Mccarthyism In Fahrenheit 451

In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury shapes a society that is restricted in speech and thought and centered on technology. In this future, books have been banned. When discovered, they are burned along with the houses they are found in. Responsible for setting the fires are “firemen”. Among them is Guy Montag, the main character of the novel. The elimination of books was merely one step of many to fully eradicate individual freedom of thought and speech. In his efforts to explain to Montag the history of their society’s censorship, Captain Beatty lectures: "The bigger your market, Montag, the less you handle controversy, remember that! All the minor minor minorities with their navels to be kept clean. Authors, full of evil thoughts. Lock up your typewriters. They did”(Bradbury 57). Beatty clarifies that it was the people rather than the government that purged the world of books in order to cease controversy and prevent feud. Opposite to the presumed result, their world is more consumed in war than ever before. The privation of human interaction leaves their society passionless and without true happiness. To compensate for the love lost, their world is drowned in various technologies. Televisions coating entire walls, and the characters inside them, become of chief importance over actual people: “’Will you turn the parlour off?’ he asked. ‘That’s my family’” (Bradbury 48-49). Montag’s wife Mildred entirely disregards her husband’s request as it seems her television characters are of higher value to her than her own husband. Along with her, the

“If someone tells you what a story is about, they are probably right. If they tell you that is all the story is about, they are very definitely wrong.” (Neil Gaiman). This quote connects to how stories, are not just based off of one topic, but are based off of several topics that can all relate to the central idea or message. Similarly, it represents how others’ perspectives on what the meaning of a true story is can be different from others. In this case, Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel written by author Ray Bradbury, in which the protagonist and firemen, Guy Montag is required to burn and destroy books in the homes of citizens. Montag does not usually question why he does this, until he meets a fellow young

In this story censorship, plays a big role and is one of the key important themes portrayed throughout the novel. Politicians today have done similar things to attempt to censor citizens from situations in foreign countries just like the firemen from Fahrenheit 451. In Ray Bradbury’s novel, the firemen burn the books to shield their people from knowledge of the past. They want to keep their society pure and away from anything that will make them to not obey their protocols. The examples of censorship in the book would be banning of literature, burning offensive novels and sometimes burning the owners of the books with them. In Fahrenheit 451, censorship has an immense effect on the dystopian society’s characteristics and intelligence.

Juan Ramon Jimenez once said, “If they give you ruled paper, write the other way”. This quote shows the challenge of authority, like Montag and his society. Just like challenging the normal, or doing the opposite of what seems to be right by “writing the other way” on a lined piece of paper, Montag chooses to challenge authority by reading, remembering, and comprehending books, instead of burning them. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury takes place in a dystopian society in the twenty-fourth century and the main character is Guy Montag. He is a fireman whose job is to burn books and start fires instead of putting them out. Moreover, he lives in a society which just listens to government propaganda and follows whatever they are told; the citizens do not think deeply about aspects in life but rather focus on mind-numbing activities, that does not take any deep thought process. Books are banned but Montag takes the risk to start to read books, hoping they will bring him happiness in the dark world he lives in. In his journey he has three mentors who help him, Clarisse, Faber, and Granger. The protagonist, Guy Montag, changes as a result of the conflict within his dystopian society and this change connects to the novel’s theme of government censorship over its citizens.

The dystopian novel, “Fahrenheit 451” was written by Ray Bradbury in the 1950’s. It tells the story of a 30 year old fireman, Guy Montag. He starts out as loyal to his society which was a burden to heavy censorship and an upcoming war. After a series of events, he’s in pursuit of breaking free of it. The author uses censorship to demonstrate a good example of what it would be like to live in a world where society had no knowledge.

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, is set in a dystopian society. The government’s main belief is happiness is the result of everyone being equal. The government believes that certain books should be forbidden because those books bring false, individual ideas, which make people unhappy. Guy Montag is just like every other fireman: he does not read the books, just burns them. Then one day, he meets Clarisse, a young girl, that challenges his viewpoint of life. After several conversations with her, he begins to question the government’s ideals. He starts stealing and reading the forbidden books, and he begins to understand the purpose of those books. Montag then meets up with an old friend, and they make plans to start a revolution by

“We stand against the small tide of those who want to make everyone unhappy with conflicting theory and thought. We have our fingers on a dike. Hold steady. Don’t let the torrent of melancholy and drear philosophy drown our world. We depend on you. I don’t think you realize how important you are, we are, to our happy world as it stands now.” (Bradbury 59). This quote illustrates, how the societies government is making people think that books and theories are what makes the society unhappy. This is what makes the people that start theories and read books separate from their society and hide from the government and their cruel punishments towards the book readers. In the novel, Fahrenheit 451, a man named Guy Montag, goes on a journey to find out about the books that are hidden from his society. Along the way, Guy starts to notices that he is different from the others who watch the “parlor walls”. In the novel, Fahrenheit 451, the author, Ray Bradbury teaches the readers the theme of censorship to show how the protagonist, Guy Montag, changes as a result of the conflict in his dystopian society.

