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From your parents you learn love and laughter and how to put one foot before the other. But when books are opened you discover that you have wings. 1 Twentieth century was the most extraordinary time period, remarkable with revolutionary and rapid technological development, shaken by two World Wars and exploration of strict dictatorships along with unrestricted freedom. Kingdoms and empires neighbored republics, which allowed people to compare, and contrasts various social and government orders. Such social diversities greatly influenced the outlooks of societies and people and literature received the ample source of inspiration. Ray Bradbury, Carlo Ginsberg and Umberto Eco are three outstanding writers, who work in different genres: Ray Bradbury is the recognizes master of science fiction, Umberto Eco writes historical novels with elements of detective and Carlo Ginsberg is the remarkable academic and the founder of micro history, but the scope of their works is very similar, they explore the position of the person in the society. The most prominent works of these authors are The Cheese and The Worms (1976) by Carlo Ginsberg, Fahrenheit 451 (1953) by Ray Bradbury and The Name of the Rose (1980) by Umberto Eco (the latter two were made into movies short after they were published) which deal with restriction of knowledge and experience, analyze the opposition of personality to social system.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury portrays the "anti utopia" future in which literature is strictly prohibited by the government and all books must be burned by specially organized fire departments. Government cultivates the purity of consciousness, people do not read, think and analyze anymore and their minds are empty of all thoughts and worries and constantly busied with daily mental chewing gum in the form of TV and radio entertainment shows. In this 1 Helen Hayes (b. 1900), American actress, Academy Award winner book Bradbury raises the problem of censorship and he questions its benefits. Ray Bradbury explores the aftermath of the blind obedience of people and the destiny of the passive society.
Rene Descartes said: I Think Therefore I Exist. This phrase reflects the inner changes in people who cease thinking. Guy Montags wife who lived on pills and TV shows becomes the empty space in the room and when she dies of overdose it feels like she has been dead long ago. The book Fahrenheit 451 was written in times of senator McCarthy who was famous for his experiments with censorship.
McCarthy persecuted any attempt of freethinking or individualism because according to him it could lead to spread of communism around the world. In the movie Fahrenheit 451 (1966), captain Beatty holds up a copy of Mein Kampf when he proclaims that all the books must be burned. Here a very complicated and controversy questions are raised. McCarthy instilled censorship in fear of communism, but communism in its turn also was well known for its severe censorship's of books and ideas.
Nazism also tried to spread holocaust and censored the right to live itself, but Nazism appeared due to the lack of censorship in post World War I Germany. The scene with Mein Kampf imply that sometimes good ideas are supported by bad methods or bad ideas are instilled by clever thinking, as in the case of Beatty, who showed Mein Kampf as excuse for destroying all other books. In the book The Cheese and The Worms by Carlo Ginsberg the author further develops the theme of censorship. Ginsberg retells the story of Italian country milled of the sixteen-century Italy named Menochio, who happened to read several books and invented his own conception of the Universe. In contrast with Fahrenheit 451 where all knowledge was banned and even the officials were severely punished for hiding books, Menochio was interrogated but given second chance. This contrast highlights the fact, that knowledge is more dangerous in the hands of powerful people or officials then in the hands of simple people.
Ginsberg, being interest in micro history, the history of small and simple people, explored the role of small people in history. The country soothed was the only audience of Menochio and Menochio could do little to spread his ideas, while Guy Montag held a weapon that he turned against his own boss. Menochio is less influential but his strong belief in his own ideas add him persuasiveness and it started to worry the authorities. After the second interrogation Menochio was burned as heretic, because he went against the basis of Christian religion.
The book The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco was adapted into a movie in 1986 and it tells the story of mysterious murders in the 14 th century Benedictine monastery. William Baskerville and his assistance Also explore the mysteries of the monster and its hidden library, the power of laughter, and come face to face with the Inquisition. The Medieval Church hide the knowledge from people and it make its adepts to damp their desires. The movie shows the Benedictine monks, the caretakers of the monastery and local flock, as those who started with a good heart, yet who uphold the status quo in fear rather than love. Benedictine rejected the power and wealth accumulated by the Church and tried to follow Gods lead, but failed. They found new power, even greater then wealth, which was knowledge and instead of copying books and spreading the knowledge in order to bring light, they hide books in the library rather than focusing on the needs of their flock, and god's work.
All they do is dump refuse through their sewer and make the people scramble like animals to survive. William Baskerville and Also symbolism the approach of new age, the Renessaince, when knowledge, pleasure, laugh and happiness find way in lifes of simple people. "Perhaps the mission of those who love mankind is to make people laugh at the truth, to make truth laugh, because the only truth lies in learning to free ourselves from insane passion for the truth. " (Eco, The Name of the Rose, Seventh Day, Night) Baskerville that people need to cease the moment, just live their lives and try to be happy. The fire is the major motif in Fahrenheit 451, The Cheese and The Worms and The Name of the Rose. The fire in these works is the symbol of punishment and destruction of everything alien to the society authorities, the power that burns and leaves no traces.
Its perpetual motion; the thing man wanted to invent but never did... Its a mystery... Its real beauty is that it destroys responsibility and consequences... lean, quick, sure; nothing to rot later. Antibiotic, aesthetic, practical. (Bradbury, p. 117) Fire is the perfect tool to destroy even the memory of the once existing things. The fragility of existence is closely connected with another prominent theme in these works, the theme of rebirth.
The sun burnt every day. It burnt Time... Time was busy burning the years and the people... if he burnt things with the firemen and the sun burnt Time, that meant that everything burnt! (Bradbury, p. 207) Authorities burned books, but people memorized the books and will write them down again, they burned people, but new people will come with new ideas. The library burned, but people will learn again and they will write new books. Fire has no conscience and it burns everything, good and bad, and after fire goes there comes silence and after silence there comes new life.
Nature is supporting image in this, which symbolizes both the eternity, something constant, which existed before people came on the Earth and will exist after people disappear, the human nature, which cannot be broken and will find way for freedom, and nature also symbolizes the frailty of all laws except the Law of Nature, the Law of Creator. As the philosopher said, This, too, will pass! Everything ends, but there always will be the new beginning. Bibliography Bradbury, Ray.
Fahrenheit 451. Flamingo, 1993. Ginzburg, Carlo; Tedeschi, John (translator); Tedeschi, Anne (translator). The Cheese And The Worms. Toronto: Penguin Books Limited, 1982. Eco.
Umberto. The Name of the Rose. Vintage, 1992. Fahrenheit 451. Dir. Francois Truffaut. 1966.
DVD. Universal Studios, 2003 The Name of the Rose. Dir. Jean-Jacques Anna. 1986. DVD.
Warner Home Video, 2004.
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