Authority Figures’ Influence On Perspective in Fahrenheit 451 and The
Book Thief
In our modern society telling our opinions and holding our own point of views
are in our everyday lifestyle. Without this power, people would feel trapped. It is as if
they aren’t able to inhale oxygen in a way if they are not able to express their thoughts.
However, as we see in both the books’ societies and our contemporary society, they both
connect to people’s perspectives. In our modern society, everyone can have different
ideas, thoughts, and opinions. Yet, in Fahrenheit 451 and The Book Thief everyone has
to think the same way or else they will have to face serious consequences. This shows
that even though our society and the books’ societies share the same theme involving
perspective, the ideas of perspective throughout the societies are drastically different.
Yet, we also see that in both societies, the government is trying to show only one
perspective of the world to people.
In Fahrenheit 451 some characters try to show the world their point of view but
end up failing. This relates to the fact that everyone in their society is meant to think the
same way. Or else they will have to face serious consequences.
In the society of Fahrenheit 451 possessing books is illegal. The firemen are left to burn
the books. Since this fact is tattooed into the firemen’s brains they cannot think outside
the box of rules. This can be seen throughout the firemens’ work. All of them except
Montag never think about others. All the firemen do is burn and leave. This can be seen
in an excerpt of the book when Beatty says, “‘Come on woman !’The woman knelt among
, the books, touching the drenched leather and cardboard, reading the gilt tiles with her
fingers while her eyes accused Montag. ‘You can’t have my books,’ she said. ‘You know
the law,’ said Beatty. ...The woman on the porch reached out with contempt to them all,
and struck the kitchen match against the railing. People ran out of the house all down
the street.” (Bradbury 35-37) Beatty is about to burn the woman’s books, even though
she insists she will not move away from them. Because Beatty is always focused on
getting his job done, he will not even listen to her side of the story.
Another reason why Beatty didn’t want to help the woman is because he didn’t want to
be punished in any type of way. This also goes to the other firemen, because nobody
helped the woman, and were all too scared to help her. Because the government only
shows one perspective of the world, the people living in this society have a limited
perspective of everything. The authorities want to keep their society this way, a society
where everybody knows nothing. The state of a perfect society may seem easy for the
authority figures to maintain. However, because some people are trying to learn about
the past and its history, the government has to make strict rules for everyone to follow.
This is the reason why the firemen never take a step forward to save a person that broke
this rule the authority figures set for everyone.
On the other hand, we see Montag trying to understand what the woman’s actions
mean. Montag has never seen anyone so connected to a book before. This was a new
sight and perspective for him. Which later on makes him more curious and leads him to
be seen as a criminal-like character at the end of the book.
The society of Fahrenheit 451 shows that there is only one way to see things in this
world. And that everyone’s perspective should be the same, and if anyone disagrees with
a fact that the authorities have created, there will be terrible consequences.
Book Thief
In our modern society telling our opinions and holding our own point of views
are in our everyday lifestyle. Without this power, people would feel trapped. It is as if
they aren’t able to inhale oxygen in a way if they are not able to express their thoughts.
However, as we see in both the books’ societies and our contemporary society, they both
connect to people’s perspectives. In our modern society, everyone can have different
ideas, thoughts, and opinions. Yet, in Fahrenheit 451 and The Book Thief everyone has
to think the same way or else they will have to face serious consequences. This shows
that even though our society and the books’ societies share the same theme involving
perspective, the ideas of perspective throughout the societies are drastically different.
Yet, we also see that in both societies, the government is trying to show only one
perspective of the world to people.
In Fahrenheit 451 some characters try to show the world their point of view but
end up failing. This relates to the fact that everyone in their society is meant to think the
same way. Or else they will have to face serious consequences.
In the society of Fahrenheit 451 possessing books is illegal. The firemen are left to burn
the books. Since this fact is tattooed into the firemen’s brains they cannot think outside
the box of rules. This can be seen throughout the firemens’ work. All of them except
Montag never think about others. All the firemen do is burn and leave. This can be seen
in an excerpt of the book when Beatty says, “‘Come on woman !’The woman knelt among
, the books, touching the drenched leather and cardboard, reading the gilt tiles with her
fingers while her eyes accused Montag. ‘You can’t have my books,’ she said. ‘You know
the law,’ said Beatty. ...The woman on the porch reached out with contempt to them all,
and struck the kitchen match against the railing. People ran out of the house all down
the street.” (Bradbury 35-37) Beatty is about to burn the woman’s books, even though
she insists she will not move away from them. Because Beatty is always focused on
getting his job done, he will not even listen to her side of the story.
Another reason why Beatty didn’t want to help the woman is because he didn’t want to
be punished in any type of way. This also goes to the other firemen, because nobody
helped the woman, and were all too scared to help her. Because the government only
shows one perspective of the world, the people living in this society have a limited
perspective of everything. The authorities want to keep their society this way, a society
where everybody knows nothing. The state of a perfect society may seem easy for the
authority figures to maintain. However, because some people are trying to learn about
the past and its history, the government has to make strict rules for everyone to follow.
This is the reason why the firemen never take a step forward to save a person that broke
this rule the authority figures set for everyone.
On the other hand, we see Montag trying to understand what the woman’s actions
mean. Montag has never seen anyone so connected to a book before. This was a new
sight and perspective for him. Which later on makes him more curious and leads him to
be seen as a criminal-like character at the end of the book.
The society of Fahrenheit 451 shows that there is only one way to see things in this
world. And that everyone’s perspective should be the same, and if anyone disagrees with
a fact that the authorities have created, there will be terrible consequences.
