In the books Anthem and Fahrenheit 451 by Ayn Rand and Ray Bradbury, both of the main characters live in societies much different than ours. In Fahrenheit 451, the main character, Guy Montag, lives in a society where reading is considered sin and books are considered illegal. In Anthem, the main character, Equality 7-2521, lives in a society where everyone's lives are decided for them. In this dystopian society, there is also a lack of knowledge due to how Equality 7-2521’s government is. Equality 7-2521’s council basically considers it a sin to learn anything their teachers have not taught them. It is also practically considered sin to ask questions and to be curious. Both of these societies face different problems such as a corrupt and oppressive government, inner conflict, and rebellion.
In both books, the oppressive governments restrict learning and keep their society dystopian. In Anthem, Equality 7-2521’s …show more content…
Clarisse helps it figure it out one night while they are walking and she asks, “Are you happy" (Bradbury 7)? This question is really what made Montag start to question his entire life. He realized that no, he was not in fact happy. And this exact night when he goes home after having this talk with Clarisse he finds out his wife attempted suicide. It seems very clear that no one in that society or world is very happy with how things are in their lives. In Anthem Equality 7-2521 even talks about how no one acts happy in his world. They all have blank faces, show no emotion, and stand with a hunched back. In our world, we know happiness because we’ve been through sadness. In Anthem and Fahrenheit 451, the citizens have never known true happiness so the only thing they know is sadness. The main character’s inner conflict is ultimately what leads them to start acting out and change their life