which is led by a dictator, Big Brother. The
population of Oceania is divided into 3 parts: The Inner Party, The Outer Party, and
proles. The government is divided into four ministries: The Ministry of Truth, The
Ministry of Peace, The Ministry of Love and The Ministry of Plenty. The Party has
three slogans: WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS
STRENGTH. The country uses a special language called Newspeak that is used to
control the society so that people do not rebel against the government.
Winston Smith is a member of The Outer party but he hates Big Brother.
Winston usually writes in a diary, which he buys in an ordinary shop. Actually, he
knows that writing is illegal.
At the ministry where Winston works, he meets a woman named Julia. At
first he thinks that she is a thought police but then they become lovers. They know
that to make a relationship between members of the party is forbidden. Finally,
they are caught by the Thought Police.
Winston is tortured to change his rebellious mind to love Big Brother. As
a result, Winston loves Big Brother very much.
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BIOGRAPHY OF RAY BRADBURY
Ray Douglas Bradbury was born in Waukegan, Illinois, on 22 August
1920. He is the author of more than 500 published literary works. At the age of
17, Bradbury became a member of the Los Angeles Science Fiction League. From
this association, he published his first work in a short lived science fiction fan
magazine. His first short story was published when he was twenty years old,
entitled Weird Tales.
These are some of Bradbury’s works: Dark Carnival (1947), Martian
Chronicles (1950), The Illustrated Man (1951), Dandelion Wine (1957), Death
Has Lost It¹s Charm (1987), Graveyard for Lunatics (1990) and Zen in the Art of
Writing: Essays on Creativity (1991). The Ray Bradbury Theatre is his cable
television show and it has won many cable awards. Some of his novels, which are
Fahrenheit 451, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, It Came from Outer Space, The
Illustrated Man, and Something Wicked This Way Comes, have been made into
major motion pictures.
Bradbury wrote the screenplay for Moby Dick in 1953. Bradbury is not
only a science fiction writer but he also has produced works of drama and
psychological realism. Many of his works have contributed to American literature,
which has led to many literary awards, such as the O. Henry Memorial Award, the
Benjamin Franklin Award and Science Fiction Writers of America Grand Master
Award.
37
Maranatha Christian University
BIOGRAPHY OF GEORGE ORWELL
George Orwell was born in Motihari, India on 25 June 1903 with the name
Eric Arthur Blair. Orwell returned to England in 1929 and began to write his first
book, which was published in 1933, entitled Down and Out in Paris and London,
and his first fictional work was published in 1934, entitled Burmese Days.
In 1936, Orwell married Eileen O’Shaugnessy. She was a doctor’s
daughter. In 1936, Keep the Aspidistra Flying was published.
In 1936, Orwell was commissioned by the publisher Victor Gollancz to
produce a documentary account of unemployment in the North of England for the
Left Book Club, and as a result, in 1937, he wrote The Road to Wigan Pier, which
is considered a milestone in modern literary journalism.
In 1945, he began to write the famous novel, Animal Farm. The last novel
he wrote is another famous novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four. He died on 21 January
1950 because of his diseases.
Orwell did not only write novels. He also wrote documentaries, essays and
criticism. He is one of the most influential writers of the 20th century.
38
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The word ‘utopia’ was coined by Thomas More. The word ‘utopia’ refers
to
the
Greek
word:
eutopia
(good
place).
(http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Utopia). This word has a positive meaning.
Eutopia is considered a good place. Moreover, it is the reflection of perfection and
of an optimistic place.
People are used to having the image of utopia because people want to have
happiness and a perfect life, so it is natural that the image of utopia in one’s mind
is parallel with that person’s real life. Moreover, the image is almost too perfect.
Nevertheless, this image has dystopia. ‘A dystopia is a fictional society, usually
portrayed as existing in a future time, when the conditions of life are extremely
bad
due
to
deprivation,
oppression,
or
terror.’
(http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Dystopia). When there is utopia, there is also
dystopia. Both the positive (utopia) and the negative (dystopia) sides cannot be
separated from each other.
