Fahrenheit 451 & The Island Comparative Essay: Abuse of Power & Overcoming Oppression
The misuse of power to control society has long been a major topic of science fiction. The novel, Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury and the film, The Island, directed by Michael Bay, explore the abuse of authority to manipulate and brainwash individuals, and how power is used to induce ignorance in order to control people. The protagonists of each text go on to find enlightenment and escape the cage of lies they were confined to. Both texts demonstrate how power is used to keep people compliant through lies and lack of knowledge, and how relationships can help overcome the abuse of power. However, the texts diverge in the origins of the ignorant state of society, as it is perpetuated by the society itself in Fahrenheit 451 but precipitated by the insurance company in The Island.
In Fahrenheit 451, society seems content with its ignorance, but a small amount of scrutiny reveals that most are actually discontent with their lives. The novel indicates some individuals only comply with the government’s oppression out of fear of the unknown and the punishment for non-compliance, while others seem to be satisfied with their state of ignorance. Mildred’s exclamation that ‘I am [happy]. … and proud of it,’ demonstrates this, as it directly contradicts her previous action of attempting suicide. This discontentment is also reflected by Beaty’s insistence that ‘a book is a loaded gun’ and that ‘breach[ing] man’s mind’ avoids conflict in order to bring true happiness. However, Montag comes to the realisation that ‘Beatty had wanted to die.’ It can be inferred from this that Beatty was also discontent with his inability to come to terms with the truth that the enforcement of censorship is simply a way for those in power to keep people compliant. The notion that something is missing from their lives is primarily demonstrated by Montag’s journey through the novel. At the start of the novel, Clarisse asks Montag the simple yet cryptic question, ‘are you happy?’ Montag’s incredulous reaction to this indicates that he is already beginning to question the manufactured ‘happiness’ his society is told to enjoy. This notion is further perpetuated by the implication that he is hiding books, the very thing that is outlawed and is his job to burn. Montag later explains what prompted him to hide and read books, stating, ‘We have everything we need to be happy, but we aren’t happy. Something’s missing. … So I thought books might help.’
This parallels The Island, in which the protagonist, Lincoln, observes he is ‘missing a left shoe,’ at the start of the film and goes on to question who decides what everyone eats and who cleans and folds the clothes. This indicates Lincoln’s growing awareness of the deception shrouding his reality. The notion that Lincoln is hidden from the truth is also demonstrated by the mostly empty, colour-less room he wakes up in at the start of the film, the clones’ allocated time to wake up, the hundreds of cameras observing the clones in their rooms and the identical uniforms they all wear, which resembles being in prison. This illustrates Lincoln’s confinement and shelter from the real world. His discontentment is made obvious when he states ‘I wanna know answers and I — and I wish that there was more’. Like most characters in Fahrenheit 451, Jordan, Lincoln’s friend who is also a clone, is initially sceptical of the fact that she is being lied to and that there is in fact no ‘island.’ However, she quickly realises that Lincoln’s assumption is correct and aids him in escaping the compound. The difference in Mildred and Jordan’s reaction to the suggestion that they are living a lie could be attributed to the fact that Jordan’s life is in immediate danger and the danger of complying is death, so her fear is more intense. Mildred, on the other hand, suffers no immediate consequence for remaining ignorant except for perpetual, underlying discontentment. The mechanical dog in the novel mirrors the role that the mercenary plays in the film in that he is violent and fear-inducing in order to allow Merrick to maintain control over the clones.
A notable distinction between the novel and film is the cause of the overwhelming ignorance that the characters are victim to. In the novel, Beatty explains that the ban on books ‘didn’t come from the Government down, [but] technology, mass exploitation and minority pressure’ led to censorship, meaning that people themselves, avoiding media they disagreed with and the media attempting to avoid ‘controversy,’ caused the dystopian state of their society. In contrast, the clones in the film are made to believe they lived a full life before a ‘contamination’ forced them to be confined to a facility. The deceiving construct they live in was entirely created by Merrick’s company and their breach of cloning laws is kept private, so the clones themselves are in no way responsible for their own ignorance. The film presents the fabrication of information that there is contamination and an island as a way to keep the clones compliant and unassuming, and thus, a way for authority to wield power. Likewise, Montag is lied to about the original purpose of firefighters in an attempt to keep him naïve and controllable.
Both texts demonstrate how relationships give individuals a degree of power that can be used to overcome corrupt authority figures. Despite Clarisse’s conversations with Montag being short and limited, she plays a key role in forcing Montag to explore his discontentment and the cause of it. Her seemingly mundane conversations about nature and people are unusual to Montag and compel him to realise that true happiness does not come from soulless entertainment but from awareness and relationships. The stark contrast between Clarisse and Mildred, who is distant from Montag and barely acknowledges his worry, leads Montag to seek Faber, who also acts as a major figure in Montag’s enlightenment. He explains that what Montag feel is missing is not books but knowledge, and helps Montag eventually escape outside the city. The central relationship in The Island is far more developed than those in the novel. Lincoln and Jordon are initially close friends, despite the proximity warnings, and they help each other liberate themselves from mental and physical confinement. McGregor also plays a significant role in Lincoln’s unveiling of the truth as he attempts to answer Lincoln’s questions such as ‘Who is God?’ and later explains to Lincoln and Montag that they are clones.
The theme of power and oppression is displayed throughout Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and Michael Bay’s The Island. Both texts demonstrate how power is abused by creating a false reality in order to keep people docile and compliant, and how relationships can assist in overcoming this. However, they differ in the causation of ignorance as the film shows the root of the unawareness to be the company that created the clones, while in the novel it was the society, not the authority, itself.
