In Fahrenheit 451 and Harrison Bergeron, the goals and the impacts of the main characters are relatively similar. Both are rebelling against dystopian government in which the people are not free to learn and think for themselves.
In both Fahrenheit 451 and Harrison Bergeron the government is controlling the ability to learn and think independently. In Fahrenheit 451, books are taken away and burned because they contain ideas that could contradict what the government tells them. In Harrison Bergeron, the people are handicapped so that no one is better than anyone else at anything. Nobody is allowed to be smart.
In both of these stories, the main character is willing to sacrifice everything for a greater good. This is what makes them so similar, aside from the fact that both are in a controlling government. Harrison is willing to keep fighting even though he knows he could be captured again or killed. On page 119 of Fahrenheit 451, Montag kills Beatty in rebellion against book burning with the knowledge of the consequences he would have to face.
The difference however is that in the end of Harrison Bergeron, the main character is shot down, wiping out most of the remaining hope of freedom from society's handicaps. Whereas in Fahrenheit 451, there is a glimmer of a chance of hope with Guy Montag's unusual love and curiosity of books. There is hope of a world in which there freedom to think independently.
Therefore, both stories could be considered to be similar based on the values of the main character. On the other hand , the end outcome would be the main difference. A lesson can be learned from the determination of both Harrison and Montag to fight for freedom.
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