Examples Of Social Commentary Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury wrote the novel Fahrenheit 451, which is a story about a society that believed books were for burning and where thinking was discouraged to fulfill one's achievements.

The morning after Mildred's overdose, she and Montag sat down for breakfast, but instead of them talking Mildred continued to listen to her seashells while waiting for her toast to make itself. "Toast popped out of the silver toaster, was seized by a spidery metal hand that drenched it with melted butter. Mildred watched the toast delivered to her plate. She had both ears plugged with electronic bees that were humming the hour away" (Bradbury 8). This illustrates how Bradbury loathed the new technology of the era. Nowadays people do not depend on self-making toasters, but they depend on technology such as smart phones, laptops, and Wi-Fi; Bradbury’s hope that technology would be ephemeral certainly did not happen, instead technology became the biggest distraction

First off, Ray Bradbury wrote a variety of Social Commentary into his book, Fahrenheit 451. The first sign in the book that something was wrong with this society was when Montag’s wife had overdosed. She was listening to the Seashells and watching the T.V. and those things brainwash everybody into thinking about how society is supposed to be. She is brainwashed and had forgotten about taking pills so she had overdosed before. Bradbury wrote, “... In her ears the little Seashells, the thimble radios tamped tight… An instant before his foot hit the object on the floor, he knew he would hit such an object” (12). He tells of how Montag found his wife on the bed. Dead and with pills on the ground, overdosing and not realizing it because she was so tranced with the radios in her ears. Then later, Clarisse does a whole social justice speech on how school and the people in it are, which is relatable to today’s way of school life to some extent. She says, “Oh, they don’t miss me… I’m antisocial, they say. I don’t mix… I’m very social… It all depends on what you mean by social, doesn’t it?... Being with people is nice. But I don’t think it’s social to get a bunch of people together and not let them talk, do you? An hour of Tv class, an hour of basketball or baseball or painting pictures… we never ask questions, or at least most don’t; they just run the answer at you… That’s not social to me at all… But everyone I know is either shouting or dancing around like wild or beating up one another. Do you notice how people hurt each other nowadays?” (29-30). She goes on about how school life was for others and how the people were. It was an image of how teen life was. Effectively, this shows the variety of Social Commentary within the book.

People look at the stories of corrupt government and unusual behavior ,and feel secure for in their eyes the stories are fabled. They aren’t aware that the world of today is headed down the same path. A world of dystopia is on the horizon as the world is slowly consumed by the bright lights in our palms. Authors, and filmmakers have utilized many tools to make their creations come to life in front of the intended audience. In these forms of entertainment, social commentary is used to relate the audience in the distant world. For example, in Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag is placed in a book burning world that is against any form of actual thinking, but all that changes for Montag as he meets Clarisse McClellan who questions everything around her.

In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury displays a society void of all individuality, intelligence, and imagination, and when any showed up, it would get criticized or even destroyed. This constant destruction, all to keep people in line. This society capitalizes on the need for happiness by making things seem better than their true nature, using tv families and constant activity. Despite this, behind all of the excitement a bland, cold world becomes visible. Bradbury uses the motif of color to show how without conflict, happiness becomes meaningless.

Fahrenheit 451 is one of the hundreds of books that contains multiple instances of social commentary. In the novel, Ray Bradbury critiques the citizens as well as their home society, which refer to the censorship the government imposes on the society. Notwithstanding the possible effects, the citizens’ minds drastically change due to the amount of brainwashing they received throughout the years to destroy all of their community’s past. Initially, we can see this when we read that the firemen are completely different than what we know today in comparison to what they formerly were. Firemen now burn houses that carried traces of books on fire to substitute the old style of extinguishing already lit fires. Little do they know that what they’re doing has a lasting impact on the people of their communities.. We see this when Montag ultimately realizes why they burn the books after talking to Clarisse McClellan, the young, perfect-looking woman that Montag finds waiting outside of the fire station one night. Montag couldn’t let anyone know what he was thinking or doing unless he wanted his life to brutally come to an end. Bradbury grew up during the times of censorship as well as the technological advancements. With these changes, a lot of the people worried about the lives of their people, Bradbury consisting of this population of people. He wrote this Novel to demonstrate what life would be like if these changes grew out of hand. During the time Bradbury wrote the book,

In the novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury utilizes the symbolism of books, repetition of the fidgety women, diction of the women, and the characterization of the world as a whole to illustrate how this dystopian society would be better having knowledge rather than no knowledge and all fun.

