Gildner 1

Nora Gildner
Mrs. Rohlfs
English 10
23 October 2015
Utopian Affection
What do your relationships mean to you? How much value do they hold? In
Fahrenheit 451 the main character Montag and his wife Mildred live together like any
married couple would but their relationship is empty, they don't love or show affection to
each other. In The Giver every morning the citizens are required to take a daily
injection. The injections are used to stop attractions towards others. All of the
relationships in our lives are important whether they be familial or romantic they all
determine how we feel about one another.
In utopias the entire societies are happy and perfect, but their relationships are
empty. The society makes their citizens believe they are happy, which they truly think
they are until they realize what they are missing. He wore his happiness like a mask
(Bradbury 8). In this quote from the text Montag is talking about his happiness. In the
society that they live in everyone is expected to be happy but from the quote we learn
that Montag is obviously not happy if his happiness is like a mask. It seems like he is
putting on a show for them, happy around some but his true self around others.
In Fahrenheit 451 and The Giver they are under the assumption that having
strong emotional connections to others are bad. They are denied the right to actual
human emotions. Montag at one point in the book even talks about how if his wife died
he would not cry. And he remembered thinking that if she died, he was certain he

Commented [1]: Overall, well written and a good

analysis of the two texts and how they are connected.
Be aware of minor grammatical errors such as
capitalization of proper nouns (names, etc.). Also,
work toward smoother transitions from one paragraph
to the next. There is flow present, but you could make it
even better by working on these.
Commented [2]: _Marked as resolved_
Commented [3]: _Re-opened_
REVISION: Transitions could still be smoother.
Connecting thoughts from one paragraph to the next
can be a challenge, but is something that really
enhances a paper and the flow for the reader.

Gildner 2

wouldn't cry. For it would be the dying of an unknown, a street face, a newspaper
image, and it was suddenly so wrong that he had begun to cry, not at death but at the
thought of not crying at death. A silly empty man near a silly empty woman, while the
hungry samke made her even more empty (Bradbury 41). From the quote you can tell
there's problems in their relationship. It shows how emotionless the utopian society
citizens have become. They have been taught it is inappropriate to have emotional

Commented [4]: How so? Explain a little further with

specifics.

connections with others, which is ruining their chances of a normal human relationship.

Commented [5]: _Marked as resolved_

Citizens in The Giver are required to take daily injections in order for them to not

Commented [6]: _Re-opened_

REVISION: Good

feel attraction to others. After skipping his injections Jonas develops feelings for Fiona.
He intentionally skips his injections, which allows him to have emotional feelings and a
physical connection with Fiona. Jonas eventually kisses and holds hands with her
without thought of getting in trouble (The Giver). Jonas persuades Fiona to skip her
injection too, once she decides not to take it she notices what she's been missing. She
has been missing out on all the emotional connections with the other citizens and
Jonas. They both underestimated the effects of that emotional connection.
The relationships in our lives matter whether good or bad, familial or romantic
they all determine how we feel about others, ourselves and the environment in which we
live our lives. In the film The Giver Jonas decides he wants to explore what it's like to
have affection towards others. Throughout the movie he genuinely did seem happier. In
the novel Fahrenheit 451 montag realizes how empty his relationship with his wife is. In
the utopia of Fahrenheit 451 the technology has overruled the value of actual human
relationships, cause Mildred to believe the family on the tv is her actual family which
causes her and Montag's marriage to fall apart. The relationships in Fahrenheit 451 and

Commented [7]: Include a closing sentence here that

transitions to your next point.
Commented [8]: _Marked as resolved_
Commented [9]: _Re-opened_
REVISION: Good wrap-up sentence but the transition
to the next paragraph could be stronger.

Gildner 3

The Giver got more affectionate throughout the stories, each character was willing to
break the laws in order to achieve that affection. They realized how important of a role
relationships with other play out in our lives.

Work Cited
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2013. Print.
The Giver. Dir. Phillip Noyce. The Weinstein Company, 2014, Dvd.