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Ray Bradbury 's ' Fahrenheit 451 ' Government Control And Fear

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In 1947, the United States of America faced the beginning of the Cold War. The Cold War lasted about 45 years. Within that time; in 1953, one of the most influential American authors published his Science-Fiction novel, Fahrenheit 451. Fahrenheit 451 is about a Dystopian culture in which books are forbidden, and burned. Burning the books is a type of censorship, in which the citizens are only permitted to read books that have been preapproved by the government. The conflicts and concerns expressed in Senator Joseph R. McCarthy’s speech that give rise to the society and atmosphere created by Ray Bradbury in Fahrenheit 451 is government control and fear.

In Senator McCarthy’s speech delivered on February 9, 1950 he showed the world a whole new side of the trusted government they thought the United States had; the Communist side. In McCarthy’s speech he begins by speaking of the day being the birthday of our past President Abraham Lincoln. Then gradually alludes to the fear that he feels for the security of the United States. One of the first points that McCarthy makes is, “This is a time of ‘the cold war.’ This is a time when all of the world is split into two vast, increasingly hostile armed camps… Today we can almost physically hear the mutterings and rumblings of an invigorated god of war.” McCarthy uses words like “hostile” and “invigorated god of war” showing the people that the threat is real. That they shouldn’t ignore it. McCarthy is looking for a response in his

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