~Author's Note: This was a compare/contrast essay about dystopian worlds. We had to compare characters and/ or worlds to Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradburn. In this piece, I compared the Holocaust, Slavery, and Fahrenheit 451. It is one of my longer pieces. If you have any comments/ suggestion about my piece, please comment.
Nazis. Slavery. In the world, there are many examples of dystopian societies; these stories might be fictitious, such as the world of Guy Montag in the book Fahrenheit 451. These all happen at different points of time: two in the past and one in the future. However, they all seem to be related in one way, a dystopian universe.
A dystopian world is a world where the government has an enormous amount of power, almost limitless, over the citizens. One example is the Nazis. The Nazis, Adolf Hitler, ruled a society and turned it into a nightmare for many people. Jews in particular. Nazis tried to get "rid of" Jews in Germany. Thousands of Jews lived in constant fear of the Nazis, something that slaves around the world can relate to.
Slavery has been one of the biggest problems the known Earth today has had to deal with. Slavery in the United States started when traders brought African Americans from Africa to help in cane plantations and farms. Soon, it was an accepted practice and social status was placed on how many slaves you had. Many people disagreed on how to treat the unfortunate slaves. Some were treated with respect, yet many were treated harshly, and were abused. Many were afraid of the law, and what it represented.
Finally, Guy Montag lives in a world where imagination is discouraged. Books are banned, and the firemen do their jobs differently that those of today. The firemen of today put out house fires. The firemen, Montag included, create fires in the houses of which there are books. This is a dystopian world as it is completely controlled by the government, and the citizens have no power. Montag makes history in his time when he burned his commander and "broke" a metal hound, the machine used to track fugitives.
These compare in the way that they all produce a story about government controlling worlds. The government could be white people, Adolf Hitler, and just the plain government in Fahrenheit 451. They try to make their version of paradise in the real world and might succeed, yet will make millions terrible and frightful. In Fahrenheit 451, everyone sticks to a schedule, and do everything the same; nothing new is learned and if it is… you are finished. For slavery, the white men had their version of paradise and got it, at the expense of the slaves. Finally, the Nazi's tried to gain control by getting rid of the Jews. This all shows how the government makes the citizens suffer, of ignorance or of too much knowledge.
One way these are different is the fact that two of these events have happened in real life, the Holocaust and slavery, and one is a piece of fiction, Fahrenheit 451. The Holocaust and slavery are two pieces in history of terror; hopefully, now that they ended, they wont start again. Fahrenheit 451 is an art of fiction set in the future, where people burn books, instead of people.
Together and separately, these three worlds are dystopian societies. Guy Montag and the slaves and Jews also have something in common, they wanted to escape the harsh world of reality and have freedom to speak and move. Eventually, they were all granted this but it was a long, grueling process of which many were lost. Thankfully, the world has learned from its mistakes and is changing for the better.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Snowing Reality
~Author's Note: This is a story that I am writing about two wolf pups that get taken from the wild and brought into a common household, and what it is like for the family that takes them in. The set-up of the story kinda mirrors the set-up in "The Last Dog On Earth." This is as far as I have gotten with it. Please comment and let me know what you think. :)
Prelude:
The glistening white snow gleamed as the rising sun lit its golden rays on the cold, hard ground. Frozen wind harshly blew across the barren land; nothing was able to obstruct it. It was a free spirit, everywhere was its destination, North its home. Many have tried to tame it, yet all failed.
Chapter 1:
The she-wolf cried out in hunger; this winter had been the longest she had ever experienced, and she had not taken the precautions needed. As she stumbled alongside her brother, she painfully remembered her mother, Red Fur, dying of starvation. All the prey were hiding, hibernating till the snow melts and green grass shoots up out of the ground. Red Fur hadn't been able to hunt for both her and her pups. The she-wolf next remembered her mother's last words, " You are my strong spirit." As a memoir, the young pup took the name Strong Spirit as her name, and her brother took the name White Paws as they plodded on, away from their mother.
White Paws soon poked her in the side and Strong Spirit realized they had stopped. The she-wolf soon saw why. In front of them stood a mighty creature, a bear of sorts that was on its hind legs and front legs in the air, holding something long and pointy. The interesting thing was that the bear had no fur, it looked smooth with hair only on it's head. In fact, it looked straight out weird. It was wearing a bright orange cover, and some blue thing on it's lower half.
White Paws was urging her back, to get away, but she was entranced. The bear picked up his stick and pointed it at White Paws. Strong Spirit realized at that moment that White Paws was as curious as she was: he was staring. A crack startled the pup, and White Paws slumped down onto the ground with a blue splotch on his chest. Was he dead? Strong Spirit struggled over to her brother, and sniffed him; he wasn’t dead, only asleep? One of Red Fur's sayings popped into her head, about a mighty hunter, who bested even the wolves. Too late, Strong Spirit related the description of the hunter to the creature standing in front of her. She tried to run but she was weak from the lack of food and from the thought of leaving her brother behind.
She heard another loud crack and fell. She couldn’t stand. Strong Spirit started to panic, making high whimpering noises. She felt tired, hungry and sick. What was happening?? Black flickered in on the edge of her vision, closing in. Is this how it felt to die? She finally gave way to the impossible and fell into a snow drift, knocked out.
