Contrasting The Old Man and the Sea and Fahrenheit 451

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway can be compared and contrasted to Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.  I enjoy comparing novels because you get to see the different sides and views of how the authors write their books.  Each author has distinct writing styles along with how they feel about the words on paper.  As usual, I will start with the contrasting details. 

The biggest opposing detail in the two novels would be who wrote each novel.  Ernest Hemingway wrote The Old Man and the Sea and Fahrenheit 451 was written by Ray Bradbury.  As an author, I felt that I made a stronger connection with Ernest Hemingway.  Through his descriptions about the marlin and the ocean, I was able to picture myself in the skiff with Santiago.  “He could picture the fish swimming in the water with his purple pectoral fins set wide as wings and the great erect tail slicing through the dark” (Hemingway 67).  In The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago battles with a fifteen hundred pound marlin for three days out in the middle of the ocean.  Guy Montag in Fahrenheit 451 struggles with turning against his job, which is to burn books, because he feels that those books are so important.  Another contrasting detail is how each author separates his thoughts in his novel.  Most authors piece their novel together with chapters, but Ernest Hemingway and Ray Bradbury decide to do their on thing.  Ernest Hemingway just put all of his ideas on paper and just had it as one continuous story.  I myself do not like that because I like being able to stop at the end of a chapter and digest what I just read.  On the other hand, Ray Bradbury divided his novel by having three separate parts to Fahrenheit 451.  Each title has its own symbolic title to each part.  I found that fact very entertaining. 

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Del Rey Book, 1991. Print.

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 1952. Print.