A majority amount of stories may have a similar trait to another piece of writing. A large amount of stories have been compared in ways such as theme, settings, characters, irony, and close evidence of foreshadowing. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and “There Will Come Soft Rains,” by Ray Bradbury are an example of similar stories by sharing some of the same qualities. These two readings can be said to be identical in some ways by containing a common idea of negative effects of war and the value of the natural world but can be contrasted by being consisted of two different kinds of main characters.
Fahrenheit 451 shows these aspects throughout the novel. In Fahrenheit 451 Mrs. Phelps says, Anyway, Pete and I always said, no tears nothing like that. It’s our third and we’re independent.
Be independent, we always said. He said, if I get killed off, you just go right and don’t cry, but get married again, and don’t think of me.
(Bradbury 95) This shows negative effects of war by saying that Mrs. Phelps shouldn’t cry if her husband is killed and needs to get married again and be independent like her and her husband always said. This can be compared to all the wives who lose their husbands in war and become widows. In Fahrenheit it shows the value of the natural world. This is shown when Faber says, “NO, no, it’s not books at all you’re looking for! Take it where you can find it, in old phonograph records, old motion pictures, and in old friends; look for it in nature and look for it in yourself” ( Bradbury 128).
This shows that Faber values that natural and thinks everyone should look at it the way he does. Nature should be valued and many people take advantage of it in Faber’s opinion and even do it in today’s world. Fahrenheit’s main character is Montag and is demonstrated With his symbolic helmet numbered 451 on his solid head, and his eyes all orange flame with- the thought of what came next, he flickered the igniter and the house jumped up in gorging fire that burned the evening sky red and yellow and black. (Bradbury 3)
Montag is the main character who is the firefighter who ignites homes if they contain any books. This seems very odd because in today’s society Fireman are supposed to stop fires and save lives not start them. These three points of comparison and contrast are also shown in Bradbury’s other story, “There Will Come Soft Rains.” The short story, “There Will Come Soft Rains” is similar to Fahrenheit 451 but readers can also see different aspects in both readings. “This house was the one home left standing. At night the ruined city gave off a radioactive glow which could be seen for miles” (Bradbury 615). Radioactive means that there was some type of nuclear weapon that destroyed the city. So the one home that was left became independent after everything was destroyed.
Nature will live on even if man is gone and nothing is living on earth (Bradbury 615-617). This is shown by nature taking over this city after all men depart. All of the plants and trees are still living by themselves with no help from and will continue to grow on their own. “The house tried to save itself. Doors sprang tightly shut, but the windows were broken by the heat and the wind blew and sucked upon the fire” (Bradbury 618). The house was the main character because it was the only thing left in the city and was very significant. The house tried to save itself by fighting the fire and trying to stop it from burning it down just like our firefighters do today.
Negative effects of war, value of the natural world, and main characters are all compared and contrasted in Fahrenheit 451 and “There Will Come Soft Rains.” Montag and the house were both the main characters from the different stories and could be said to be very different in many ways. Mrs. Phelps and her husband in Fahrenheit and the house in soft rains were both independent t and showed the trait of negative effects of war.
The value of the natural world was shown in both stories by being mentioned many times and that people should real appreciate what it does for us and not take advantage of it. In the society of today, Americans dying and wives losing their husbands to violence in war is very visible and is a negative effect just as it is in both pieces of reading. In different eyes of readers these stories can be said to be similar and different in multiple ways.
