Fahrenheit 451 And The Chinese Cultural Revolution

Burn it,” (Bradbury 59, 7)-- and eventually people began getting offended by so many things, that eventually all books were banned. Similarly, people are very easily offended in today’s society. For example, some Christians were insulted by a coffee cup that mentions Hannukah, but not Christmas. Another point to be made is the censorship of books in schools-- obviously, a huge part of Fahrenheit 451 is the banishment of books. “‘Do you ever read any of the books you burn?’ He laughed. ‘That’s against the law!’ (Bradbury 8, 3-4).. Many schools ban books from their libraries and reading lists. However, that isn’t really the same as banishing and burning all books. In Fahrenheit 451, the government chooses exactly what people hear and see, and is very controlling. “Any man’s insane who thinks he can fool the government and us,’” (Bradbury 33, 8). Today, some countries’ governments are similarly controlling. North Korea, for example, is listed as

The governments in both Fahrenheit 451 and North Korea don’t let any information enter the public without making sure that it won’t change their view on them. In the novel, the government doesn't let anyone read books because they have views that are offensive and will upset the public and they don’t want the ideas to deplete their power. When people start to realize that they are being taken advantage of they start to revolt by collecting books in Fahrenheit 451. In Fahrenheit 451 Guy Montag says “Maybe the books can get us half out the cave. They might stop us from making the same damn mistakes” (Bradbury 76). He is saying that the views that the books give can help the people and get them out of the mind control that the government put them in. If the people don’t realize that the government is hiding so much information

In Bradbury 's Fahrenheit 451, a dystopian society is depicted lacking one major aspect; books. Written in the wake of the cultural purge by Nazi Germany, there are evident parallels of the effects of mass media on culture between the book and the events that took place in Germany. Bradbury 's intent of the novel is to demonstrate that in the lack of books and outside forms of culture, information given replaces true, original thought, and the one thing that makes people human disappears. Without the ability to freely think or successfully communicate, humanity becomes no different than a machine. In Anthem, by Ayn Rand, Equality 7-2521 comes to the realization that the significance of individuality, and that one’s own free thoughts, ideas, and perceptions are what gives the individual purpose, and the world a meaning. Guy Montag comes to a similar realization when he follows the steps of Equality 7-2521, and takes a step back from society to gain a lens through Clarisse McKlellan. A lack of culture and literature has visible effects of Clarisse McKellan, Guy Montag, Mildred, and society as a whole. The ideologies, class struggles, and methods of control depicted in Fahrenheit 451 shed light upon the oppression of culture in the absence of books, literature, and a basis for freethought.

The movie, “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury, expresses many situations which we might still live in. Ray Bradbury showcased many examples where the government validated what was right for society. People were so comfortable living under censorship that they did not even imagine they were giving up their freedom of expression. The main character in the novel, a 30-year-old man named Guy Montag, became a fireman whose duties were to search for books in people’s homes and burned them. He performed his job and did not think he was harming anyone. His dad was a fireman and so was his grandfather. He felt being a fireman was a family tradition. Throughout the movie, Guy Montag rebelled against control and conformity. He had realized

The dystopian American society presented in Fahrenheit 451 has an omnipotent government that inhibits the people through censorship and surveillance. When the book was written in the 1950s, spies, nuclear weapons, and new technology had just arouse from the Cold War and gave Americans an ominous and pessimistic perspective on their future. Throughout the opening pages, the government's absolute power allows them to manipulate reality and regulate the life of the populace. This adversely affects the life of the citizens and restricts their ability to think freely and be cognizant of the authoritative regime.

As you can see many people, many important people had been affected. Many books were also burned or banned such as Robin Hood, Civil Disobedience, etc (Anti-Communism). As was stated before many people had lost their jobs because the government was suspicious of people.

The governmental control of the society in Fahrenheit 451 is unbelievable; it's unbelievable to think that the government could have so much control. The government has so much control due to the loss of individuality caused by conformity. According to the author, "They all say the same things and nobody says anything different from anyone else" (Bradbury 31). This was done in several ways; some of the ways were through the lack of books, education (or what we believe education to be), and the lack of teachers. The influence (pure control) of the government over the media, education, and any literature that was available to the public. The media and entertainment is controlled by the government to the point that its citizens have better relationships with media personalities than with their own families. The government grasped the rights of education by not educating and allowing its students to run a muck. According to the author, "Clarisse - I'm afraid of children my own age. They kill each other" (Bradbury

The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, beginning as a campaign targeted at removing Chairman Mao Zedong's political opponents, was a time when practically every aspect of Chinese society was in pandemonium. From 1966 through 1969, Mao encouraged revolutionary committees, including the red guards, to take power from the Chinese Communist party authorities of the state. The Red Guards, the majority being young adults, rose up against their teachers, parents, and neighbors. Following Mao and his ideas, The Red Guard's main goal was to eliminate all remnants of the old culture in China. They were the 'frontline implementers' who produced havoc, used bloody force, punished supposed 'counter

