1

Often integral to the progress of a story, a plot, or even ones own life are the relationships formed with others. From a husband and wife, a boss and a worker, to two friends, such relationships are easily reflected in different works of fiction. In the respective worlds of Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 and the film Logan's Run, directed by Michael Anderson, dystopias are portrayed as devoted to hedonism and personal pleasure, and the materialism of their respective societies can easily be seen in the relationships between characters. In Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag, the story's protagonist and tasked with the occupation of libricide, has pivotal relationships within the plot, especially with a young woman, Clarisse, and his superior at work, Beatty. Similarly, the eponymous Logan 5 of Logan's Run, whose position of authority as an assassin of those fleeing society can be seen as a mirror to Montag's, forms pivotal relationships with a woman, Jessica 6, and his coworker and friend, Francis 7. Between the two works of fiction, Montag's and Logan's relationships with female ingnues and male coworkers form their characters and the plot around them and can be shown as parallels to each other. At the commencement of both stories, Montag and Logan were similar in the case that both were unquestioning individuals dedicated to their job and firm believers in their society, until both men had fateful meetings with women with distinctly nonconformist views. Though the relationship between Montag and Clarisse was one of friendship, while Logan and Jessica later became lovers, both Clarisse and Jessica forced the protagonist to rethink his ideals and catalyzed the plot. In Logans Run, Jessicas entrance to the plot forces Logan to question why people would be unhappy with society and if his occupation is truly killing. When Jessica asks Logan upon their first meeting, Isnt it right? Isnt that what you do? Kill? Logan responds hesitantly in the negative, but it is clear that he is beginning to question his morals due to her words (Anderson). Jessicas first encounter with Logan is reminiscent of the conversation between Montag and Clarisse at theirs. When Clarisse asks Montag whether or not hes happy, Montag confusedly thinks, Of course I'm happy. What

does she think? I'm not? and like Logan, begins to question his ideals (Bradbury 13). Jessica gives a similar question to Logan, asking him What do you really want? several times. When his response references sex, she responds with I don't believe you. There has to be more further forcing him to question himself (Anderson). Even the personalities of the two women mirror each other; though Clarisse is distinctly more childlike and more of a daughter figure to Montag, both she and Jessica are heretics in their society and innocent in the way they choose to trust a random stranger who could be potentially dangerous to them, and it is the shared personalities of both women force the male protagonist of both stories to rethink themselves. Mirroring each other in their interactions with the protagonist, as well as their personalities, Clarisse and Jessica mirror each other and influence the protagonists journey of self-discovery. In both the film and the novel, Logan and Montag each have positions of authority that aid in the suppression of the values that their respective female leads hold. Logan, a sandman, has the task of stopping runners that attempt to flee the hedonistic society of Logans Run, while Montag is a fireman who burns books for a living. While this is a parallel in itself, the greater parallel is between the relationships of the protagonists with their coworkers. Logans fellow sandman and lifelong friend, Francis, is a staunch believer in their society and constantly questions Logan on why he wishes to know more about the outside world, telling him I don't know what makes you so curious after Logan wonders who the mother of his son is (Anderson). Later on, when Logan asks him another question about their society, Francis responds simply with I think you've been skulking out too much. First Nursery and now stupid questions (Anderson). Francis insistence on not needing knowledge beyond the pleasure of their society can be drawn as a direct parallel to Montags superiors attitude towards books and wisdom. Captain Beatty, Montags fellow fireman, though shown to be largely more intelligent than Francis, has a similar view towards books as Francis does with knowledge. In a speech to Montag, Beatty not only tells Montag that there is no

need for the wisdom of books, but also that he would be better off not knowing, saying that the books say nothing! Nothing you can teach or believe All of them running about, putting out the stars and extinguishing the sun. You come away lost (Bradbury 94). Similar to Francis, Beatty functions as opposition to the investigative protagonist. Yet not only did both Francis and Beatty have similarly negative, careless views towards knowledge, providing a foil to the protagonist, they both pursued the protagonist after each had a revelation. Once Montag decided to dare to read the books he had stolen, Beatty purposely forced him to torch his own home and arrested him, taunting him, By the time the consequences catch up with you, it's too late, isn't it, Montag? (Bradbury 171). Desperate to escape, Montag is forced to kill Beatty and run. Just as Beatty vengefully pursued Montag, Francis comparatively pursued Logan, furious at his abandonment of society with Jessica, and in what seems to be a direct parallel, Logan is forced to kill Francis as well. Like Montag, Francis accused Logan, saying There's over two hundred years of Sandmen's blood in you, Logan and now you'll spill it for a stinking Runner! (Anderson). Within their respective stories, both Beatty and Francis provided a foil to the curiosity of Montag and Logan, and seem to be parallel down to the intensity in which they search for revenge by pursuing the protagonist, ending in their comparative deaths at the hands of their former coworkers. Characters in the dystopias represented in Logans Run and Fahrenheit 451 share hugely similar dynamics; in both plots, women of comparable unorthodox beliefs form a relationship with the protagonist, affecting them enough to catalyze the self-discovery that both protagonists undergo. Meanwhile, the male coworkers of both protagonists act as foils to the protagonists curiosity, and eventually meet their doom in the same way. Near-parallel, the relationships exhibited in both stories have stunning similarity and are pivotal to both plots.