Chapter 2:
"Yar!"called Ted as his father walked in the door.
Mr. Hans called back, "Ted, stop being a dramatic pirate and help your mother out in the kitchen!"
"Fine Dad," said Ted while frowning. Pirate acting was his favorite, and his dad knew it. Just then, Ted noticed the bulging sack that his dad had on his back. "Dad? What's that?"
"Ted, you will find out after dinner," sighed Mr. Hans. At this, Ted perked up in interest and ran into the kitchen, where warm scents were wafting out of.
Ted then asked his mother, "Mom? Dad told me to come help you. Let's make dinner quick! I want to see what Dad brought home!" Ted then leaped up onto the counter to grab the bowls from the top cabinet.
"Ok Teddy? Lets start then. You mash those potatoes and I'll start on the ham. When you are done, put them into the bowl and heat in the microwave for 2 minutes. You got that?"
"Yes!" replied Teddy excitedly. He mashed the potatoes, exclaiming whenever the puncher came down.
Meanwhile, Mr. Hans sat in his plush comfy chair in the living room and pulled out a small pipe. He lit it with a match and silently smoked, thinking about the prizes that he had brought home with him. Finally, he looked through the opening of the sack and immediately noticed the look of the two terrified wolf pups he brought home. They were emaciated, and scared which Mr. Hans understood, considering the circumstances of how they got here. There was a she-wolf, who was all white with black flecks over her body and a sturdy male, who was white with black paws and a black tail. The male had brown eyes while the she-wolf had blue. They were beautiful.
Prelude:
The glistening white snow gleamed as the rising sun lit its golden rays on the cold, hard ground. Frozen wind harshly blew across the barren land; nothing was able to obstruct it. It was a free spirit, everywhere was its destination, North its home. Many have tried to tame it, yet all failed.
Chapter 1:
The she-wolf cried out in hunger; this winter had been the longest she had ever experienced, and she had not taken the precautions needed. As she stumbled alongside her brother, she painfully remembered her mother, Red Fur, dying of starvation. All the prey were hiding, hibernating till the snow melts and green grass shoots up out of the ground. Red Fur hadn't been able to hunt for both her and her pups. The she-wolf next remembered her mother's last words, " You are my strong spirit." As a memoir, the young pup took the name Strong Spirit as her name, and her brother took the name White Paws as they plodded on, away from their mother.
White Paws soon poked her in the side and Strong Spirit realized they had stopped. The she-wolf soon saw why. In front of them stood a mighty creature, a bear of sorts that was on its hind legs and front legs in the air, holding something long and pointy. The interesting thing was that the bear had no fur, it looked smooth with hair only on it's head. In fact, it looked straight out weird. It was wearing a bright orange cover, and some blue thing on it's lower half.
White Paws was urging her back, to get away, but she was entranced. The bear picked up his stick and pointed it at White Paws. Strong Spirit realized at that moment that White Paws was as curious as she was: he was staring. A crack startled the pup, and White Paws slumped down onto the ground with a blue splotch on his chest. Was he dead? Strong Spirit struggled over to her brother, and sniffed him; he wasn’t dead, only asleep? One of Red Fur's sayings popped into her head, about a mighty hunter, who bested even the wolves. Too late, Strong Spirit related the description of the hunter to the creature standing in front of her. She tried to run but she was weak from the lack of food and from the thought of leaving her brother behind.
She heard another loud crack and fell. She couldn’t stand. Strong Spirit started to panic, making high whimpering noises. She felt tired, hungry and sick. What was happening?? Black flickered in on the edge of her vision, closing in. Is this how it felt to die? She finally gave way to the impossible and fell into a snow drift, knocked out.
Chapter 2:
"Yar!"called Ted as his father walked in the door.
Mr. Hans called back, "Ted, stop being a dramatic pirate and help your mother out in the kitchen!"
"Fine Dad," said Ted while frowning. Pirate acting was his favorite, and his dad knew it. Just then, Ted noticed the bulging sack that his dad had on his back. "Dad? What's that?"
"Ted, you will find out after dinner," sighed Mr. Hans. At this, Ted perked up in interest and ran into the kitchen, where warm scents were wafting out of.
Ted then asked his mother, "Mom? Dad told me to come help you. Let's make dinner quick! I want to see what Dad brought home!" Ted then leaped up onto the counter to grab the bowls from the top cabinet.
"Ok Teddy? Lets start then. You mash those potatoes and I'll start on the ham. When you are done, put them into the bowl and heat in the microwave for 2 minutes. You got that?"
"Yes!" replied Teddy excitedly. He mashed the potatoes, exclaiming whenever the puncher came down.
Meanwhile, Mr. Hans sat in his plush comfy chair in the living room and pulled out a small pipe. He lit it with a match and silently smoked, thinking about the prizes that he had brought home with him. Finally, he looked through the opening of the sack and immediately noticed the look of the two terrified wolf pups he brought home. They were emaciated, and scared which Mr. Hans understood, considering the circumstances of how they got here. There was a she-wolf, who was all white with black flecks over her body and a sturdy male, who was white with black paws and a black tail. The male had brown eyes while the she-wolf had blue. They were beautiful.
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