Fahrenheit 451- Pleaseantville Essay

In the film Pleasantville and Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 the two controlled worlds are similar in the way their societies are ruled. Everyone living in the two stories is oblivious to individuality and how unique is not even a word that is used in speech in either. However this is all they know, and they’re not in control; no one has a mind of their own. In Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and the film Pleasantville, the theme of control is presented through dehumanization, collective loss of memory and mastery of nature. Both of these stories display extreme dehumanization. In the text of Fahrenheit 451 regard to human life is very low. Technology controls their life. In the example form Fahrenheit 451 when Montag asks, â€Å"Mildred, will you turn the parlor off? And she replies with â€Å"That’s my family†(Bradbury pg. 46). This shows that Mildred is attached and the technology or parlor is somewhat in control. This theme of technology controlling your life is also present in the film Pleasantville. Bud and Mary Sue’s life all depends on the controller. This is because it is the only way that it got them in the show and the only way it can get them out. Don’t let technology control your life! Collective memory loss is seen in both these stories majorly. For example in Fahrenheit 451 when Clarisse and Montag are walking and talking and she says â€Å"Strange, I heard once that a long time ago houses used to burn by accident and they needed firemen to stop the flames†(pg. 6). This is Clarisse forgetting what firemen are really supposed to do, fight fires. Collective memory loss is also seen in Pleasantville when a fire has broken out outside Bud and Mary Sues house and they call the firemen. First of all in order to get the firemen to come they had to say there was a cat stuck in a tree because when bud yelled, â€Å"FIRE! † none of them even reacted. Then when the firemen had got there, there wasn’t even a response from any of them about the fire and they didn’t even know how to use their hoses. Collective memory loss can really change the way you live and it’s surprising how much you can really forget. Governmental control of citizenry and has complete control over you. In the example when the TVs or the government says â€Å"Police suggest the entire population in the Elm Terrace area do as follows: everyone in every house on every street open a front or a rear door of look through the windows. The fugitive cannot escape if everyone in the next minute looks from his house†(pg. 131-132). When this shows up on the screens everyone can see it because everyone is watching TV and they all listen. In Pleasantville when George and Bud make the painting and are being individual they tell them they cannot do that and cannot paint. They even have a set of rules written out when people are being different so they no longer can. In both Pleasantville and Fahrenheit 451 through the mastery of nature and collective loss of memory The theme of control as presented in these two stories is thankfully not what we experience. However, some people experience life like this and are very controlled in everything that they do. I’m very glad that I live where I live and when I live because if even one of those was changed my life could be so different.