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In both these novels, the readers can see the elements of dystopia within
utopia, which is represented by the differing perspectives of the government and
society. The government wants to create a perfect, orderly society so they create
and apply perfect rules for the society. Ironically, not all citizens see the
government’s efforts as being a utopia.
Some see themselves in a dystopia
because every man has a different standard of happiness. While the government
serves society, the government also imposes authority over the society. It is
common for the government to use the name of the society’s advantageous in
order to create a perfect society. They force their will on the society but the
government itself does not want to know that they have actually made the society
suffer. In applying perfect rules and wanting their aims to be successful, it is
unavoidable for the government to limit individual freedom. In other words, they
might repress individuals’ rights in a society in order for the government to
achieve utopia. This condition is potential to generate conflicts.
Such conflicts can be seen in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and George
Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. These novels show dystopian elements which
build a fearful atmosphere for the reader.
I will analyze the theme of dystopia in these novels by using formalism. I
will elaborate the theme through social and inner conflicts. Theme is ‘the
meaning of the story’ (Kenney, 1996:88) and ‘social conflict is a struggle
between man and man....inner conflict is a struggle between desires within a
person.’ (Shaw, 1972:91-92). The analysis of these conflicts reveals some
dystopian elements (imperfections) and later these elements will reveal the theme
in each novel.
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STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The problems are:
1. What are the themes of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and George
Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four?
2. How do the conflicts help to reveal the themes of these novels?
3. How are the dystopian elements developed in these novels?
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purposes of this study are:
1. To show the themes of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and George
Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four.
2. To show how the conflicts reveal the themes in Ray Bradbury’s
Fahrenheit 451 and George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four.
3. To show the development of the dystopian elements in these novels.
METHOD OF RESEARCH
The method I use in analyzing these novels is formalism. In the analysis, I
want to elaborate the theme through the social and inner conflicts that happen in
both these novels.
I use library research, reading Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and George
Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four as the main texts. Besides the novels, I use some
information from the internet sites.
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ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS
The present writer divides the thesis into four chapters. Chapter One is the
Introduction, where the present writer states Background of the Study, Statement
of the Problem, Purpose of the Study, Method of Research, and Organization of
the Thesis. Chapter Two deals with the analysis of theme of dystopia in Ray
Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. Chapter Three contains the analysis of theme of
dystopia in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. Chapter Four contains the
conclusion of the analysis of both literary works. At the end of the thesis, she
inserts the synopsis of Fahrenheit 451 and Nineteen Eighty-Four, and the
biographies of the authors, Ray Bradbury and George Orwell.
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CHAPTER FOUR
CONCLUSION
The themes of these novels are revealed through the conflicts in the
novels. The conflicts appear because of the different points of view between
individuals or groups about utopia and dystopia. The basic conflicts are about the
right to know and the right to express. The dominant conflicts, which show the
dystopian elements in both novels, are social conflicts. The theme in Bradbury’s
novel is that a perfect and orderly society necessitates substituting pleasure for
knowledge. The theme in Orwell’s novel is that perfect and orderly society
necessitates close control on knowledge.
The similarity of the conflict in both novels is the fabrication of
information. Fabrication of information means that the government represses the
society’s right to know the truth. The conflict, which is a social conflict, happens
between the protagonist and the government. The protagonist from Fahrenheit 451
is Guy Montag, and the protagonist of Nineteen Eighty-Four is Winston Smith.
Both of the protagonists doubt the information which is claimed as the truth by the
government. The government has a duty to tell the truth to the society, but, in both
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novels, the government fabricates information so that their purpose to create an
orderly society can be achieved without raising many conflicts from the society.
The difference of fabrication in both novels is the source of information
which is being fabricated. In Bradbury’s novel, the government fabricates the
history, and it gives a great impact for the society. The effect of the fabrication of
history is censorship of quality books. They burn books so that the society
becomes uneducated. It is easier for the government to control uneducated society
and to achieve an orderly society because they cannot think critically anymore. In
Orwell’s novel, the fabrication is not only history, but also political and economic
news. They fabricate news which benefits the Party. The effect of these
fabrications is that the Party controls the society easily and the Party, especially
Big Brother, gets adoration and loyalty from the society.
