*Are there are any current situations in the world that relate to the novel? what are they, and how do they relate? does the novel shed any light on how current situations could be resolved or "fixed"?
-When I was reading the novel 'Fahrenheit451', I felt sad because many people throughout the world is considering digital media more than classic media (?) such as newspaper or books. Since it is convenient and quick to get it, lots of people prefer digital materials. As a teenager, I also like to use internet for several different reasons, and I watch many television shows while I don't read many books. However, digital means have side effects, too. Everything is changing so fast and immediate that sometimes even me, who is teenager, cannot follow the trend or newly-coming-out funny stories in Internet. Books have many advantages that can be only experienced by reading them. We can imagine the scene of books while we are reading, so we can improve the imagination. Also, books are important because it carries and keeps the information for long time. For example, since it was written as a book, we can know the specific situation about World War II although long time passed. The novel did not really show the solution of problem, but I found one in the newspaper. Chosun newspaper, which is one of the big newspaper companies in Korea, is trying to fire up the program which is to change living room as a small library.
Friday, June 1, 2007
Fahrenheit451 #6- theme
*what is the major theme of this novel? Why is this theme important to a teenager living in 2007?
-In my opinion, the major theme of this novel is to 'try to seek (or find) the truth'. Since human being is not perfect like the God, they are often blinded by false information and cannot see the truth. Also, not every person has courage to seek the truth. However, we should find it although the process is very hard, because of only one reason that 'truth should be revealed'! In the novel 'Fahrenheit451', almost all characters are blinded by false information and just think that books are dangerous and useless thing. Although a person got used to it and does not even try to find out what the truth is, main character Montag takes courage and tries to find the truth. Although he is very lonely and spends hard time during the process of finding truth, he finally finds out the truth about book and grows up. To teenagers living in 2007, finding truth is very important. Because they believe whatever TV programs or Internet blogs say (or write), they are losing the ability to recognize which is true and which is not. If people cannot trust anything, they start to doubt and blame others and it will cause a lot of confusion. Therefore, I think finding truth and telling difference between true and false is the main theme of this novel.
-In my opinion, the major theme of this novel is to 'try to seek (or find) the truth'. Since human being is not perfect like the God, they are often blinded by false information and cannot see the truth. Also, not every person has courage to seek the truth. However, we should find it although the process is very hard, because of only one reason that 'truth should be revealed'! In the novel 'Fahrenheit451', almost all characters are blinded by false information and just think that books are dangerous and useless thing. Although a person got used to it and does not even try to find out what the truth is, main character Montag takes courage and tries to find the truth. Although he is very lonely and spends hard time during the process of finding truth, he finally finds out the truth about book and grows up. To teenagers living in 2007, finding truth is very important. Because they believe whatever TV programs or Internet blogs say (or write), they are losing the ability to recognize which is true and which is not. If people cannot trust anything, they start to doubt and blame others and it will cause a lot of confusion. Therefore, I think finding truth and telling difference between true and false is the main theme of this novel.
Fahrenheit451- #5 setting
*Are there any settings in this novel which you have found to be beautiful? or disturbing? or memorable? describe these settings and comment on why they were meaningful to you.
The most disturbing setting in the novel 'Fahrenheit451' was the part where two machines tried to wash out the stomach of Mildred, Montag's wife. She tried to off herself with pills and was fall down in her bed when Montag found out her situation. Two machines even had an 'eye' on it, which made me scared and panic. When machines were starting to wash out the stomach of Mildred, she was no more a human being, but only a "hard stratum of marble". It was disturbing part and it made me panic because I could realize that machines are things that needs to be treated seriously. It is easy and convenient if we use electric machines (such as TV, computer, MP3), and we got used to it very much. However, those machines also have side effects. If a person ignores human being's right and just develop machines and technology, many serious consequences will appear. Everything has positive and negative side, so the person who decides the function should be really careful not to use it in bad way. Therefore, I think the most disturbing setting in the book was the description about Mildred's stomach cleaning.
