“Serenade of the Arts” Analysis
In the short story “Serenade of the arts”, I have attempted to construct a narrative which subverts many of the common dystopian elements, while expanding and focusing on certain narrative conventions to create a cohesive and engaging plot and conflict.
In my story, unlike many novels in the genre, I have made the choice to not have a protagonist. This choice was mainly so I could focus more on the development of the setting rather than having to create a character and express the setting through their point of view. By using a narrator, I was able to comment on all aspects of the society without being limited to a certain area or aspect which is seen by a character. This limited view can be effective however.
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In Bradbury’s, Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag is used to convey the plot. This allows Bradbury to focus on Guy’s internal conflict about his moral dilemma with books and his external conflict involving Captain Beatty and his wife. The point of view that this narrative is most related to would be from the short story: “The ones who walk away from Omelas.” In “Omelas” , a similar method of narration is used. This also allows the author, Ursula Le Guin, to focus on the apparent utopian elements of the town, and later reveal the dark truth to why such a society exists. Plot structure is another narrative convention that I have manipulated to create a more intriguing narrative.
Rather than containing structural elements such as a beginning, climax and ending. I have attempted to write the story so that the reader will be able to decide as the story progresses, what the caused this form of dystopia, what the conflict or problem this dystopia presents, and how the society and the story will end. A method that I have used to achieve this, is by quoting, indirectly, from the inter textual society that I have created in my narrative. This is to show the “devolution” or regression of society without directly stating that such a process has happened. Quotes like: “I never liked the city anyway,” suggest to the reader that something is happening to the cities, most likely demolition, and the citizens are ambivalent about the decision. This is similar to Fahrenheit 451, when compared to my descriptions, but different when compared to my plot structure. Bradbury, like many writers also “show don't tell,” meaning that they use descriptive sentences and language to show the reader an element of the narrative, rather than describing it to them. A quote from Fahrenheit 451 which best displays this method of writing would be from when Captain Beatty is explaining how the “firemen” came into fruition. “ A book is a loaded gun in the house next door… Who knows who might be the next target of a well read man.” Bradbury has used this quote to convey the danger that Captain Beatty believes that knowledge possesses, likening it to “a loaded gun.” The technique of having an alternate plot structure has been used before in the short story: “Repent Harlequin! Said the Ticktock man.” This narrative begins with the middle of the story, and it revisits the beginning of the story part-way through the plot, in the form of quotes from the society, similar to the technique that I
used. A common theme of dystopia is that they comment on issues that exist in contemporary society. Because of this, many dystopian texts comment upon societal fears of the increasing efficiency and amount of technology and progress. This applies to writers such as Orwell, Huxley and Bradbury. Bradbury in particular, focuses on the lack of literature and the futuristic technology that exists in the society he created, and how the main character, Guy Montag, despises the mechanical-like lifestyle. In my narrative, I have gone in the opposite direction by extrapolating what may occur if the need for culture increases to a point where technology and progress, are no longer focused upon. The reason that such an event would occur was from the increasing media, like literature from Orwell or Bradbury, that invoked fear of the future in citizens. Through careful structural and conventional choices, I have attempted to create a narrative which subverts many of the tropes that are commonplace in the genre, while focusing and expanding upon a select few to form an engaging narrative piece
Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 leads from an average beginning by introducing a new world for readers to become enveloped in, followed by the protagonist’s descent into not conforming to society’s rules, then the story spirals out of control and leaves readers speechless by the actions taken by the main character and the government of this society. This structure reinforces the author’s main point of how knowledge is a powerful entity that would force anyone to break censorship on a society.
Daniel Felsenfeld reveals a positive, impactful significance — one that has completely changed his life — in his literacy narrative “Rebel Music” by drawing upon what his early adolescent years of music were like before his shift into a new taste for music, how this new taste of music precisely, yet strangely appealed to him, and what this new music inspired him to ultimately become. Near the beginning of his narrative, Felsenfeld described his primal time with music in Orange County, Calif. He had developed his musical skills enough to jumpstart a career around music — working in piano bars and in community theater orchestra pits. However, Felsenfeld stated that the music he worked with “... was dull, or at least had a dulling effect on me — it didn’t sparkle, or ask questions,” and that “I [he] took a lot of gigs, but at 17 I was already pretty detached” (pg. 625). Felsenfeld easily
In the dystopian novel, Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury shows a futuristic world in the twenty-fourth century where people get caught up in technology. People refuse to think for themselves and allow technology to dominate their lives. To further develop his point, Bradbury illustrates the carelessness with which people use technology. He also brings out the admirable side of people when they use technology. However, along with the improvement of technology, the government establishes a censorship through strict rules and order. With the use of the fire truck that uses kerosene instead of water, the mechanical hound, seashell radio, the three-walled TV parlor, robot tellers, electric bees, and the Eye, Bradbury portrays how technology can benefit or destroy humans.
Ray Bradbury's vision of a disordered world was expressed in his book Fahrenheit 451. Set in the future, it deals with a man's struggle between his destructive government position and his inner self-conscience. Guy Montag was a fireman but he did not put out fires. Instead, he created them through the burning of books. This was what Bradbury was trying to imply through the title of his book, Fahrenheit 451, the temperature at which books burn. Montag was leading a fairly happy life until he met a girl, Clarisse, who aroused his deepest feelings and fears. He became curious about the contents of books and wondered why they were so feared. This led him through a series of events which changed his life forever. When Montag asked Beatty about the burning of books he was told, "If you don't want a man to be unhappy politically, don't give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet, give him none." The futurist government displayed in Fahrenheit 451 tried to prevent any feelings or opinions contrary to their own because they did not want to be challenged. Instead, they fed unwanted junk into the minds of their people through the parlor, a wall to wall television. This machine, that does not inspire the thinking process, lead them to make the conclusion that their world revolves around it and nothing else.