The dystopian element in the conflict above is the society’s right to know
the truth is being sacrificed by the government. The government represses the
society’s right to know the true information and fabricates the information in
order to create their perfect society. The dystopian element by fabricating
information in Fahrenheit 451 is that the society is repressed in developing their
intelligence because of the fabrication of history which burns quality books. The
dystopian element in Nineteen Eighty-Four is that fabricating daily information
and history shows a system of totalitarianism. The fabricated information shows
the policy of the government gives advantages for the society. In fact, the
government fabricates information for their own advantage, in order to make am
orderly society for their own benefit.
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The other social conflict in both novels is the repression of the rights of the
society. The government has the same purpose, which is to create an orderly
society. They use particular ways to achieve their purpose, although it represses
the rights of the society.
The ways of repressing are different. In Bradbury’s novel, the conflict
appears between the government and the society, especially the knowledge lovers.
The examples of books, entitled Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Little Black Sambo, and a
health book about cigarette make the government’s idea in burning books succeed
because the government uses the issue of racist in those books to cover their
purpose to create perfect society. The burning books might happen because the
government claims that books can offend and bring sufferance to the society.
Besides repressing the society’s right to know knowledge, the government also
represses the right of the authors to express their thought into writing. In Nineteen
Eighty-Four, the Party represses the society, which is represented by Winston, by
using certain ways. The first way is to use technology, telescreens and
microphones, to spy the society. It represses Winston’s behavior to behave
expressively. The other way is the existence of Thought Police. It represses
Winston’s thought to think which is against the law. The last way is the use of
Newspeak. Language can control one’s thought and words. The Party represses
Winston’s rights to express his feelings and thought by applying such ways so that
they can control him body and mind.
The dystopian element in the conflicts above is the repression of human’s
rights. Their right to express and their right to know are repressed because it is
easier for the government to take control of the society in order to create perfect
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society if they have no rights. The dystopian element in Fahrenheit 451, the
government represses authors to express their ideas into writing. Beside it
represses the authors’ right to write, it also represses the right of the readers to
know knowledge. Whereas in Nineteen Eighty-Four, the government represses
individual’s rights of expressions in his thoughts, feelings and behavior.
The other conflict is an inner conflict which is undergone by the
protagonist. The protagonists in both novels want to express their thoughts and
feelings but the government does not allow them to express their rights freely.
Because of the repression which is made by the government, the protagonists
become rebellious persons who express their rights in illegal ways.
The difference of the conflict is seen from the protagonist’s way to show
their rebellion. In Fahrenheit 451, the protagonist shows his rebellion by hiding
books, which he knows that it is against the law. The government represses his
right to know knowledge in order to create orderly society. In Nineteen EightyFour, the protagonist is repressed to express his rights so that he shows his
rebellion by writing his feelings and thoughts in a diary and by having a
relationship with his opposite sex. He does it although he knows that he is not
allowed to do such things.
This is the last conflict, which is a social conflict, about pleasure. In
Fahrenheit 451, this issue is a substitution for eliminating knowledge in the
country. The conflict happens between Millie and Montag. Millie is a successful
model of the society who loves pleasure. Between Montag and Millie, there is no
a close relationship each other because Millie is too busy with her own pleasure
and she does not play her role as a good wife. The dystopian element in this
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conflict is the government gives pleasure to the society, and they assume it as
utopia. In fact, it is dystopia because the society is only given enjoyment and they
are not given knowledge to develop their mind. In other words, the government
expresses the rights to have knowledge in order to make the society unintelligent
so that they can create perfect society easily. Whereas in Nineteen Eighty-Four,
the government does not use substitution in controlling the society but they
control the society’s knowledge and behavior extremely.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
REFERENCES
Kenney, William. How to Analyze Fiction. New York: Monarch Press, 1996.
Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: McGraw-Hill Inc., 1972.
INTERNET WEBSITES
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin. 20 May 2006
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Black_Sambo. 20 May 2006.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dystopia. 1 March 2006.
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Utopia. 1 March 2006.
http://www.gradesaver.com/ClassicNotes/Authors/about_ray_bradbury.html.
20 March 2006.
http://www.uv.es/~fores/orwell.html. 20 March 2006.
http://www.answers.com/topic/old-imperialism 1 August 2006
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PRIMARY TEXTS
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: The Random House Publishing
Group, 1953.
Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. New York: Penguin Books Ltd, 1949.
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Adanya pemikiran tentang dunia utopia dan distopia masih membuat banyak
orang bertanya-tanya sejauh mana syarat-syarat dan batasan-batasan yang ditetapkan
oleh masyarakat untuk menetapkan definisi tentang kedua dunia tersebut. Pandangan
orang tentang utopia dan distopia sangatlah beragam, tergantung dari sudut mana
orang memandangnya karena pemikiran setiap orang akan berbeda satu dengan yang
lainnya.
Saya memilih novel Fahrenheit 451 dan Nineteen Eighty-Four karena melihat
di dalam kedua novel ini terdapat unsur yang sama, yaitu tentang pemikiran utopia
dan distopia. Kedua novel ini diambil dari abad yang sama, yaitu abad 20. Ray
Bradbury adalah seorang Amerika sedangkan George Orwell adalah seorang British.
Kedua pengarang ini menjabarkan tentang utopia dan distopia yang serupa namun
tidak sama karena dipengaruhi oleh masalah kehidupan negara masing-masing yang
berbeda.
Walau kedua pengarang novel in berasal dari negara yang berbeda, dapat
terlihat di dalam kedua novel ini bahwa tujuan hidup dan usaha manusia dalam
meraih utopia memiliki suatu kesamaan.
ii
Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE
.………………………………………………………….……..
TABLE OF CONTENTS
i
…..………………………………………….….
ii
………………………………………………………………..
iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study …………………………………………...
Statement of the Problem ………………………………………..…
Purpose of the Study ……………………………………………….
Method of Research …………………………………….………....
Organization of the Thesis …………………………………………
1
3
3
3
4
ABSTRACT
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF THEME THROUGH CONFLICTS IN RAY
BRADBURY’S FAHRENHEIT 451
..………………….………
5
CHAPTER THREE: ANALYSIS OF THEME THROUGH CONFLICTS IN
….........
17
…………………………………....
28
………………………………………………………..
33
APPENDICES:
Synopsis of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 .....…………………..
Synopsis of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four ..…………….
Biography of Ray Bradbury .………………………………………
Biography of George Orwell ………………………………………
35
36
37
38
GEORGE ORWELL’S NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Maranatha Christian University
APPENDICES
SUMMARY OF FAHRENHEIT 451 BY RAY BRADBURY
Montag, who is a fireman, lives in one of the states in America. As a
fireman, he is given power by the government to burn houses in which books are
hidden that are forbidden by the government. One day on the way home to his
house, he meets his new neighbor, Clarisse McClellan. They have a short
conversation. She asks whether Montag is happy with his life. From this
conversation, Montag knows that a long time ago houses used to be burnt by
accident and it was the fireman’s job to stop the flames. Montag realizes that his
life is not happy. He has a cold wife, whose name is Mildred.
Clarisse and Montag become closer but one day Clarisse is gone. Nobody
knows where she goes.
One night, an alarm rings. It indicates that they must go to burn a house. It
is a house of an old woman. The woman is also burnt with her books. The death
of the woman influences Montag’s thought about books and life. Now he is eager
to know about what is the meaning of one of the books and begins to read the
forbidden books. Montag looks for help from an English professor named Faber.
The alarm rings again and Montag is shocked that the house he must burn
is his own house. After burning his house, he kills the firemen’s captain and runs
away. However, the government does not let Montag escape. Using their high
35
Maranatha Christian University
technology, the government tries to find him. Faber commands him to leave the
town and try to find hobo camps. It is a walking camp for books lover. This camp
consists of people who memorize books and they have a hope that one day books
can be published again. The war starts and the city is burnt to ashes. The hobo
camp decides to go to the city and help the people.
SUMMARY OF NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR BY GEORGE ORWELL
London is the capital city of Airstrip One in a huge country called Oceania.
The country is controlled by The Party, which is led by a dictator, Big Brother. The
population of Oceania is divided into 3 parts: The Inner Party, The Outer Party, and
proles. The government is divided into four ministries: The Ministry of Truth, The
Ministry of Peace, The Ministry of Love and The Ministry of Plenty. The Party has
three slogans: WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS
STRENGTH. The country uses a special language called Newspeak that is used to
control the society so that people do not rebel against the government.
