Vartanian 1

Tina Vartanian
English 115
Mary Griffith
25 November 2014
Proposal on Immortality
According to Wikipedia, Dystopian fiction is the creation of a horrible society whom is
headed down to an irreversible path. They further define the term, Dystopian, as a ...society
characterized by a focus on negative societies such as poverty, oppression, suffering, [etc.] that
society has most often brought upon itself (Wikipedia). Two famous novels whom are
Dystopian fiction are: Fahrenheit 451 by Rad Bradbury and Oryx and Crake by Margaret
Atwood. Although these two novels are considered dystopian fiction they lack similarities,
except for the common theme embedded in both.
The common theme between the novels Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Radbury and Oryx and Crake by
Margaret Atwood is simply that they are dystopian novels whom desire for immortality.
I plan on using these two quotes from Oryx and Crake to support my thesis in which the
novels main message is that immortality is possible. The first quote is All it takes, said Crake,
is the elimination of one generation. One generation of anything. Beetles, trees, microbes,
scientists, speakers of French, whatever. Break the link in time between one generation and the
next, and its game over forever. This quote will be tied back to Fahrenheit 451 regarding
books. Every generation that lacks to read is almost heading to the path in which Bradbury
predicted. The second quote is, Immortality,' said Crake, ' is a concept. If you take 'mortality' as
being, not death, but the foreknowledge of it and the fear of it, then 'immortality' is the absence
of such fear. Babies are immortal. Edit out the fear, and you'll be... This quote addresses the

Vartanian 2
theme more directly. It shows the views that Crake had and the influence this concept had
throughout the novel.
On the other hand, the two quotes that I will use to link Fahrenheit 451 to the theme are
Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said. A child or a book or
a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made. Or a garden planted. Something
your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die, and when people
look at that tree or that flower you planted, you're there. This quote will be the introduction to
Fahrenheit 451. It will display the symbolic nature of books and how some can argue that the
authors and their stories are immortal. The second quote is That's the good part of dying; when
you've nothing to lose, you run any risk you want. This is how I will end my essay. Leaving the
reader to believe what they want on the subject immortality.
In regards to the authors view on immortality, I think that it is quite clear. In Oryx and
Crake, immortality is seen as a possibility. It is viewed as a scientific matter in which scientists
can alter genes and DNA to have an immortal society in a sense. They basically embed the idea
of no fear and that is how they remain immortal. In Fahrenheit 451, immortality is not stated as
openly. Instead Bradbury refers to the books and what we leave behind on this Earth.