Ray Bradbury's novel, Fahrenheit 451, is based in a futuristic time where technology rules our everyday lives and books are viewed as a bad thing because it brews free thought. Although today’s technological advances haven’t caught up with Bradbury’s F451, there is a very real danger that society might end up relying on technology at the price of intellectual development. Fahrenheit 451 is based in a futuristic time period and takes place in a large American City on the Eastern Coast. The futuristic world in which Bradbury describes is chilling, a future where all known books are burned by so called "firemen." Our main character in Fahrenheit 451 is a fireman known as Guy Montag, he has the visual characteristics of the average fireman, he is tall and dark-haired, but there is one thing which separates him from the rest of his colleagues. He secretly loves books.
Often, dystopian novels are written by an author to convey a world that doesn’t exist, but criticizes aspects of the present that could lead to this future. Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 in 1951 but discusses issues that have only increased over time. The encompassing issue that leads to the dystopic nature of this novel is censorship of books. The government creates a world in which it is illegal to have any books. Firemen are enforcers of this law by being the ones to burn the books and burn the buildings where the books were found. By censoring the knowledge found in books, the government attempts to rid the society of corruption caused by “the lies” books are filled with in hopes the people will never question. In Fahrenheit 451, censorship is a paradox.
The knowledge in Fahrenheit 451 can teach everyone a lesson. Ray Bradbury's writing has some accurate and some not accurate predictions about the future. Fahrenheit 451 had many futuristic ideas of mechanical dogs working for the firemen. The firemen work not to stop fires, but start them to burn books. Montag, a fireman, has had a change in morality of his job. His actions cause him to be in trouble with Beaty, the head fireman, which then Montag kills. Many of Bradbury's warnings are true or coming true. While, Bradbury's predictions about technology taking over and the society dying by war come true. But, some kids still work hard and talk to family.
The setting of the story is in the future, 2081 of what will be happening in the world. The story is told in third person limited point of view, whereby the narrator is not a character in the book. In addition, the narrator does not draw conclusions, make decisions, or make judgments about the events. The objectivity of the narrator suggests a distancing from the hostile world of the story. The tone used by the author is critical, humorous and satirical. The story is full of humor despite the fact that, it is full of dark themes of oppression. Every dark event in the story is accompanied by a light moment of melancholy comedy.
The Majority of people today believe that the society in Fahrenheit 451 is far-fetched and could never actually happen, little do they know that it is a reflection of the society we currently live in. In Ray Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit 451 books are burnt due to people's lack of interest in them and the fire is started by firemen. Social interactions is at an all time low and most time is spent in front of the television being brainwashed by advertisements. In an attempt to make us all aware of our faults, Bradbury imagines a society that is a parallel to the world we live in today by emphasizing the decline in literature, loss of ethics in advertisement, and negative effects of materialism.
Of all literary works regarding dystopian societies, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is perhaps one of the most bluntly shocking, insightful, and relatable of them. Set in a United States of the future, this novel contains a government that has banned books and a society that constantly watches television. However, Guy Montag, a fireman (one who burns books as opposed to actually putting out fires) discovers books and a spark of desire for knowledge is ignited within him. Unfortunately his boss, the belligerent Captain Beatty, catches on to his newfound thirst for literature. A man of great duplicity, Beatty sets up Montag to ultimately have his home destroyed and to be expulsed from the city. On the other hand, Beatty is a much rounder character than initially apparent. Beatty himself was once an ardent reader, and he even uses literature to his advantage against Montag. Moreover, Beatty is a critical character in Fahrenheit 451 because of his morbid cruelty, obscene hypocrisy, and overall regret for his life.
Fahrenheit 451’s Relevance to Today Fahrenheit 451’s relevance to today can be very detailed and prophetic when we take a deep look into our American society. Although we are not living in a communist setting with extreme war waging on, we have gained technologies similar to the ones Bradbury spoke of in Fahrenheit 451 and a stubborn civilization that holds an absence of the little things we should enjoy. Bradbury sees the future of America as a dystopia, yet we still hold problematic issues without the title of disaster, as it is well hidden under our democracy today. Fahrenheit 451 is much like our world today, which includes television, the loss of free speech, and the loss of the education and use of books. Patai explains that Bradbury saw that people would soon be controlled by the television and saw it as the creators chance to “replace lived experience” (Patai 2).
Complementing a dehumanized society with manipulation and lies is the method used by both Bradbury and Orwell to present their warnings about society. At the end of Fahrenheit 451, the city Montag escapes to join a secret civilization living in the woods and the city is destroyed. On the other hand, Winston is caught by the regime who tortures him and eventually converts him to their beliefs. Despite these different endings, both authors, through merely ink and paper, warned of, and could have helped prevented world filled filled with hate, ignorance, and misery.
After reading and analyzing the passage from the novel Fahrenheit 451 we were able to figure out how Bradbury's use of diction not only creates a specific tone, but also uncovers the main character, Montag. Montag is a the opposite of a firefighter, in which he creates fires rather than putting them out, and when Bradbury describes his job by saying that the “house jumped up in a gorging fire”, reveals Montag's malicious nature. In the first sentence you can also visualize Montag's malicious nature, because the author uses specific diction to explain how he likes to see things “blackened and changed”. Before he is ready to do his job, he acquires an adrenaline rush which causes him to
Bradbury uses details to make the reader think that is was a wonderous place and something never experienced before. He uses words like acient wilderness, and tar to show the reader the difference of the world.
Carrie Vaughn’s Amaryllis and Joe Mastroianni’s Jordon’s Waterhammer reflect the stereotypical characteristics associated with Dystopian Literature through their setting, characterisation and plot development.