The most disturbing setting in the novel 'Fahrenheit451' was the part where two machines tried to wash out the stomach of Mildred, Montag's wife. She tried to off herself with pills and was fall down in her bed when Montag found out her situation. Two machines even had an 'eye' on it, which made me scared and panic. When machines were starting to wash out the stomach of Mildred, she was no more a human being, but only a "hard stratum of marble". It was disturbing part and it made me panic because I could realize that machines are things that needs to be treated seriously. It is easy and convenient if we use electric machines (such as TV, computer, MP3), and we got used to it very much. However, those machines also have side effects. If a person ignores human being's right and just develop machines and technology, many serious consequences will appear. Everything has positive and negative side, so the person who decides the function should be really careful not to use it in bad way. Therefore, I think the most disturbing setting in the book was the description about Mildred's stomach cleaning.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Fahrenheit451-#4 entry of your choice
*entry of your choice- After reading several distopian novels...
I read several dystopian novels this year. I read George Orwell's '1984', and Ray Bradbury's 'Fahrenheit451'. Also, I read the Korean dystopian novel called 'Your Paradise' written by Chung-Jun Lee, which depicted many leper peoples' life, 3 months ago. When I was reading all these three novels, I couldn't sleep well at night because the sentences that I read in the book became vivid image in my head whenever I tried to sleep. It was quite painful process to me, reading dystopian novels. However, when I finished reading book and thought about it again later, I could find out that there were lots of serious and essential subject to think about in life. If writers write serious and dark subject with bright and vivid atmosphere (or background), it wouldn't be powerful to readers. Therefore, I think authors wrote dystopian novels to give powerful image to readers, so they can be aware of and think about some subjects that authors gave to them through novels.
I read several dystopian novels this year. I read George Orwell's '1984', and Ray Bradbury's 'Fahrenheit451'. Also, I read the Korean dystopian novel called 'Your Paradise' written by Chung-Jun Lee, which depicted many leper peoples' life, 3 months ago. When I was reading all these three novels, I couldn't sleep well at night because the sentences that I read in the book became vivid image in my head whenever I tried to sleep. It was quite painful process to me, reading dystopian novels. However, when I finished reading book and thought about it again later, I could find out that there were lots of serious and essential subject to think about in life. If writers write serious and dark subject with bright and vivid atmosphere (or background), it wouldn't be powerful to readers. Therefore, I think authors wrote dystopian novels to give powerful image to readers, so they can be aware of and think about some subjects that authors gave to them through novels.
Fahrenheit451- #3 mood
*what is the mood of this novel? do you find this novel saddens you in any way? why?
Actually, I didn't like this book very much because of the mood of the book. Mood in this novel is very depressed and dark, just like any other distopian novels. Compared to '1984' by George Orwell it is less darker, but I took long time to get adjust to the atmosphere of the novel. Especially, I thought that the part where depicts about Montag's wife, Mildred, made me depressed and sad. That part simply gave panic to me. Since Ray Bradbury wrote this book to warn people about future, I think his purpose is well shown. Through the overall dark and depressed atmosphere, I could easily realize that author is trying hard to warn people about importance of books and seeking the truth. 'Fahrenheit451', this whole novel was sad to me. I couldn't stop feeling bad about people in the novel. I was quite surprised and sad at the fact that people were not able to see any truth. They don't even try to seek the truth and just thinks all they see is true. However, truth may not always be seen. It can hide in some false information, or it cannot be totally seen. In my opinion, it is human's responsibility to evaluate the information and decide whether it is true or not. However, in this novel, people lost their ability (or right) by mass media. Therefore, I was very sad that peoples' right was being ignored.
