Influences Behind Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451 Michael Wainwright

To many modern readers, the science-fiction genre is a genre built upon utopic visions of peace and intellectual advancement, of idealistic worlds where logic always triumphs over primal instinct. Although the hopeful scientific novel is not written in vain, the science fiction genre has been used throughout history as a way for concerned writers to warn - if not prophecy - against forthcoming events. This dark sub-genre of science fiction is usually known as âdystopian literature,â? and has become a popular literary mode in the twentieth century (Holmes 37). The antithesis of the Utopia, the term âdystopiaâ? comes from the Greek word for âbad place,â? and is traditionally set in a harsh society in which self-expression and individuality are forcibly repressed (Holmes 39). Although dystopian fiction is traditionally associated with science fiction and fantasy, it should not be dismissed as mere story, as it is often based upon social and political trends that the author has observed in the primary world. Both Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World, and Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451, were able to accurately depict the intellectually dangerous trends of their times, while making...