The Red Scare is referred to as America’s fear of communism. Taking a second to look back on History, American suspicion of communism first began in the 1920’s during World War One. Thirty years later, the paranoia over communism was stirred up by the influences of war against the Soviet Union, Un-American Activities committee and McCarthyism. This changed America’s perception of society and politics.

In today’s world, a number of topics that are considered to be mature are being censored. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, touches upon the topic. The book indicates that censorship is not justifiable and letting people think freely is what makes the world what it is. Censoring subjects that are considered mature is not justifiable. Censorship limits the author and restricts the readers, prepares people to fail in real world situations, and humans have the right to know about any subject comes to mind.

In Fahrenheit 451, owning and reading books is illegal. Members of society focus only on entertainment and speeding through life. If books are found, they are burned and their owner is arrested. If the owner refuses to abandon the books, as is the case with the Old Woman, he or she often dies, burning along with the books. People with interests outside of technology and entertainment are viewed as strange, and possible threats. In this novel, censorship plays an enormous role and is noted to be the most important theme through the actions of the people and the reason why the banned books in the first place.

In this story censorship, plays a big role and is one of the key important themes portrayed throughout the novel. Religious groups have done similar things like in the book to protect citizens from the influence of wrongful words just like the firemen from Fahrenheit 451. In Ray Bradbury’s novel, the firemen burn every book they find to shield their people from knowledge of the past. They want to keep their society pure and away from anything that will make them not obey their protocols. The examples of censorship in the book would be banning of literature, burning offensive novels and sometimes burning the owners of the books with them. In Fahrenheit 451, censorship has an immense effect on the dystopian society’s characteristics and intelligence.

While censorship is certainly used as a method of social barrier in Fahrenheit 451, While censorship is certainly used as a method of social barrier in Fahrenheit 451, it is not as much of a problem as the forced dumbing-down of society. Because the government wants to keep the people contented, they removed the intellectual idea of books so that nobody would have conflicting opinions. However, this became a self replicating situation, people stopped caring about other possible ideas and only about keeping themselves content with television entertainment. Censorship is noticed in many different ways in Fahrenheit 451. Normally if someone was asked about the roles of firemen, they would assume to put out a fire.

Once Montag begins reading the book that he took from burning the books at someone’s house in the past, he realizes how censored the world he is living in is. He thinks about the whole issue with Faber, a professor, about everything that is wrong, along with the fact that they are not happy because the world they are living in censored. Montag later returns back to his wife who was watching “her family” on television, when she discovered that he had a book. He talked to her all about the restriction in their world, then went to work. When he arrived, he got ready to go to the next house to burn the books, and it was his own. He thought through everything and decided he would live a happier life away from all of the censorship, so he decided to run away. In the end, the whole city ended in a war, in the search for Montag, all because of the censorship that took place, causing all of this to happen. The people living in the novel thought that they were happy, but their lack of knowledge made it hard for them to see how miserably they were living. The novel Fahrenheit 451, displays the dangers of censorship, and the fact that people should be living in a world where they are

Fahrenheit 451 is a science-fiction book written by the popular American author, Ray Bradbury. The main character of the novel is Guy Montag, a person who lives in a world where books are burned and censorship is an issue in their society. The plight of the society Guy Montag lives in was that his government was forcibly changing people’s views to form a communist society. In the beginning of Fahrenheit 451 Montag was a conformist and went along with everything that the government was trying to pursue without questioning anything, but throughout the book, Montag develops from an antagonist to a non-conformist who began to question the world he lived in. Throughout the book I observed the way Montag’s point of view changes ever so drastically. Montag’s new mindset led him to question his open mindedness. Questioning his society and

Conformity plays an intricate role in many dystopian settings. Civilization in Fahrenheit 451 is forced to purge itself of books, as community leaders, including the nefarious Captain Beatty, claim this as a necessity for the sake of general happiness. According to the governing body this drastic measure prevents individuals from forming opinions and, therefore, helps prevent discord. Any citizens found with books in their homes face dire consequences. Their houses are doused with kerosene and set alight by the notorious firemen, and should book-owners refuse to submit the books to the conflagration, the owners themselves are left to burn. This deliberate spurning of intellectual activity leads to a society dominated by, and even encourages, narrow-minded, shallow individuals who are easily manipulated by government propaganda. As the main character, a fireman named Guy Montag, begins to realize, this government-controlled, and