Sheltered Societies

Sheltered Societies

The novel Fahrenheit 451 and the film Footloose can be compared to each other without much difficulty. The characters and the overall message of the stories are akin. In both stories the idea of a sheltered society is portrayed. Also, both stories have a strong willed character prepared to loose everything for what he believes.

Guy Montag and Reverend Moore are very similar in character in that they both make drastic changes in their beliefs throughout the two stories. At the beginning of Fahrenheit 451, Montag is a strong believer in the government and its system of banning and burning books. One major character that helps to alter his viewpoint of the authorities is Mildred. She helps him realize how ignorant and detached their society truly is. She shows him this multiple times. For example, Guy asks her about the first time they met and she told him that it didn't matter. You're wife should be able to tell you something of that significance and he noticed that she couldn't. She also was constantly wearing her sea shells in her ears. She would prefer to listing to nothingness than have a good conversation with her husband. She proves to him that technology is more important than books and that she is completely dependent

on technology. An example of this is when she tells him that "'Books aren't people'. . . 'My 'family' is people'" (Bradbury, 74). She is completely manipulated, brainwashed and controlled by the government. He sees this and does everything in his power to do something to change it. He tries to smuggle books into their house and attempts to convince her that there is something of significance in them. He also slowly begins to cease to trust the government. He becomes more and more paranoid about their involvement in his life and the lives of everyone around him. He illustrates his extreme modifications in his beliefs by planning to illegally publish books with the help of Faber. He also shows this by killing Beatty and becoming a fugitive because he believes so strongly in the dire need of the knowledge found in books.

Reverend Moore also goes through a similar life-changing experience. Reverend Moore is a strong advocate against rock music and dancing. He is a strong believer in the government and its system that outlaws dancing, rock music and partying. When he first meets Ren McCormack, he despises Ren with a passion, but later Ren proves to the reverend that not all dancing is destructive. He does this by quoting scripture that says exactly that. Reverend Moore shows his adjustments in his beliefs by supporting the senior dance and by asking his congregation to "'Join [him] to pray to the Lord to guide [the students] in their endeavors'" (Footloose). Reverend Moore not only ceases to detest dancing, rock music and partying, but he supports their dance.

At the end of Fahrenheit 451, Montag does everything he can to promote reading books and the importance of acquiring the knowledge that is found in them. He acts in such a way as to encourage others to join him. He feels so passionately about what he believes in that by the end of the book he is depicted as a leader. For example, towards the end of the novel, Guy and Granger were walking back into the city to start over again. Granger had told him to remember his piece of literature and that he was important. He was going to have to help others realize and understand the importance of literature in their society. There are numerous times where he attempts to recruit others to help him restore books into the society: he tries but fails to convince Mildred, struggles to reason with Beatty, eventually persuades Faber. He is one of few who realizes that there is something more to books. Whatever it is, it will prevent the society from destroying itself, and he fights to get books back.

Throughout all of Footloose, Ren is clearly seen as a leader. Ren came from a city where music and dancing were an exhilarating hobby. When he moves to the small town of Bomont, he knows how much fun he had while doing those things and realizes that it is not appropriate for the young people of the town to be deprived of those privileges. He expresses his feelings to everyone at the town meeting when he tells them, "[there is a] time to dance, [a] time to weep, [a] time to mourn and there is a time to dance" (Footloose). He tries tirelessly to get others to help him bring back their right to dance. During most of the film, Ren fights against the authorities to abolish the law that bans dancing, and consequently, he gets a senior prom. Ren feels strongly about the restrictions imposed upon the teenagers, and he does everything in his power to eliminate them.

Ren McCormack came from Chicago. In Chicago dancing and listening to rock music is accepted. When he moves to the small town of Bomont, he brings his interests with him, and he does not care if he is punished or looked down on because of them. In Bomont, most of the teenagers share Ren's passion for dancing and rock music, but they are forbidden to express their feelings. The viewer is told how the authorities feel about Ren when Ariel tells her father that "just because he hasn't lived in this town for twenty years doesn't make him a trouble maker" (Footloose). He realizes that the authorities are going to attempt to prevent him from spreading his desire to dance. Doing this just pushes him even more to encourage the teenagers of the town to take a stand against the authorities. Ren takes his stand against the system by proposing a senior dance which influences the other young people to support and stand behind him.

Faber is a retired English professor. He remembers how things used to be, and he misses it. He knows that the society is suffering because it is not exposed to literature but because he is a self proclaimed coward, he is afraid to speak out against what the government has done. The society frowns upon books and does not mind them being banned. He realizes this and would rather save himself than save the society. He slowly gains trust in Montag when Montag threatens to destroy one of his books if Faber refuses to help him. He takes his stand quietly by trusting Montag. He tells Montag his stories about how things used to be. He tells him that at one point students enjoyed taking his classes and they enjoyed learning about literature, but the interest in literature gradually died down among the students. He also explains to Montag what the words, sentences, paragraphs and chapters really mean.

Both Faber and Ren disagree with how the government is running things. The difference between the two is simple; in fact, Ren is willing to stand up for what he believes