Comparison Technique

Too Real to be Fictional

Fahrenheit 451 is a famous novel by Ray Bradbury which does not only depict censorship and defiance but also the horrible possible effects of technology and media. It is a futuristic novel that also depicts the result if books-the source of knowledge-were to be burned. Though Ray Bradbury may not want to purposely predict the future through then novel, I can’t help to think that it does. The resemblances of the fictional world of Fahrenheit 451 with our present world are too great and it really seems that the condition of our world today was predicted before through that fictional world, especially on how the TV and media affect the people.

In the fictional world, people don’t want to think and to be bothered. They want the world to be smooth, perfect and free from confusing things, thus they have much time for anything else except thinking. That’s the time when the distractions given by the society came in, specifically the Television and media. People on that society, like Mildred, consume their time everyday by facing the “Families” and let them control their lives and do the thinking for them. It also seems that they enjoy violent TV programs and other baloney programs where people are shouting like mad to each other. People gave more importance to the “Families” than their real families and forgetting their responsibilities like when Mildred refused her sick husband’s plea of shutting the “Families” down. Other than that, worthwhile conversations with important people also diminished, making the relationships and emotional bonds to weaken. And on the latter part of the novel when the Mechanical hound and the authorities are pursuing Montag, I was shocked by the realization on how real the following event was and that is when the authorities attacked an innocent man claiming Montag was dead even though he escaped- a clear example of manipulation of the media of information even with a cost of innocent man’s life. The media together with the authority are willing to risk anybody or anything just to retain their confidence and reliability and for the media’s case-just to have a successful ending after a thrill and drama of pursuing a felon. Generally, the novel shows the adverse effects of TVs and of the media such as irresponsibility, dumbness-instead of hating violence, people seem to enjoy it and being oblivious that the happiness the TVs, media and other distractions brought by the society or government is immediate, shallow and even cruel.

Like in our present world, most people want to stop thinking especially about their problems and they tried to escape from it by watching TV programs all day. Since majority of the homes have TV, people are bombarded with awful TV programs which they call “entertainment”. This awful entertainment consists of green jokes from TV sitcoms, faked reality from “Reality TV”, obscene and indecent TV programs and “entertaining” violence from TV programs like the WWE and UFC that showed big and muscled men hurting, smashing each other bodies with their own and breaking bones-which can be possibly being faked and directed to show how to beautifully and “entertainingly” hurt or break a person’s bones. All of these awful entertainments are very rampant to our TVs but it seems people are enjoying it and I don’t know if they are unaware of it or maybe they knew and they’re tolerating it. People these days consume their time watching those TV programs forgetting their responsibilities, relationships and all other thing’s they need to do and to think. Some people forgot to eat, students forgot their assignments, parents forgot their unfed children, some forgot the food they are cooking or the baby they are babysitting or the clothes they are ironing which may already starting to burn. These instances may be funny but they are all true and all of them are caused by the TV programs. And due to those TV programs, people can’t decide which is real and which is merely directed anymore. Though what’s in the news is already a real drama like a hostage-taking, people seem to enjoy watching the thrill and do not sympathize with the powerless victims. Media also often exaggerates the incidents and manipulates the information just to retain their reliability or to have sizzling news, no matter how wrong it was so long as it was not them (very selfish indeed!).Even one tries to deny it but those are the real colors of media that made people go dumb, shallow, irresponsible and most of all, violent.

Fahrenheit 451, though not that clear for others for its metaphors and similes, somewhat shows the troublesome effects of TV programs and media if left unprocessed which is quiet happening now, making it too real to be fictional. It also relays that the worst condition of our society may not yet the worst and we should somehow act now before it’s too late for anything. On the other hand, though the media may be important to us on delivering us the news about the currents events like about the weather conditions or the country’s economic status, we can’t entirely rely to them for the media-controlled by man-is capable of cheating and that is to give false information just to make money like exaggerating facts or adding and removing details of the news. Media also pervade privacy which is very painful for it is already a deprivation of our Human Right. And I dare say that the information from media is not reliable and the only reliable information is from the books for they reflect real life experiences and true knowledge from the people who made it. A library of books is also a library of people’s lives and the books are the instruments to that knowledge about people’s lives.

Narrative Technique

A Breakaway from the Pursuit for a Father Figure

I grew up in a quite complicated family. I was an illegitimate child with an another illegitimate sister. We grew up without a father and considering that we call our mother and our relatives - grandpas, grandmas, uncles, aunts and cousins-as our family. When I was a child, it has been very hard for me to explain to my classmates and friends the complexity of our family – a family without a father; I even got myself confused about it. My mother would just say things and that and taught me what to say when people ask me about my father. That’s why since I was on grade 1 I am quite familiar with the term “illegitimate child” though superficial-a child without a father-since that answer was what my mother taught me. It doesn’t matter to me at first if I don’t have a father but there are inevitable times that I can feel that someone is lacking-someone that will play with you, teaches you how to play basketball or how to swim and someone that can be your paternal idol-a father figure. Yes, I can feel that my mother and uncles are trying to fill up that need but I can still feel the gap.

No matter how hard I try, I can’t think all my uncles as my fathers because I know and I feel that they should prioritize their own kids first. What they can do to help me is to share their extra time to me as my father or join with their kids on their activities. That’s what I feel, only a shared father’s love. But when I was a child, I had this uncle of mine who was quite close to me and we also have some resemblances on our attitudes. I feel comfortable with him and that made me to decide to look up on him as my father. I respect him like he was my father and I idolize him. He has been my father figure. I want to be like him and grow up like him. That’s why I wore the same clothing as him: polo shirt with slacks, listen the same music and even wanted to have a job like his’-a seaman.

But because of his job, he’s always not home and then the vain for finding a father figure comes in again. Time passed and it has been always like that. Time goes on and something has changed. I don’t know if it was him or maybe it was me after all who have changed. I don’t know if I’m getting matured but I’m getting used to without father, I don’t care anymore about having my father back or having a father figure and given with some consequences and news on the T.V., I even became thankful that I don’t have a father-no drunkard, no headaches for my mom, no vices and no shouting between parents inside the house, except perhaps sometimes when my uncle is home. I am not quite in vain anymore on finding a father figure and I don’t idolize my uncle anymore. I don’t look up on him as my father anymore but I still respect him as my uncle and there’s no more or less to that. I have my own goals and principles in life which are not the same as his’ that’s why we have some arguments sometimes but most of the times I just don’t say something to stay out of trouble and so that there will be no hubbub. When I was a child , was in vain on finding for a person to be my father figure because it was during my childhood that I needed him the most-to teach me how to play some sports or how to swim or how to fight back when I am bullied. However, he wasn't there in those times and as a result, I realized that having a father is superfluous. I realized that I should be contented of what I have and be very grateful to my mother who tried her best to let me(and my sister) feel that we are complete even without a father and that we can live even without him. I already have forgiven my father for what he had done but I don’t know if he can expect from me the same love and respect I have for my mother or if he even have my care or respect for him. Maybe I can call him “Pa” and that is all there is to it-only a respect for what would I call to him.