Winston Smith is a member of The Outer party but he hates Big Brother.
Winston usually writes in a diary, which he buys in an ordinary shop. Actually, he
knows that writing is illegal.
At the ministry where Winston works, he meets a woman named Julia. At
first he thinks that she is a thought police but then they become lovers. They know
that to make a relationship between members of the party is forbidden. Finally,
they are caught by the Thought Police.
Winston is tortured to change his rebellious mind to love Big Brother. As
a result, Winston loves Big Brother very much.
36
Maranatha Christian University
BIOGRAPHY OF RAY BRADBURY
Ray Douglas Bradbury was born in Waukegan, Illinois, on 22 August
1920. He is the author of more than 500 published literary works. At the age of
17, Bradbury became a member of the Los Angeles Science Fiction League. From
this association, he published his first work in a short lived science fiction fan
magazine. His first short story was published when he was twenty years old,
entitled Weird Tales.
These are some of Bradbury’s works: Dark Carnival (1947), Martian
Chronicles (1950), The Illustrated Man (1951), Dandelion Wine (1957), Death
Has Lost It¹s Charm (1987), Graveyard for Lunatics (1990) and Zen in the Art of
Writing: Essays on Creativity (1991). The Ray Bradbury Theatre is his cable
television show and it has won many cable awards. Some of his novels, which are
Fahrenheit 451, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, It Came from Outer Space, The
Illustrated Man, and Something Wicked This Way Comes, have been made into
major motion pictures.
Bradbury wrote the screenplay for Moby Dick in 1953. Bradbury is not
only a science fiction writer but he also has produced works of drama and
psychological realism. Many of his works have contributed to American literature,
which has led to many literary awards, such as the O. Henry Memorial Award, the
Benjamin Franklin Award and Science Fiction Writers of America Grand Master
Award.
37
Maranatha Christian University
BIOGRAPHY OF GEORGE ORWELL
George Orwell was born in Motihari, India on 25 June 1903 with the name
Eric Arthur Blair. Orwell returned to England in 1929 and began to write his first
book, which was published in 1933, entitled Down and Out in Paris and London,
and his first fictional work was published in 1934, entitled Burmese Days.
In 1936, Orwell married Eileen O’Shaugnessy. She was a doctor’s
daughter. In 1936, Keep the Aspidistra Flying was published.
In 1936, Orwell was commissioned by the publisher Victor Gollancz to
produce a documentary account of unemployment in the North of England for the
Left Book Club, and as a result, in 1937, he wrote The Road to Wigan Pier, which
is considered a milestone in modern literary journalism.
In 1945, he began to write the famous novel, Animal Farm. The last novel
he wrote is another famous novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four. He died on 21 January
1950 because of his diseases.
Orwell did not only write novels. He also wrote documentaries, essays and
criticism. He is one of the most influential writers of the 20th century.
38
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The word ‘utopia’ was coined by Thomas More. The word ‘utopia’ refers
to
the
Greek
word:
eutopia
(good
place).
(http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Utopia). This word has a positive meaning.
Eutopia is considered a good place. Moreover, it is the reflection of perfection and
of an optimistic place.
People are used to having the image of utopia because people want to have
happiness and a perfect life, so it is natural that the image of utopia in one’s mind
is parallel with that person’s real life. Moreover, the image is almost too perfect.
Nevertheless, this image has dystopia. ‘A dystopia is a fictional society, usually
portrayed as existing in a future time, when the conditions of life are extremely
bad
due
to
deprivation,
oppression,
or
terror.’
(http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Dystopia). When there is utopia, there is also
dystopia. Both the positive (utopia) and the negative (dystopia) sides cannot be
separated from each other.
1
Maranatha Christian University
In both these novels, the readers can see the elements of dystopia within
utopia, which is represented by the differing perspectives of the government and
society. The government wants to create a perfect, orderly society so they create
and apply perfect rules for the society. Ironically, not all citizens see the
government’s efforts as being a utopia.