Actually, I didn't like this book very much because of the mood of the book. Mood in this novel is very depressed and dark, just like any other distopian novels. Compared to '1984' by George Orwell it is less darker, but I took long time to get adjust to the atmosphere of the novel. Especially, I thought that the part where depicts about Montag's wife, Mildred, made me depressed and sad. That part simply gave panic to me. Since Ray Bradbury wrote this book to warn people about future, I think his purpose is well shown. Through the overall dark and depressed atmosphere, I could easily realize that author is trying hard to warn people about importance of books and seeking the truth. 'Fahrenheit451', this whole novel was sad to me. I couldn't stop feeling bad about people in the novel. I was quite surprised and sad at the fact that people were not able to see any truth. They don't even try to seek the truth and just thinks all they see is true. However, truth may not always be seen. It can hide in some false information, or it cannot be totally seen. In my opinion, it is human's responsibility to evaluate the information and decide whether it is true or not. However, in this novel, people lost their ability (or right) by mass media. Therefore, I was very sad that peoples' right was being ignored.
Fahrenheit451- #2 passage
*please choose one passage from the novel that is significant to you. why is this passage meaningful? Please type it into one of your entries and comment on what you think about the passage.
"An hour of TV class, an hour of basketball or baseball or running, another hour of transcription history or painting pictures, and more sports, but do you know, we never ask questions, or at least most don;t; they just run the answers at you, bing, bing, bing, and us sitting there for four more hours of film teacher. That's not social to me at all." (pg.29)
This is the interesting passge I chose in the novel 'Fahrenheit 451'. Although it is not related to the major theme of this novel, I chose this pasagge because I recalled memories about some Korean teachers and students at the school I went before. Some teachers in school were very strict and authoritative, and they didn't like students asking questions very much. Therefore, students had to try hard to accept the information by themselves and not ask much question. When I first came to TCIS, it was very hard for me to get rid of the habit of not asking questions. Since I was trained to not ask much questions for long time, it is hard and I am keep trying to improve. This passage made me think about lots of things. Before I read this book, I didn't realize how much my habit was serious, but now I realized it.
"An hour of TV class, an hour of basketball or baseball or running, another hour of transcription history or painting pictures, and more sports, but do you know, we never ask questions, or at least most don;t; they just run the answers at you, bing, bing, bing, and us sitting there for four more hours of film teacher. That's not social to me at all." (pg.29)
This is the interesting passge I chose in the novel 'Fahrenheit 451'. Although it is not related to the major theme of this novel, I chose this pasagge because I recalled memories about some Korean teachers and students at the school I went before. Some teachers in school were very strict and authoritative, and they didn't like students asking questions very much. Therefore, students had to try hard to accept the information by themselves and not ask much question. When I first came to TCIS, it was very hard for me to get rid of the habit of not asking questions. Since I was trained to not ask much questions for long time, it is hard and I am keep trying to improve. This passage made me think about lots of things. Before I read this book, I didn't realize how much my habit was serious, but now I realized it.
Fahrenheit451- #1 characters
*Who are the main characters in the novel? do you like them? why or why not? what is special about them? what do they reveal about the universal human experience?
-Three main characters in this novel are Montag, Captain Beatty, and Clarisse. Guy Montag is a fire-fighter, who burns books without thinking. At first, he didn't think seriously about books, and just burned books because someone else said him to do so. However, because of Clarisse, he changes his thought and tries hard to find the truth about books. Although he didn't have his own thoughts at first and even felt pleased when he was burning the books, I could easily feel same with him because he is the one who tries to seek the truth while everyone is in confusion. I don't have a lot of courage like him, so if I was him, I would be not able to seek truth as him although I know that things are going in wrong direction. Second character is captain Beatty. He believed that books are dangerous. What made him think that way was the false information from society. Therefore, while I hated him during reading, I felt bad about him because he is just a human being, not a God who can judge everything right in every single situation. Third character is a girl named Clarisse. She loves to read books, and changes Montag's whole life (spirit) by having conversation with him. She has a lots of questions and she is a only person who knows truth in the front part of the novel. However, I couldn't really have same feeling with her while I was reading the book. Firstly, it was quite awkward for her to have conversation with Montag about some antisocial things, although she doesn't know him well. How can she be so confident that Montag will not betray her? Also, her character self and thoughts are too abstract, so I think it doesn't matches well with this dystopian novel, which has to reveal the disgusting(?) and depressing truth.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
