Censorship In Fahrenheit 451, By Ray Bradbury

In 1953 Ray Bradbury wrote a novel titled Fahrenheit 451. It is a science fiction novel set in the future. In a time so dreadful, books are outlawed, and reading is forbidden. People who are caught with books have them taken away and the books are burned and destroyed into ashe. With books being burnt into destruction, people’s ideas and creativity is destroyed as well.

In this Dystopian novel, books are not meant to be read, but rather meant to be burned. The world is dictated by the government through the censorship of books because they are a distraction to society. It’s a fast paced lifestyle with no room to slow down, read a book, and concentrate on what’s important. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, there are many examples of references to literature that show the theme of the novel, which is how censorship affects a society, like when the women was going to be burned with her books, when Beatty was explaining to Montag why books were burned when Montag felt sick, and lastly, when Montag let Faber see the Bible. Censorship played a huge role in Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, because it was used to limit education, spread propaganda, and change history to benefit the government.

In the book Fahrenheit 451 censorship made you think before you did anything there was no time to make any mistakes. Everything was limited of what you could do by the government in this society, everything having to do with knowledge was gone down the drain. This was a very dangerous society and a dangerous one at that to live in. Everyone should have freedom no matter what the deal was and this society didn’t of that. This society had much drama and fear in it, it was a scary place to live knowing that you don’t have any rights or any kind of freedom.

In the novel Fahrenheit 451 the author Ray Bradbury explores the idea that censorship may lead to situations where people unknowingly resist thinking for themselves, but it may also inspire others to rebel against apathy and search for understanding on their own. Situations as in rebellion can develop when censoring topics. Confusion may develop along with technology advancements because society no longer think for themselves. Clarisse a 16 year old girl, introduces herself to Guy Montag on his route home from the fire station. Clarisse appeared very curious, questioning Montag’s life, while effortlessly he would answer.

“When you tear out a man’s tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you’re only telling the world that you fear what he might say” -George R.R. Martin. According to the Oxford dictionary, censorship is the suppression of any parts books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene. In other words, censorship means to ban anything that is thought to be a threat to society. Fahrenheit 451 was published in 1953 and written by Ray Bradbury.

Censorship negatively affects the society because it does not allow the people to experience the many differences in the world. People have restrictions on the information they can see which is also a violation of their rights. Although the reasons for censorship are normally to protect a minority or a smaller group that feels attacked by the book, the information, or the entertainment type that is being shown, it overall hurts the society because it creates a community with no differences as people can not be involved with different perspectives. Ironically Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury, a book specifically illustrating the harm censorship causes, has been challenged on multiple occasions because of the improper behavior as well

“One of the most widely publicized censorship cases of the 1950s, censorship were prominent themes of the McCarthy era, a time in which books or films that dealt with race issues were often attacked as Communist propaganda.” (Robbins, pg. 331) Fahrenheit 451 and this era occurred at the same time, this was Bradbury’s point behind the story. He created a fiction novel that ended up mimicking the world’s problems during that current time. A dystopian society was created where there was unhappiness and sorrow, the people just led their lives and did not question.

Fahrenheit 451 and The Hunger Games are both ruled by an oppressive government in a futuristic society. In Fahrenheit 451 the government keeps the people in check by using the power of ignorance. They purposely make sure the people’s only source of outside knowledge is through technology they control, TV. They take extreme measures when the people are not compliant and burn their house down along with property. The Hunger Games government on the other hand take a more direct approach in their attempts to make the people ignorant.

Imagine living in a world where people are not allowed to read books or to have access to information. Living in this kind of a state might mentally cripple a person or even lead to a world where innovation does not exist, because people are not allowed to explore and think for themselves. In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag demonstrates the difficult and isolating battle of one man against an oppressive government. In Montag’s struggle, he loses his job and his wife, yet he gains a sense of internal freedom by choosing to leave the city and to continue to read books. In order to control the citizens of the dystopian civilization displayed in Fahrenheit 451, the government censors the information the population receives about every detail in their culture, so indoctrination of the citizens is fairly easy to achieve; however, the nature of humans is to live in a state of freedom.

Throughout history, people have been willing to die in protest against authorities for their ideas and their freedom of thought. The British tried to silence Gandhi when he fought to end imperialism in India and lead his homeland to independence. Some authoritative figures tried to silence Martian Luther King Jr when he fought against the accepted discrimination of the day and led the Civil Rights Movement. These two, and many more, believed that freedom of thought and their ability to express those thoughts despite was something worth dying for. The book Fahrenheit 451 emphasizes the importance of standing up for your ideas and freedom of thought.

Bradbury seems like he's only against the censorship that interferes with books and writing. Nothing else is mentioned in as great detail as burning books and trying to stop it. There are a couple references to people being forced to speed but not great detail on anything else. I feel like, in a certain way, this society does exist already, though not exactly. People are obsessed with TV and video games and anything to keep them busy, as long as there are educated people out numbering the uneducated and there are people with some sense, then I don't think it will get as bad as in the book.

It was a result of the recent escalation in politics of the Cold War and the spread of communism throughout the world. This lead to extreme paranoia in citizens and lead them to question everyone from their neighbors to officials of the government. Edward Eller explores this idea and weighs in on his interpretation of the analogy in his analysis “An overview of Fahrenheit 451.” Eller focuses on the point that “most significantly for Bradbury, the U.S. government responded to its fear of growing communist influence with attempts to censor the media and its productions, including literature” (Eller 1986). Fahrenheit 451 coincidentally seems to be in a similar situation with a war occurring in the background of the novel.

In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the world is in a state of corruption and intellectual darkness. Bradbury portrays a dystopia in which censorship has evolved into its full potential. It is a world in which all literary mediums are outlawed. Firemen are used as police officers to burn all books, and its owners’ houses. The firemen’s occupation is beneficial to the totalitarian regime in rule because the burning of the books allows the people to become ignorant, which allow the government to have total control.

Fahrenheit 451 a novel written by Ray Bradbury highlighted the idea of censorship,the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, flims,nes, etc. that are considered obscene , politically unacceptbl or a threat to security. Censorship wasn’t theony themei this book it also largley highlight that people are willing to die for what they believe in.

Fahrenheit 451 clearly demonstrates the potential effects of censoring literature. In Bradbury’s society, literature is the only medium directly censored by the government. Their literary ban had such an extreme effect that they don’t even need to censor any other media. The citizens of this society are entertained and distracted to the point where the government can basically do whatever they want. There is no need to censor the news because the people don’t care enough to pay attention or question it.