Some see themselves in a dystopia
because every man has a different standard of happiness. While the government
serves society, the government also imposes authority over the society. It is
common for the government to use the name of the society’s advantageous in
order to create a perfect society. They force their will on the society but the
government itself does not want to know that they have actually made the society
suffer. In applying perfect rules and wanting their aims to be successful, it is
unavoidable for the government to limit individual freedom. In other words, they
might repress individuals’ rights in a society in order for the government to
achieve utopia. This condition is potential to generate conflicts.
Such conflicts can be seen in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and George
Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. These novels show dystopian elements which
build a fearful atmosphere for the reader.
I will analyze the theme of dystopia in these novels by using formalism. I
will elaborate the theme through social and inner conflicts. Theme is ‘the
meaning of the story’ (Kenney, 1996:88) and ‘social conflict is a struggle
between man and man....inner conflict is a struggle between desires within a
person.’ (Shaw, 1972:91-92). The analysis of these conflicts reveals some
dystopian elements (imperfections) and later these elements will reveal the theme
in each novel.
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STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The problems are:
1. What are the themes of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and George
Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four?
2. How do the conflicts help to reveal the themes of these novels?
3. How are the dystopian elements developed in these novels?
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purposes of this study are:
1. To show the themes of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and George
Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four.
2. To show how the conflicts reveal the themes in Ray Bradbury’s
Fahrenheit 451 and George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four.
3. To show the development of the dystopian elements in these novels.
METHOD OF RESEARCH
The method I use in analyzing these novels is formalism. In the analysis, I
want to elaborate the theme through the social and inner conflicts that happen in
both these novels.
I use library research, reading Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and George
Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four as the main texts. Besides the novels, I use some
information from the internet sites.
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ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS
The present writer divides the thesis into four chapters. Chapter One is the
Introduction, where the present writer states Background of the Study, Statement
of the Problem, Purpose of the Study, Method of Research, and Organization of
the Thesis. Chapter Two deals with the analysis of theme of dystopia in Ray
Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. Chapter Three contains the analysis of theme of
dystopia in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. Chapter Four contains the
conclusion of the analysis of both literary works. At the end of the thesis, she
inserts the synopsis of Fahrenheit 451 and Nineteen Eighty-Four, and the
biographies of the authors, Ray Bradbury and George Orwell.
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CHAPTER FOUR
CONCLUSION
The themes of these novels are revealed through the conflicts in the
novels. The conflicts appear because of the different points of view between
individuals or groups about utopia and dystopia. The basic conflicts are about the
right to know and the right to express. The dominant conflicts, which show the
dystopian elements in both novels, are social conflicts. The theme in Bradbury’s
novel is that a perfect and orderly society necessitates substituting pleasure for
knowledge. The theme in Orwell’s novel is that perfect and orderly society
necessitates close control on knowledge.
The similarity of the conflict in both novels is the fabrication of
information. Fabrication of information means that the government represses the
society’s right to know the truth. The conflict, which is a social conflict, happens
between the protagonist and the government. The protagonist from Fahrenheit 451
is Guy Montag, and the protagonist of Nineteen Eighty-Four is Winston Smith.
Both of the protagonists doubt the information which is claimed as the truth by the
government. The government has a duty to tell the truth to the society, but, in both
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novels, the government fabricates information so that their purpose to create an
orderly society can be achieved without raising many conflicts from the society.
The difference of fabrication in both novels is the source of information
which is being fabricated. In Bradbury’s novel, the government fabricates the
history, and it gives a great impact for the society. The effect of the fabrication of
history is censorship of quality books. They burn books so that the society
becomes uneducated. It is easier for the government to control uneducated society
and to achieve an orderly society because they cannot think critically anymore. In
Orwell’s novel, the fabrication is not only history, but also political and economic
news. They fabricate news which benefits the Party. The effect of these
fabrications is that the Party controls the society easily and the Party, especially
Big Brother, gets adoration and loyalty from the society.
