Fahrenheit 451: A Dystopian Society

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The typical utopian world that people dream of consists of freedom, equality and political order. Dystopian fiction, however, is only the illusion of a perfect world. In reality, a dystopia is the complete opposite of a utopian society. It is commonly written to warn the reader of what might come if a certain way of life continues. In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury predicted many issues that plague society today. The larger societal and individual issues Bradbury warns against are the consequences from the lack of social interactions, the spread and focus on technology, and the rise in violence.

In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury tells the story of a dystopic world where books are burned by firemen because they are prohibited. By presenting this, he makes a point on how books are essential and at the same time warning readers. He was trying to say,” If this happens, then this will happen.” He visualized this society in this book, based on his society, which is parallel to our society now. In the dystopic Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury examines his society at the time, and he admonishes readers about possible aspects of future societies, especially mass media, technological advancement, and peoples’ mental health.

Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel by American writer Ray Bradbury, published in 1953. The novel describes a futuristic society in which books are outlawed and "firemen" burn any that are found. The protagonist is a fireman named Montag who becomes perturbed with his role in censorship and destruction of knowledge, eventually quitting his job and joining a resistance movement that memorizes and shares the world's greatest literary works. As Montag struggles over the value of knowledge, he becomes a skeptical, rebellious and dynamic person, driving him to the fringes of society in pursuit of an absolute truth.

In both Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and Vonnegut’s “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow”, the authors show major concerns about the future. Bradbury’s major concern is the misuse of technology that leads to the corruption of society while Vonnegut’s major concern is overpopulation and the lack of natural resources for the future. Both authors show concerns that can turn out to be real if people do not do anything about the environment and about technology.

states that “his main interest today was to uphold the Southern Way of Life and no niggers and no Supreme Court was going to tell him or anybody else what to do … a race as hammer headed as … essential inferiority … kinky wooly heads … still in the trees … greasy smelly … marry your daughters … mongrelize the races … mongrelize …. mongrelize” (Lee ?). Jean-Louise becomes physically sickened, unable to grasp how those dearest to her could associate themselves with people who spew such filth, vulgarity, and an openly biased hatred towards others. It is unfathomable how Henry and her father, especially her father, could have adopted such views in the short while that she was away. However, as she sees how widespread these feelings are, and the countless people

Ray Bradbury´s wrote a book about this dystopian society where everything in our world is backwards in their world, they can speed, they burn books, and everybody is always gloomy and sad. Montag changed his mindset throughout the book, he went from burning books to saving them from getting burnt. Mildred on the other hand, continuously stayed the same throughout the book. She beginned the book showing she did not care, and carried that same mentality through the rest of the book. Ray Bradbury´s uses contrasting characters in Fahrenheit 451 to illustrate the differences within views of a dystopian society with his development of Montag and Mildred.

In the novel, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the author creates a picture of a society that resembles our present-day society in a variety of ways. Although a society in which government has total control over its citizens seems to be a little extreme, there are definitely clues that can be seen today that suggest that we are headed in the same direction. Some of the resemblances between the society in Fahrenheit 451 and our society today are the governments’ hypocrisy, the gullibility of the citizens who fully support the government, and the fact that books are becoming rather extinct due to advances in modern technology.

A common theme throughout Fahrenheit 451 is that the people use technology as a way to occupy themselves. They are always busying themselves with meaningless things to do. The sole purpose of technology in this time is to occupy their brains, so that they have no time to think about anything other than what they’re doing in that moment, which prevents them from realizing what is happening in their society and prevents them from caring about what’s happening. In the book Mildred, the wife of the main character, is constantly watching what is called parlor walls. Parlor walls are the equivalent to TV in today 's society. They recently installed another one, and not two months later she talks about installing another. Mildred uses the parlor walls as a way to escape from her reality. She chooses, and at the same time is forced, to be oblivious to the fact that she is never present in hers and her husband 's life, “‘Will you turn the parlour off?’ he asked. ‘That 's my family’” (Bradbury

Ray Bradbury demonstrates through Guy Montag that a significant experience impacts an individual by shaping their future actions and opinions. A dystopian society is defined as “a community or society that is undesirable or frightening.” In the famed novel, Fahrenheit 451, readers follow the life of fireman Guy Montag. But in this dystopia, firemen start fires instead of stopping them. Throughout the novel, Ray Bradbury touches on the idea of significant events impacting someone's perspective and directing the actions they take. Between his encounters with rebel teenager and a frail professor, Montag begins to expand his thoughts and change his view on the world. *ADD MORE*

A dystopian society is a controlling, fearful, and dreadful society. People who want to fight back against the government will be sorrowful. Every type of dystopian whether it is in a book, short story, or a game will have the same characteristics. For an example, in the movie Divergent by Veronica Roth everyone has to choose a faction in the society. In the “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, you are handicap if you are too smart, or if you have too much talent.

I plunked my body in front of the TVs and listened to radio blasted into my ears through ear buds. I was unable to think. I was unable to talk. My TV was my life. I loved it. All the people (forgot their names), all the arguments (don’t remember what they are about), and my wife, whose name does not seem to register in my brain at the moment. This is the dystopian world created by Ray Bradbury in his novel, Fahrenheit 451, the temperature at which paper burns. He created and used many aspects of a dystopian society in the gloomy negative world. The people are literally controlled by the government and they do nothing. “Fahrenheit 451” is a dystopian novel written by Ray Bradbury because it demonstrates characteristics of Dystopian Literature:

Today technology controls almost everything we do, from the way we go places to what we eat. With this power of technology comes good and evil, medicines and poisons. Through technology we have accesses way more information than before. For example every day you can absorb as much knowledge as King Henry the eighth did in his entire life. This is all due to the improvement of technology. Sadly technology also has a bad side, with faster communication, rumors can be spread faster and kids can be bullied easier. The internet can easily become a second world for many people, especially young adults. Technology is the basis for many relationships, especially long distances. Match.com and other dating sites take advantage of the fact so many people use technology as a way to make or maintain relationships. With technology comes a large amount of knowledge that is easily accessible. Some of the knowledge offends or scares many people but our government hasn’t gotten the point of completely censoring everything. In Fahrenheit 451, a novel about a dystopian society, Ray Bradbury illustrates what he believes our world should be like right now. This scarily accurate novel demonstrates the way technology has affected knowledge and relationships in both our world and the world of Fahrenheit 451 in the same way.

Expanding government control over the individual prompts human-rights infringement and institutionalized oppression. The government in question is The Capitol, who are the institution that Katniss Everdeen is struggling against. They are a technologically advanced, utopian city that houses the country’s most wealthy and influential people live. The Capitol is simply the name of the government of Panem. As the center of power in Panem, the country’s twelve districts are controlled there, as well as the location of the Hunger Games. It is a tyrannical dictatorship that is headed by President Snow, he has total political and economic control over the districts which he enforces by his army of Peacekeepers, also by propaganda and capital punishment.

A dystopia represents the polar opposite of a utopia. Indeed, it could even be considered a failed utopia, a failed ideal society. If one accepts this notion as fact, then it would lead to the logical conclusion that both must share some of the same characteristics. Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 portrays one such dystopia that has emerged throughout the ages clearly depicting characteristics such as conformity, isolation from external influences, and an apparent lack of poverty, misery, and war.