Thomas Jefferson once said, “That government is best which governs least…”. In Fahrenheit 451, a dystopian novel written by Ray Bradbury, the government puts extreme laws in place to “protect” the people. Except, that these laws keep the citizens from knowing the truth. The good laws like speed limit aren’t enforced and the things that shouldn’t matter, like owning a book, are so strongly enforced, that if it is you that is found to own a book, your house will be burnt down. The government keeps everyone in check by censoring the citizens. During the 1950’s, the entire country was in fear of communism. There was a blacklist of authors, actors, and public figures. No one would hire them or buy their work. Bradbury wanted to warn the country of what could happen if it continued being ignorant , and by using pathos, rhetorical questions, and repetition, he effectively conveyed his purpose.

In Fahrenheit 451, the government uses fear, propaganda, and brutal force to gain control of their citizens.The goal was enable ignorance to control society for instance, Firemen burned books for “censorship” books informed people with information which was threatful to the government because it was easier to control people if they were

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is a story that's deep meaning will make your hope for mankind burn brighter than ever. Bradbury's classic novel warned people of the past and people still today the dangers of the overwhelming presence of technology and the oppression of the government. Bradbury asks people to see the importance of books and intelligence, he tells us how we can benefit from them. Fahrenheit 451 was largely impacted by the fear of communism because of the time period that Bradbury lived in, which is very evident with the type of society Bradbury has created. Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 tells the risks of censorship and restriction of information through events such as outlawing books, people become mindless from censorship, and the use of mass media.

Fahrenheit 451 written by, Ray Bradbury was published in 1953 symbolizing the idea of a modern dystopia through the perspective of Guy Montag. Representing the totalitarian government in place, Montag's job is to dehumanize the world by burning books to ensure the cataclysmic decline in society. Eventually, Montag gains abstract emotions towards books and even social criticism towards his fellow peers: it places the world against him. Throughout the book, Bradbury's uses cautionary tones that come from the patterns of America's cultural shifts in the 1950s as more people develop a sense of armed resistance and opposition towards the government's suspicions. In many ways, Bradbury predicted behaviors that saturate much of modern American culture. Today, the abundance of and dependence on phone technologies are reaching a ubiquitous point in society; so much so, that these technologies are shaping people's thought processes, chipping away from the function of contemplation and concentration humans naturally possess.

In the novel, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, you can obviously infer and come to the conclusion that censorship and the lack of free speech created a huge impact on the society. For example, the people of that society were not educated. The civilians only knew false knowledge and information. “Houses have always been fireproof, take my word for it” (Bradbury 12). This literally supports my statement when I say how uneducated the people were. If houses were fireproof, we would not need firemen. The whole point of the occupation is putting out fires, not starting them. That is a firefighter’s true purpose. These people are being brainwashed into believing facts that cannot be farther from the truth. House have never been fireproof, take my word for it. In addition, because of censorship, nobody really paid attention to what was happening around them in the real world. Little things would not be able to be detected. “I sometimes think drivers don’t know what grass is, or flowers,

Firemen today are around to put out fires, but in Fahrenheit 451, the temperature books burn, they are the ones that start the fires when they hear about a house that contains books. Anti-Intellectualism was used in the novel Fahrenheit 451 by the firemen burning books and the houses that contained them. Anti-Intellectualism is when a group or individual disagrees with given knowledge, for example burning books in Fahrenheit 451 because they disagreed with the knowledge contained within them. Firemen saw books as nothing but a waste, but still went through with harsh punishments to anyone in possession of a book because it was a law. Similar was done throughout history. Something like that was a huge world event showing that we can be punished for knowledge. Events like the Salem witch trials, nazi occupied germany, and isis all believed that information should be censored and heavily practiced anti-intellectualism. That similar illegalization and burning of books in Fahrenheit 451 leads to unhappiness, anti-intellectualism of citizens, and even death to the very people who believed it was better for the population.

Although the Cultural Revolution had a huge impact on all of the citizens of China, it seemed to affect the youth the most. The youth of China began to get involved after a speech by Lin Biao by 1965. It urged the students in schools and colleges to return to the basic principles of the CR. The Chinese youths quickly formed a group called the Red Guards early in the CR, which encouraged all the Chinese students to disapprove of whoever didn’t support Mao and his beliefs or anyone associated with Mao’s rival, Liu Shaoqi (Trueman). Schools and colleges were closed, and the students neglected their studies. While the Red Guards were very passionate about what they did, their enthusiasm nearly pushed China into social disorder. The economy was affected very badly, and almost driven to a near collapse (Busetto, Galduroz, and Satou). Food shortage was one of the main problems the economy caused. Also In some areas, the activities of the Red Guards got out of hand. They