The dystopian element in the conflict above is the society’s right to know
the truth is being sacrificed by the government. The government represses the
society’s right to know the true information and fabricates the information in
order to create their perfect society. The dystopian element by fabricating
information in Fahrenheit 451 is that the society is repressed in developing their
intelligence because of the fabrication of history which burns quality books. The
dystopian element in Nineteen Eighty-Four is that fabricating daily information
and history shows a system of totalitarianism. The fabricated information shows
the policy of the government gives advantages for the society. In fact, the
government fabricates information for their own advantage, in order to make am
orderly society for their own benefit.
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The other social conflict in both novels is the repression of the rights of the
society. The government has the same purpose, which is to create an orderly
society. They use particular ways to achieve their purpose, although it represses
the rights of the society.
The ways of repressing are different. In Bradbury’s novel, the conflict
appears between the government and the society, especially the knowledge lovers.
The examples of books, entitled Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Little Black Sambo, and a
health book about cigarette make the government’s idea in burning books succeed
because the government uses the issue of racist in those books to cover their
purpose to create perfect society. The burning books might happen because the
government claims that books can offend and bring sufferance to the society.
Besides repressing the society’s right to know knowledge, the government also
represses the right of the authors to express their thought into writing. In Nineteen
Eighty-Four, the Party represses the society, which is represented by Winston, by
using certain ways. The first way is to use technology, telescreens and
microphones, to spy the society. It represses Winston’s behavior to behave
expressively. The other way is the existence of Thought Police. It represses
Winston’s thought to think which is against the law. The last way is the use of
Newspeak. Language can control one’s thought and words. The Party represses
Winston’s rights to express his feelings and thought by applying such ways so that
they can control him body and mind.
The dystopian element in the conflicts above is the repression of human’s
rights. Their right to express and their right to know are repressed because it is
easier for the government to take control of the society in order to create perfect
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society if they have no rights. The dystopian element in Fahrenheit 451, the
government represses authors to express their ideas into writing. Beside it
represses the authors’ right to write, it also represses the right of the readers to
know knowledge. Whereas in Nineteen Eighty-Four, the government represses
individual’s rights of expressions in his thoughts, feelings and behavior.
The other conflict is an inner conflict which is undergone by the
protagonist. The protagonists in both novels want to express their thoughts and
feelings but the government does not allow them to express their rights freely.
Because of the repression which is made by the government, the protagonists
become rebellious persons who express their rights in illegal ways.
The difference of the conflict is seen from the protagonist’s way to show
their rebellion. In Fahrenheit 451, the protagonist shows his rebellion by hiding
books, which he knows that it is against the law. The government represses his
right to know knowledge in order to create orderly society. In Nineteen EightyFour, the protagonist is repressed to express his rights so that he shows his
rebellion by writing his feelings and thoughts in a diary and by having a
relationship with his opposite sex. He does it although he knows that he is not
allowed to do such things.
This is the last conflict, which is a social conflict, about pleasure. In
Fahrenheit 451, this issue is a substitution for eliminating knowledge in the
country. The conflict happens between Millie and Montag. Millie is a successful
model of the society who loves pleasure. Between Montag and Millie, there is no
a close relationship each other because Millie is too busy with her own pleasure
and she does not play her role as a good wife. The dystopian element in this
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conflict is the government gives pleasure to the society, and they assume it as
utopia. In fact, it is dystopia because the society is only given enjoyment and they
are not given knowledge to develop their mind. In other words, the government
expresses the rights to have knowledge in order to make the society unintelligent
so that they can create perfect society easily. Whereas in Nineteen Eighty-Four,
the government does not use substitution in controlling the society but they
control the society’s knowledge and behavior extremely.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
REFERENCES
Kenney, William. How to Analyze Fiction. New York: Monarch Press, 1996.
Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: McGraw-Hill Inc., 1972.
INTERNET WEBSITES
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin. 20 May 2006
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Black_Sambo. 20 May 2006.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dystopia. 1 March 2006.
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Utopia. 1 March 2006.
http://www.gradesaver.com/ClassicNotes/Authors/about_ray_bradbury.html.
20 March 2006.
http://www.uv.es/~fores/orwell.html. 20 March 2006.
http://www.answers.com/topic/old-imperialism 1 August 2006
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PRIMARY TEXTS
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: The Random House Publishing
Group, 1953.
Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. New York: Penguin Books Ltd, 1949.
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