Stargirl and Fahrenheit 451 by Jerry Spinelli and Ray Bradbury | Teen Ink

Stargirl and Fahrenheit 451 by Jerry Spinelli and Ray Bradbury

March 26, 2011
By puddlejumper SILVER, Averill Park, New York
puddlejumper SILVER, Averill Park, New York
7 articles 1 photo 2 comments

Books, teach us many lessons in life, but what if there was no such things as books? That’s how Montag and Faber, from Fahrenheit 451, had to live. Also what if there was a person like Stargirl in every school? Stargirl, from the book Stargirl, impacted almost everyone around her. When Mica High School met Stargirl people began to change. They expressed themselves more now that there was someone else who wasn’t afraid of who she was.

Montag and Faber’s relationship was a bit unusual. Even though it was illegal, Montag went to Faber to get books to read. Faber, also known as Professor Faber, only had a couple books but ached to have more. The society that Montag and Faber lived in mostly relied on television. Also everything in their society moved fast. Nobody ever really had time to think. “ I sometimes think drivers don’t know what grass is, or flowers, because they never see them slowly. If you showed a driver a green blur, Oh Yes! He’d say, that’s grass! A pink blur! That’s a rose garden! White blurs are houses, brown blurs are cows. My uncle drove slowly on a highway once. He drove forty miles per hour and they jailed him for two days. Isn’t that funny, and sad, too?” (Bradbury 9) This quote is an example on how people like Montag and Faber saw their world. They didn’t see much. Guy Montag turned into a character that stands up for what he believes in. At one point when he knew his wife was going to die, he told Faber that he felt as though he wasn’t really going to miss her when she died. Faber gave him advice that he shouldn’t worry that he won’t miss her. Mildred, Montag’s wife, watched television most of her life. She never really had a relationship with her husband and they rarely talked.

Archie and Leo had a couple similarities of Montag and Faber’s relationship. Archie was the advice giver and Leo would often follow his advice. Throughout the book Leo had problem’s with Stargirl. She was so different from everyone else, he was embarrassed to be seen with her most of the time. Leo is an eleventh grader at Mica High School in Arizona. Although he likes Stargirl, he just can’t bring himself to be with her because she’s to unique. When people start ignoring Leo because he’s with Stargirl, he seeks Archie’s advice. Just like how Montag went to Faber for advice about Mildred. Archie tells him “ Whose affection do you value more, Stargirl’s or their’s?” (Spinelli 104) Archie reminds me of Faber from Fahrenheit 451. They are both wise, and give very good advice.

With almost every book I read, I finish it feeling as though I’ve met someone new, even though the characters are fictional. I can usually relate to the characters in many ways. From To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout reminded me of myself in a couple ways. She was shy at times, but also adventurous. Even though she was a fictional character, I’ve felt as though I actually knew her as a real person. I felt that way when I read Stargirl too. Although Stargirl was a lot different from everyone else, I could relate to her in a couple ways too. One of my favorite quotes from Stargirl was “People are afraid of people who are different.” (Spinelli 125) I can easily relate to that quote because that’s they way our society works. Everyone wants to follow one person. Girls want to be like the ones they see on magazines and boys want to be steller athletes. I’ve always believed in that quote and Stargirl has too. In conclusion, we can learn many important things from books.

The author's comments:
I wrote this review to compare the important themes found in both Stargirl and Fahrenheit 451.

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