The book that will be reviewed is Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury. The author used the effect of parallelism extremely well by showing the similarities of both then and now. In the following paragraphs we're going to encounter these parallelisms, we will compare the book to the time period in which it was written, and our own time period post September 11. Before we can do this we must first get to know the author and the era in which it was based off of just a bit.
To get a clear view and understanding of the book, first must review the time period in history. The book was written in the mid 1950's during the cold war. Former General McCarthy, then U.S. Senator started a fire ball of suspicion, suppression, and
…show more content…
People in that time period just wanted to distance themselves from anyone on the list due to the government's overwhelming power, and the intense fear of losing everything they had. This society lived when communism was feared; it ate up the freedoms they had in their society. The rights and freedoms that were once taken for granted were now longed for. Now that there is a brief understanding of the time period we can now take a look at the book.
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
Censorship amounts prohibition of expression of someone’s ideas, thoughts which may be detrimental and prejudicial to a particular class of people. The book Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, revolves around the idea of censorship as a bane to the society and culture. The book touches on various consequences of censorship like social isolation and infringement of thoughts. Bradbury has given an accurate representation of the society leading to an end as censorship proceeds to prohibit literature. Literature is power and censorship is suppressing it. Suppressing
The late 1940′s were a time when much change happened to the American society. As a result to the expanding threat of the Soviet Union, or its Communistic ideals, America took a stand that lead it to the Cold War. Although the war didn’t involve fighting directly with Russia, it still affected the American society and domestic policy. The war affected America so much that it lead to a fear of livelihood; precisely when Joseph McCarthy began his “witch hunt”. The Cold war lead to an enlarged fear of nuclear war; as well, it affected many of the domestic policies.
In 1950 the emergence of the Second Red Scare’s driving force, Senator Joseph McCarthy, appeared and gave a speech proclaiming that America will soon be lost to communism if the people do not stand up to combat it. He revealed that night a list of 205 people working for Soviet Russia in the United States’ State Department whose intentions were to mold America from the inside to become a socialist nation. (Fitzgerald, p. 14) It was thanks to this newfound hysteria that began to break out thanks to McCarthy’s claims that the HUAC and other like-minded organizations began to gain momentum during this time period.
Government interferences commonly occur both in Fahrenheit 451 and the real world. The censorship is to keep the population unaware of the truth of what happens throughout the world, and corruption of the government. All the different ways to censor something happen to accomplish one goal, to keep the public away from the negative truths about themselves. Several events in history show that this is a fairly popular habit among different governments and nations. Although these events are real life situations, Ray Bradbury is able to broadcast these thoughts in Fahrenheit 451. Ray Bradbury’s overall statement in the book shows the truth on how the government treats the public.
In the novel, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the society that is currently present is in a very difficult state. They do not know how to handle themselves and they are self-dependent on what the government has to offer. In addition, the people in this society are not able to communicate with others and as a result they have become self-reliant on technology. This makes them unable to think and get ideas because the government does not allow it. Ultimately, they are faced with the increasing power of the government and its ability to take advantage of this society. The three major issues in the novel are that their society relies on the government for their decisions, they use technology an overwhelming amount, and they did not have the option
The people in Fahrenheit 451 let the government and media control them like robots, they do not think on their own and are so focused on obeying what they are being told that they do not even question what is being communicated to them by the government. “The most important single thing we had to pound into ourselves is that we were not important….We’re nothing more than dust jackets for books, of no significance otherwise.” (Bradbury 153). This quote shows how the books are being coated in dust and not read or enjoyed for the knowledge they can provide. The books are banned from being read, therefore the people in this society are just “dust jackets”. These “dust jackets” lie on the books with “no significance
In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury tells a story about the utopian future where the government controls human identity. In that society there is no place for free thoughts. Those who read are outlawed and sometimes killed. On the first pages of the novel, Juan Jimenez wrote a striking quote:” If they give you ruled paper write the other way”, and that quote pretty much shows the author’s attitude toward public pressure, censorship and oppression. It unquestionably can be stated that without knowledge there is no freedom, books- are the only answer to the demise of the oppressor.
In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, the government obtains and maintains power over the populous by destroying any information that could stand against the government’s view of what
In Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451, censorship plays a significant role in the dystopian society. The novel illustrates what it would be like if the government had full control of what society reads, watches, or communicates. According to Bradbury, this perpetuates ignorance because society blindly obeys the government. Most people in the novel are unaware of their unhappiness with society, including Mildred, Guy Montag’s wife, who almost commits suicide by mistakenly taking an entire bottle of sleeping pills. Censorship has a great effect on the personalities and knowledge of the people in the society. The society is essentially “trapped” in a toxic world filled with ignorance (Mogen 105). The government feels by controlling all forms of media, society should be cooperative and happy; however, once citizens become distracted by the consequences of owning and reading books, unhappiness and chaos occur. Reading books promotes knowledge, which encourages people to think, but because of censorship, the society has become ignorant.
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.
The theme of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 can be seen from several different viewpoints. Bradbury's novel primarily gives an anti-censorship message. Bradbury understood censorship to be a natural projection of an extremely tolerant society. The society envisioned by Bradbury in Fahrenheit 451 is often compared to Huxley's Brave New World, according to the researchers at novelguide.com. Though both works certainly have an anti-government theme,
In the book Fahrenheit 451 the theme is a society/world that revolves around being basically brain washed or programmed because of the lack of people not thinking for themselves concerning the loss of knowledge, and imagination from books that don't exist to them. In such stories as the Kurt Vonnegut's "You have insulted me letter" also involving censorship to better society from vulgarity and from certain aspects of life that could be seen as disruptive to day to day society which leads to censorship of language and books. Both stories deal with censorship and by that society is destructed in a certain way by the loss of knowledge from books.
Setting is also important, as it refers to the period this book was set in, the 1950’s. Ultimately, it is a reflection of what was happening in American society at the time, and what American society expected from each other. McCarthyism, as started by Senator Joseph McCarthy, was the most prevalent movement of the 1950’s, where there was great momentum for anti-communism and the suppression of the Anti-communist party. Freedom of speech was suppressed, just like speech and actions were inside the hospital. Here, the
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.
The purpose of this analysis is to show how the themes of the novel are loosely based on the events in the soviet union, and the similarities between the world of big brother and Joseph Stalin’s communistic leadership.