Similarities Negative Stereotypes Isolation Banned

Stereotypes Both Fahrenheit and Merchant of Venice have negative stereotypes. This is one of the reasons they are both banned from a few libraries. It is clear that the author is not aware of the stereotypes, which almost reflects the culture at the time they were written.

Stereotypes: Merchant of Venice The characteristic that makes Merchant of Venice most famous is its obvious racism. In fact, if it wasn’t for Shylock, the play would be Shakespeare’s least interesting work. Shylock is the antagonist. He is evil, selfish, and hateful. He also is obsessed with money. In the play Shylock is hardly ever called by his name and is instead referred to as The Jew. This reflects the Renaissance view of Jews being evil, inhuman beings.

Stereotypes: Fahrenheit 451 When Mildred and her friends are watching the TV, the women talk about their children as being to much work than they are worth, and all they care about is appearance. They give the impression of being very foolish and shallow. Even Mildred herself is perceived as air-headed and self- centered. In fact, nearly all the women in the book, except Clarisse, are portrayed as incredibly superficial and brainless. This is the stereotype that men in the 1950’s had of women.

In both books the main character feels alone, abandoned, and thinks they are probably going to die. Fahrenheit: Montag is running away from a robot dog that is going to kill him. He knows that he probably won’t survive this, and he panics for his life. When he is safe he realizes how lonely he is; his friends and wife have abandoned him. Merchant of Venice: Antonio gets put in jail. Shylock plans on beheading him. During that night in jail, Antonio feels isolated- all he wanted to do is help out a friend and now he is going to die as a consequence. He feels his friends have abandoned him. And when the trial comes Antonio is panicking.

Direct Reference And you said quoting, ‘Truth will come to light, murder will not hid long!’ And I cried in good humor, ‘Oh God, he speaks only of his horse!’ And ‘The Devil can cite scripture for his purpose.’

Direct Reference Truth will come to light, murder will not be hid long! Meaning: the truth will eventually become known. In this passage Beatty is saying that in his dream Montag threatens that people will find out that there is more to life than their small bubble of pleasure. Oh God he speaks only of his horse! Bradbury quotes this wrong. The original version says: He doth nothing but talk of his horse. This means that Beatty is saying that Montag is only thinking of himself. The Devil can cite scripture for his purpose. Meaning: this can mean good things can end badly, or people that look good and nice can end up being bad. This quote can also summarize Beatty’s entire dream. Faber is playing the role of the angel, where Beatty is the devil. Faber (angel) is telling Montag to ignore Beatty (devil), who is twisting books (scripture) for his purpose. This is the battle of good and evil.