The world created by Ray Bradbury in Fahrenheit 451 mostly relates to today’s society in that both societies have banned books, which leads people to become dependent on technology; This dependence prevents people from being a part of the community and thinking for themselves. However, the extent Bradbury portrays the insensitivity towards violence creates an extremely dangerous world, whereas today’s society is more aware and sensitive to violence.

In one of the all time famous books, Fahrenheit 451, an important lesson is taught about human nature. The loss of human connection is an imminent theme in the novel, and is expressed in several forms. For example, Mildred, the wife of Guy Montag, has lost her sense of human nature. She is forcing herself to be ignorant of what is happening in the society. Mildred’s parlor walls are her idea of a ‘picture perfect family,’ of whom she only seems to care for. Since her actual family is bland and emotionless, she resorts to the parlor walls and her fake family. She is too drawn into her script and her parlor walls, that, it is this that she only wishes to have conversations of. She states, “Well, this is a play comes on the wall-to-wall circuit

Lets begin with symbolism and the effect it had in the novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury does a marvelous job in the use of symbolism throughout the novel because the author provides just enough information so readers can interpret symbols in their own way. Fahrenheit 451 was released in 1953, during a conservative era, where new ideas were meticulous analyzed and many feared the author was implying the comparison of Joseph McCarthy’s government censorship. In 2007 Ray Bradbury responded to critics denying such accusation and explained that his thought behind the plot of Fahrenheit 451 was,

When predictions about life are made, it is hard for one to believe them because they are not certain if those predictions will happen or not. However, when predictions that were made in the past begin to happen in the life of a person living in today's world, they must be believed. In 1953, Mr. Ray Bradbury wrote one of his famous novels, Fahrenheit 451, which was written predicting a future overtaken by technology. Even though it was not very obvious at that time, this novel was very successful in examining social problems in its time and in our time as well in various ways. Some of the social problems in the 1950s that are examined in the novel include the red scare, communism, and McCarthyism. In our present day, the social problems that are examined in that same novel include overuse of technology and media.

Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury, portrays the story of Guy Montag and his dilemma to reinstate books. Although the nature of his job restraints him from doing so, he continues to persist and even commits felonies in hopes of change. Throughout the novel, Montag meets many other characters who support his cause as well. These other characters, including himself demonstrate the importance of sacrifice and it’s role in inciting social change.

Dystopian societies and modern day societies have various opinions on what should be valued. In the novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury shows a dystopian society that contrasts today's modern day society. The concepts of knowledge and communication are shown throughout the book in different ways than are seen in today’s modern day society. Knowledge is one idea that has conflicting meanings.

Set in a futuristic, dystopian civilization, Fahrenheit 451 trailed the crumbling of society and values as technology replaced intellect. It discussed several issues that resulted from excessive machinery and an overpowering government. Thus, the setting and genre of this story undoubtedly affected its plot in countless ways. Without the specific setting and genre that the author, Ray Bradbury, provided, this novel would have been unconvincing and inane. Evidently, it was a science fiction novel, as shown by the futuristic setting and various technological advancements. This genre made certain parts more believable, while generating interest and originality. Similarly, the setting of Fahrenheit 451 was a great factor in

In his novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury makes a social commentary on marriage/love between the character’s multiple times throughout the entire course of the book. In the beginning of the book Clarisse mentions to Montage that he is not in love. Towards the end of the book, Mildred’s friends are not upset about their husbands fighting in the war. One woman even continued to express that she didn’t care if her husband died or not. Bradbury interpreted marriage from his own society and reflected it into his novel.