Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 features a dystopian future wherein “firemen” are given the task of burning subversive books that challenge the governmental establishment. In this world, reading is outlawed, as the current mode of thinking is anti-intellectual, and bereft of learning or knowledge. The protagonist, Guy Montag, one of the firemen, has his ideas about his job and the world in which he lives in challenged by an intellectual love interest. In the novel Logan’s Run, another dystopian future sees the protagonist, a law enforcement officer called a Sandman, tracking down those who do not voluntarily kill themselves at age 21 to prevent overpopulation of a ravaged world. Both of these works provide provocative, exciting science fiction about a member of the establishment changing their ideas about the horrific future in which they live, and fighting for both survival and positive change.
In the world of Fahrenheit 451, books and reading are illegal, and the police (“firemen”) are sent to track down books and any kind of literature and burn it. The title of the book, in fact, comes from the temperature at which paper burns, according to the novel. The world is hedonistic and pleasure-centered, and intellectualism is frowned upon. Logan’s Run, on the other hand, features the remnants of humanity living a hedonistic lifestyle, all before the age of 21. After the effects of a population boom that led to the near-annihilation of the human race, a limit was set by the government - when you turn 21, you have to kill yourself.
Fahrenheit 451 and Logan’s Run both feature protagonists who start out as wholehearted believers in the system. Guy Montag is one of these firemen, a man satisfied with the work he is doing and does not question what he does. The same goes for Logan 3, a Sandman in the domed city that holds the last of humanity after a disastrous population boom. Sandmen are enforcers of the 21 rule, on Lastday, you must kill yourself, or become a ‘runner’; Sandmen are tasked with tracking these runners down and killing them using both a mixed martial arts technique called Omnite, and a unique revolver known as The Gun. As with Montag, Logan is satisfied with his job, and is something of an anti-hero throughout the book. Even his own experience with Running on Lastday is, at first, a ruse to track down an underground railroad to get runners out of the city and to a fabled Sanctuary, where people can live beyond the age limit.
Montag’s and Logan’s attitudes change, however, mostly through the intervention of the women in their lives. In the case of Guy Montag, he is influenced first by Clarisse McClellan, an intellectual and free thinker, who is killed not long after talking with Montag and introducing him to the world of literature, reading and criticism. After she dies, his wife overdoses on sleeping pills, much to the lack of interest of the paramedics who are sent to save her. The death of these two women, in addition to the general lack of interest and caring displayed by everyone around him, makes him disillusioned about his life and the job he is doing. He begins to hoard books as well, secretly sympathizing with the rebel element, much like Logan sympathizes with the Runners as his undercover mission continues. Both of these characters are torn between their allegiance to the government and their growing realization that all is not well with the state of their societies.
Logan’s love interest is Jessica 6, a contact he makes while looking for the aforementioned underground railroad. She is helpful to him, despite the fact that, earlier in the novel, he kills her brother, who was a Runner. Through his interactions with her, he gains a greater sympathy towards Runners, and eventually makes his status as a Runner legitimate, actually attempting to flee the dystopian world that would otherwise force him to kill himself at the end of the day. Along with Jessica, they attempt to make their escape.
Both of these novels discuss issues of social consciousness and responsibility, as well as intellectualism. Everyone in these societies are blind to their own destruction and failings, lost in a world of sex and pleasure-seeking. In Fahrenheit 451, censorship is soundly indicted, as the consequences of such an anti-intellectual society are shown through an uncaring, unfeeling populace who would rather watch television than interact with each other. Montag’s wife is one of these people, as is most of the population. The world of Logan’s Run is populated entirely with young people; the entire society is bereft of the wisdom that comes from the elderly, and as such they often make irresponsible decisions, also living lives of shallow hedonism. The pervading wisdom is that people are allowed to live lives of luxury, free of consequence, as they will not live long enough to suffer the effects of old age, disease, or injury. The book explores what would happen if people literally lived life like there was no tomorrow.
The eventual fates of Guy Montag and Logan 3 are somewhat similar, if only bitterly optimistic. Eventually, Montag flees his job in the government, after killing his boss for threatening to reveal the secret of his growing sedition. This event becomes a media circus, though this is primarily to stave off the growing thoughts of war which threaten to annihilate the world. He escapes, though the government pretends they killed him anyway for the audience, and he finds refuge in a small community of elders who have a thorough oral history of books. There, he can ride out the war, and he ready to rebuild society once the dust settles.
Logan also successfully escapes and finds Sanctuary, although with Jessica 6 at his side instead of Montag’s solitary journey. The society he is running from is also on the verge of collapse, though this is due to the potential shutdown of the master computer that regulates everyone’s lives. Logan and Jessica make their way to a rocketship and blast off for Argos, a space colony revealed to be the real location of the Sanctuary. Like Montag, Logan finds a place of like-minded people outside the realm of the establishment, from which he can view the collapse of that dystopian society from a distance and hopefully rebuild. Both of these novels are under the impression that, in order to repair these societies, they must be destroyed first. Both Bradbury and Nolan, the authors of Fahrenheit 451 and Logan’s Run, respectively, believed that a society taken that far down the road of anti-intellectualism and totalitarianism must fall apart before it is to be rebuilt. Those who are in power (Logan’s computer, Montag’s central government) will not let it go without a fight, and so collapse must occur in order to smoothly transition into a more orderly, just world.
Ray Bradbury, the author of Fahrenheit 451, once said that the claims that the book was about censorship were false, and that his real concern was the usurping of books by television. This is also evident in the book, as television is used as an opiate to dull the senses of the masses, Montag’s wife and others using it to distract themselves from real life (Johnson, 2007). This, however, still leans toward the stance of anti-intellectualism the book’s villainous government takes; it is not strictly about censorship, it is about the dumbing down of the masses to keep them compliant. Logan’s Run is similar; the masses are never allowed to grow in number to a sufficient level to rise against the system, and the training and efficiency of the Sandmen frightens people into submission, particularly on Lastday.
Both of these novels show what might be, in the event that the world decides to take dramatic measures to reduce freedom in order to protect humanity from itself. These imaginary horrors are manifested in two distinct ways: Fahrenheit’s America damns intellectualism for giving people ideas for revolution and upheaval, while Logan’s society damns longevity as a drain on resources and space. However, the people of these societies are missing out on vital parts of life as a result, which the protagonists get to taste before their rebellion. Montag learns the value of knowledge and free thinking, while Logan learns to cherish life above all else. They become symbols for their causes, especially as people formerly deeply entrenched in their masters’ doctrine.
Works Cited
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451 . [Book Club ed. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1967. Print.
Johnson, Amy. "Ray Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451 Misinterpreted." LA Weekly. N.p., 30 May 2007. Web. 23 July 2011.
Nolan, William. Logan's run . S.l.: Virtual Pub Group, 2001. Print.
