Comparing Pleasantville, Fahrenheit 451, and Lord of the Flies comparison compare contrast essays

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Pleasantville, Fahrenheit 451, and Lord of the Flies Despite the fact that rebels are viewed as troublemakers, in the long run, they help a society grow for the better. In Pleasantville, Fahrenheit 451, and Lord of the Flies, there have been so called "rebels" and these rebels were looked down upon for their different points of view. These rebels were what made these books and movie interesting because in a society, change is sometimes good. In all of these cases, change was feared and thought impossible, but eventually these changes happened, and there was a better civilization because of it. In Pleasantville, one world came clashing with another. These two different worlds had different values and perceptions of a perfect and pleasant life. When David and Jennifer entered the town of Pleasantville and became Bud and Mary Sue, they were looked at differently because they knew something that the others in Pleasantville didn't know. They knew of change, color, and true beauty and because they were spreading this knowledge, they were considered rebels. After color started to spread, the town of Pleasantville was never the same and they now knew what they were missing. A rebel is defined as a minority, going against the majority. As time passed, and more color appeared, the more "rebels" there were. When these "rebels" become the majority, they are not considered different or threatening anymore. Once everybody changed from black and white to color, Pleasantville was now happy again. But this happiness was not because of a boring routine, but because of beautiful change and multicolored experiences. Times change and these rebels that see differently than everyone else influence these changes. Change is what makes the world go round. In Fahrenheit 451, there were also rebels that existed and viewed what everyone was used to, as a living hell. The rebels that I speak of are people like Clarisse McClellan, Guy Montag, Professor Faber, and Granger. These rebels are people that are sick of the way things are and want change to occur. These characters are all bright, intelligent, and bring forth fresh and sensible ideas that nobody even thought of or considered because it was out of the norm and it was risky. To put it all in a nutshell, to be creative and original, challenges the status quo just like these rebels in Fahrenheit 451. Despite the risks and dangers involved, Guy Montag and Professor Faber tried to copy and read books. This "odd" behavior is what labeled them as radicals. When really, this "odd" behavior is what we practice 2nd period everyday at English class. When we debate and challenge other people's views, we would all be considered rebels. In Fahrenheit 451, to be an American, is to be a rebel, to have freedom of speech. Guy Montag and Professor Faber were trying to spread their knowledge of books and mind-set of a high-quality society. Guy and Faber pictured a world of authors free to speak their minds and people reading without being punished, a world without firemen who burn books. When the bombs were dropped and everything was burnt to ashes, I made a realization. The society, how it was, was not normal and had to change, and it did. Because of the rebels, a new world will be built from the ashes, a world where it is acceptable to read a book and be an individual. They believe that the collective memory represented by books is the key to mankind's survival, and that this shared culture is more important than any individual. This new world will remember the rough times and learn from it. All of this change and rebirth of a new and improved world was because of these "rebels." If it hadn't been for rebels, the world would've been destroyed and would never be reborn. In Lord of the Flies, the title as a rebel changes from the beginning of the novel to the end. At first, there were no rebels. There was Ralph, the leader, and his followers. As the story progressed, Jack became a vicious hunter and decides to leave the group and make his own tribe. Jack is the rebel for a brief section of a chapter, until everyone but Piggy and Ralph goes to Jack's tribe. Towards the end, Ralph was now a lonesome rebel. Ralph was a rebel because he was against being a savage and always hunting for survival. Ralph only killed pigs every now and then just for food, nothing else. Ralph's commitment to civilization and morality was very strong, and his main wish was to be rescued and returned to the society of adults. Ralph was the primary representative of order, civilization, and productive leadership. Nobody on the island felt this way but Ralph, making him a rebel. Rebels do not always change a society for the better or for the worse. Sometimes, rebels are not able to change a society at all. In Lord of the Flies, conformity rules if rebels fail. Ralph failed at trying to change the bloodthirsty tribe into an orderly society. Rebels don't always win, but at least they tried. Ralph only stirred up the emotions of the tribe by trying to change their ways. In the end, although he is rescued and returned to civilization, when he sees the naval officer, he weeps with the burden of his knowledge about humanity. His knowledge of how cruel the tribe was to him and how savage-like these once-normal kids could be. Rebels are always trying to change the way things are into a way that they think would be better off for their society. These rebels will keep things changing until it is the way it should be. No matter how people view these rebels, these rebels are what makes a better society.

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