The Role of Censorship What if the government took over control? Since the government exercises censorship, the citizens have a state of mind thinking they are happy. Censorship plays a major role in Fahrenheit 451. Censorship is the government excluding or hides information from the citizens. Bradbury portrays a message of allowing the government to take control of what the citizens do and not do. Their government says all thought shouldn’t be allowed and books burned. Since the government has control of their citizens, the people have no idea what the reality of life is and accept what they know as “happiness”. In Fahrenheit 451, Beatty explains to Montag that the reason censorship happened is because the people allowed it to happen. The
Cesar Frias Eng ACC Period 2 Fahrenheit 451 " It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed" (Bradbury 3). In Ray Bradbury's dramatic dystopian novel, Fahrenheit 451, tells a story about characters in a world where everything is censored, monitored, and destroyed.
In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury says that censorship can lead to violent responses. In part one of Fahrenheit 451, Montag, Beatty and some other firemen go to an old woman’s home. When they arrive, they find enough books to fill a library. They start to burn the books and try to persuade the woman to leave her home to be arrested.
There are plentiful problems that F451 by Ray Bradbury could think of when he was writing his book. He found many flaws in our future, for example the Rules and Order could rule the earth, Suicide Rates will go up because interactions aren’t a thing anymore to even as simple as a front porch not being a thing anymore because people don’t like to socialize anymore. The F451 by Ray Bradbury talks about many things throughout the 150 Page book written in only 9 days. Bradbury was desperate to get the word out to never stop reading because back then reading was the pastime but today its watching TV to sitting on the computer for a span of hours each day. Here are 3 topics that are addressed in F451.
Using Censorship as Control “‘A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon’” (Bradbury, 58). Ray Bradbury’s dystopian novel, Fahrenheit 451, depicts a controlling government that deprives society of knowledge and censors ideas that may cause rebellion.
Nowadays, people face problems with governments or a higher power censoring key information. This can happen at times when entire societies do not know the censorship is occurring. For example, governments in some countries block websites from loading; They can take down websites only from filtering a censored phrase. Likewise, in Fahrenheit 451, a dystopian novel by Ray Bradbury, all information in books is burned. The books containing information being burned by firemen, ordered by government officials, have now been censored by a higher power.
In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury’s primary goal is to portray censorship. He tries to elicit the feeling that the government is controlling the people’s thoughts, what they see, and even what they do. One of the main antagonists - Beatty say’s, “ If you don’t want a house built, hide the nails and wood. If you don’t want a man unhappy politically, don’t give him two sides to a question to worry him; Better yet, give him none”(Bradbury, 58). The Government does this to keep the people happy, or in a state of blissfulness, and satisfaction, and to keep them unaware of what is truly going on in the world.
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.
To support his claim, Weller adds that Bradbury’s article for The Nation in 1953 clearly shows that censorship was at the “forefront of his mind” when he wrote the novel. Thus, he successfully clarifies the controversial issue regarding the theme of censorship in Fahrenheit 451. A memorable saying I picked up from this article is, “Fahrenheit 451 is less about Big Brother and more about Little Sister” (Bradbury). By this, Weller explains that in Bradbury’s fictional universe, “Big Brother is less instrumental in the censorship of books than the citizens themselves who no longer care about the joy of reading.” Although Huxley’s Brave New World is similar to Fahrenheit 451, I prefer the latter, because it is simpler and easier to relate it to the world today.
What if we lived in a world where we were unable to read or own books and our houses were burned if we did? This may seem like a society that we would never want to live in however there are people this day in age that face this. There are numerous countries that censor any type of free-thinking along with any knowledge that can be gained. Fahrenheit 451 may seem like an alternate reality however it showcases what some people deal with today. Throughout history censorship has played a part, dating back to the Middle Ages and continuing until present day.
Ray Bradbury's novel, set in a future dystopian American society, brings the topic of concealing information to light to teenagers. While censorship appears in this futuristic setting, it has been a part of history since the invention of the printing press in Western Europe in the 15th century. One article on this topic explores the history of it in the world as well as different types of information that governments restrict. The article asserts that "Authoritarian governments often use censorship as a way to restrict the information their citizens receive and to maintain power over people" ("Censorship" par. 10). Fahrenheit 451 notably explores the topic of censorship which might be a new concept to certain readers.
Lois Lowry once said, “Submitting to censorship is to enter the… world where choice has been taken away and reality distorted. And that is the most dangerous world of all.” This quote perfectly explains the major theme of Fahrenheit 451, which is censorship. Due to the use of censorship by the government, people in this society are unable to form their own opinions, make their own choices, and are forced to live with distorted realities of the world they actually live in.
The government’s control over what is viewed contains the happiness sought by their citizens, as well as enabling them to completely dominate over how the citizens thought, felt, and acted. The illegalization of free speech had so overrun their society, so much so that books were outlawed, written word was almost abolished, and no one read a thing. "... And I thought about books. And for the first time I realized that a man was behind each one of the books... " (Bradbury).
While reading the novel Fahrenheit 451, i realized the author, Ray Bradbury described the role of censorship by putting together the personal freedom that one person has, to the freedom of expression that person was giving. Bradbury describes the right of the First Amendment and the rights we have as a human being. The First Amendment is about the freedom of speech that one person has for themselves. Once a man named Justice Holmes, said the meaning of the First amendment was “freedom for what we hate.” A role of censorship was played by sending a very direct or forward message that tells readers what may or may not happen if they allow the government to take control of what they do or do not read.
Have you ever thought about how living in a dystopian society would influence your life? Well, the idea of censorship is used in the novel Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, to make an impact on the audience. Bradbury uses certain elements of dystopia in his novel to show censorship, which significantly effects the society in the novel. For example, Bradbury uses the dystopian element that says citizens live in a dehumanized state, to show that their society believes that curiosity is unacceptable. Next, he uses the idea that in a dystopian world, information, independent thought, and freedom is restricted, to show how books are bad in their society.
In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury uses Satire throughout the novel to satirize censorship. In Fahrenheit 451 the government burns books so that they can hide the history of the past and keep the citizens unknown of everything. The government wants the society to be kept clueless. The government controls its citizens through television and meaningless activities so it avoids the discussion of conflicts and issues.