Author's Note: This was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Many times in this theme essay, I wanted to trail off into details that weren't relevant, nor were they in common with the other books. Let's just say that I made a lot of edits to this essay to make it as relevant to all 3 books as possible.
Rebellion. It starts out as a small and ridiculous idea. Branches out to minuscule actions. And blossoms into thoughtless, daring outbreaks. Rebellion is going against what you are told, and doing what you feel is right. Even though Katniss from the Hunger Games, Marena from the Silenced, and Guy from Fahrenheit 451 appear to be three completely different people, they all rebel from their government. They know it is suicide, but they are willing to fight for what's right, or die trying. Though there are many reason why these stories were written, one of the main themes in all three novels is rebellion from a crazed government.
In order to create a perfect society, you have to start with a screwy society. Maybe a community where the government forces children fight to their death, maybe a place where you can't have your own thoughts and opinions, maybe a world where you are brainwashed and molded into a perfect clone of what the government wants you to be. Yeah, there we go. Katniss, Marena, and Guy all live in an image of a futuristic society where the government has gone haywire and no one is speaking up for what they believe in, what's right. The government is so intimating and utterly fearless because they kill innocent souls to show power,and everyone just loses their spine and follows the leader like a dog; it makes Katniss, Marena, and Guy ashamed. Yet, it plants the smallest, tiny tiniest seed of rebellion in their soil.
After adding annoyance like water and shining hatred like sunlight, that midget seed has grown into a baby sprout. The government gets even more unruly with mad laws being enforced now more than ever. Thoughts of rebellion pace back and forth in their heads, but none roam farther than that. Guy, Katniss, and Marena are the only people who believe differently from the government, and they know it. That's why they don't act on their mindless thoughts, because they would be confined to jail, and their ideas would be as good as dead, shot down, gone with the wind. However, just like in any other movie or book out there, the practical-sensible part of their being is ignored, and the thoughts roaming their confused heads mold into unhinged actions, a mere skeleton. The sprout is growing into a tree.
Friends and family telling them to stop, shake that silly thought out of their head, and get back in line like everyone else only adds fertilizer to the growing tree. Why should they be silenced, follow the leader, just be another expendable piece in the government's puzzle? That's not what's right, but it's for the greater good, right? Wrong. Katniss wishes for the twisted government to collapse in fire, Marena dreams of breaking the silence and being different, Guy imagines having the right to think independently. In the end, the bombs rain down from heaven above, bullets fly in air, and flames rage on, but our lone tree still stands. The government withers in the debris, while the itty bitty little seed, salvaging sprout, and grounded tree stand strong in victory.
Montag, Katniss, and Marena all made a choice. A choice that was insane, daring, dangerous, and most of all rebellious. The authors of their books all had a skeleton of a story, but added the theme of rebellion to give the story more depth and meaning. They made the reader contemplate whether the reader themselves would make those sacrificial, rebellious choices like the main characters. Their stories ask the question: how far would you go to do what's right?
