Ray Bradbury's Use Of Government Control In Fahrenheit 451

Overall, In the novel Fahrenheit 451 author Ray Bradbury illustrates the idea that censorship and family had a negative

Bradbury also alludes to Henry David Thoreau and his books Walden and Civil Disobedience to show oppression in Montag’s society. Walden talks about the beauty in individualism and self thought. “Walden is viewed not only as a philosophical treatise on labour, leisure, self-reliance, and individualism but also as an influential piece of nature writing. It is considered Thoreau’s masterwork” (Encyclopedia Britannica). The lack of individualism because of the government, is clear evidence of oppression in the Fahrenheit 451 society. Second, Walden talks about the beauty in nature and small towns. In Montag’s society, there are no small towns and little nature, just big

Of all literary works regarding dystopian societies, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is perhaps one of the most bluntly shocking, insightful, and relatable of them. Set in a United States of the future, this novel contains a government that has banned books and a society that constantly watches television. However, Guy Montag, a fireman (one who burns books as opposed to actually putting out fires) discovers books and a spark of desire for knowledge is ignited within him. Unfortunately his boss, the belligerent Captain Beatty, catches on to his newfound thirst for literature. A man of great duplicity, Beatty sets up Montag to ultimately have his home destroyed and to be expulsed from the city. On the other hand, Beatty is a much rounder

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.

Books have been the main source of obtaining information and discovering a world of knowledge, imagination, and exploration throughout all periods of time.

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 tells a story of the tyranny of government and the dystopian view of literacy that is defined through book banning in a futuristic society. The main character of this novel, Guy Montag, is a government official that is charged with locating rebellions individuals that possess books. These government watchdogs must then burn the

Knowledge is power. A power that gives the people their right to have influence in society. Imagine a world where this power was taken away. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, a fireman named Guy Montag lives in a society some time in the future where a fireman’s job is to burn all books in order to prevent people from trying to revolt against the government with knowledge, and the books are replaced by mindless technology. Montag is originally one of the majority of people who is brainwashed and conforms to this society. After meeting an unusual teenager named Clarisse who introduces him to books, Montag starts to wonder what books are really like. As he begins reading literature, Montag breaks away from the others and becomes one of these non-conformists himself, speaking out against the corrupt society. Many key aspects of the society set up by Bradbury show how technology has destroyed this fictional society and causes readers to notice similarities in today’s real society.

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

The government’s role and control of the flow of knowledge and memory only benefits themselves. It can be seen that the government controls the withdrawal of knowledge and memory through the firemen in this society who work for the government. A scene where we can see that society is controlling and limiting the flow of knowledge and memory is when Beatty is talking to Montag inside Montag’s house when Montag is sick, “Don’t give them any slippery stuff like philosophy or sociology to tie things up with. That way lies melancholy” (Bradbury 58). Beatty is the fire chief in this society, so he is somewhat connected to the government because he works for them; he says to Montag that the government doesn’t give the citizens things such as philosophy

Ray Bradbury, the author of Fahrenheit 451 wrote a book about a society that is extremely different from today. In Fahrenheit 451, books are a thing of the past. The government has prohibited the possession and use of books to the people. Because of this, all knowledge of the past is eradicated from the minds of the people. The people within this society don’t understand or acknowledge anything that is happening around them. Not only is the world wartorn, but it is also extremely unaware of the things the government is doing. The people fail to recognize what is happening to them, and how they are being manipulated and controlled. The main character, Guy Montag is a firefighter. But, not the kind one might think. He does quite the opposite, and burns any books that are found in the hands of the people. Over the course of the story, Montag realizes how the lack of human interaction and freedom of the people, leads to the extreme government control over the city.

In the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, this society is very has a lot of censorship and government control because the people are narrow minded, have lost the thought of humanity in their souls, and scared of what life could be like with imagination. In this book people burn books because the government has banned them. Everyone feel sad and no one has opinions. This society is very different but similar in some way to our own today.

How scared would you be if at any moment your house could get burnt down for just having a book? This fear is realized in Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451. Fahrenheit 451 is about a dystopian world where books and free thinkers are singled out and attacked by the rest of society. The book follows the main character Guy Montag as he uncovers the truth about books and what society use to be. He starts off as a book burner, but later realizes how useful books are to people. The culture, characters, and theme in Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 create an interesting dystopian novel that serves as a warning to future readers.

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.

Ray Bradbury has repeatedly said how his book, Fahrenheit 451, is not about government censorship but just plain censorship. This can be seen throughout the book in the sense that the government did not have much interference with the way the books were censored, more, it was the society around the books. The idea is predominantly present when the characters within the book refer to the actors on the tv as ‘family’ by their own free will. “Millie, does”—he licked his lips—”does your ‘family’ love you, love you very much, love you with all their heart and soul, Millie?” (Bradbury 73). Also in the book, it is mentioned that eventually people stopped reading as much by their own choosing as well, further solidifying Bradbury’s announcement that it was not about government censorship. When looking back on the novel, one is able to see how the impact of TV really brought the society to shambles. Rarely does it ever mention the government or order of how things are, just hints at there being some unspoken rules within the society. This is the message that Bradbury had hoped to achieve with Fahrenheit 451, but unfortunately the message had not been relayed to most. “He bristles when others tell him what his stories mean, and once walked out of a class at UCLA where students insisted his book was about government censorship” (Johnston 1). The author’s ultimate goal was to knock TV down a notch, not the government. Unfortunately, the original message of

Government censorship allows people of more power to have complete control over the people of the nation. In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, government censorship plays a major role in how the everyday person lives their life. The protagonist, Guy Montag has constant struggles trying to hide his secret passion for reading, but one thing will always be the same. No matter how intelligent he becomes, he is no more important then someone that’s never read. The belief that even the most intelligent men are not important at all, comes from the idea of censorship in the government banning books, not allowing anyone to become more intelligent by reading.