Looking Backward,Fahrenheit451

A detailed Summary of Looking Backward,Fahrenheit451

For more than half a century science fiction writers have thrilled and challenged readers with visions of the future and future worlds. These authors offered an insight into what they expected man, society, and life to be like at some future time.

One such author, Ray Bradbury, utilized this concept in his work, Fahrenheit 451, a futuristic look at a man and his role in society. Bradbury utilizes the luxuries of life in America today, in addition to various occupations and technological advances; to show what life could be like if the future takes a drastic turn for the worse. He turns man's best friend, the dog, against man, changes the role of public servants and changes the value of a person.

Looking Backward belongs to the centuries-old tradition of utopian fiction, fiction that attempts to portray a perfect human society. The plot is simple and minimal, merely a vehicle for Edward Bellamy's ideas for social reform. Bellamy knew that his nineteenth-century audience was extremely hostile to the idea of an economy based on public capital, a premier tenet of socialism, a reviled political movement in the nineteenth century. Therefore, Bellamy had a difficult task in persuading his readers to consider his proposal for an id

eal society. He distances himself from the more radical political theories of the socialists and the anarchists. In his ideal society, the separation between the genders remains intact, and marriage remains an important institution. The government remains a respected, powerful means to maintain social order. Personal freedom is not threatened, but enhanced. An individual worker's merit is recognized and valued through a complex ranking system based on the army. Consumer choice is enhanced because every consumer demand is met, and every citizen has easy access to the full range of the nation's products. Citizens are encouraged to choose the careers that best suit them. Overall, Bellamy represents his imagined utopia as a flexible society with a wider range of personal freedom because of publicly owned capital, not in spite of it.

In Looking Backward, Julian has a terrible nightmare, in which he dreams that his transportation to the twentieth century was nothing but a dream. He finds himself trapped again in the cruel and inhumane world of the nineteenth century. To his great distress, he now sees all of the horrendous faults of nineteenth-century society. He tries to explain to his friends--Edith Bartlett and her family-- why their society is so awful and cruel, and how it can be transformed into something much better. However, they are only frightened and angered, so they expel Julian from their company. When Julian wakes from this nightmare to discover that his trip to the twentieth century was not just a dream, he is greatly relieved. In Fahrenheit 451 Guy Montag begins to discover that things could be better in his society but, sue to some uncontrollable events, his discover happens much faster than it would have. He is forced out on his own, away from society, to live with others like himself who think differently that the society does.

Through these various diversions from normal behavior in society Julian and Guy Montag are able to see the truths behind the societies they live in and are able to learn about themselves. And though their discoveries meant that their lives would be changed forever, the authors succeeded in showing that the key to humanity lies in thinking and questioning. These men found themselves through their own discoveries, much as Bradbury and Bellamy hope others will do.

Like Looking Backward, with Julian building the shelter to keep out the noise of the streets, Montag's wife, and many o

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Approximate Word count = 1646
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels