Censorship In The Handmaid's Tale, Offred

Part of the human condition is to find enjoyment in dystopia. To experience dystopia through film and literature is to experience a life that is outside our realm of reality, but inside our realm of possibility. Dystopia makes us feel safe because our lives are better than those described in the books we read and the movies we watch. A story about dysfunction and control on large scale is not successful on its own. Authors rely on a world of character development, connotative diction, imagery and literary devices. Filmmakers rely on a world of mood music, shadows, camera shots and angles. In Fahrenheit 451, the characters of Clarisse and Montag reveal the dangers of censorship. In The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred’s inner monologue warns against

From the context of Ray Bradbury’s life and early influences, the social commentary that seems most relevant relates to the terrifying potential of censorship. In an effort to pacify any and every minority, the “Happiness Boys” (Bradbury 59) destroyed every book of any true value. Censorship disturbed Ray Bradbury. As a child in the 1920s, Bradbury became aware that libraries would exclude certain titles from their collections. Having read them, this was a rejection of what he loved and treasured. Hitler burned books in Berlin when Bradbury was a teenager, and at the same age, he learned that books had been burned throughout history as a result of warring ideologies (NEOTA). Though Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 as an adult, his young reaction to censorship served as a “kernel” for the book

While burning books is not the “norm” in the United States, there is an ever steady line as to what is considered acceptable to read and watch depending on context, age, and a whole host of other considerations. As recent as 2015, parents in Idaho demanded that a school board ban Of Mice and Men for use of profanity (Lea). In South Carolina, The Kite Runner was deemed unacceptable for its adult themes and parents objected to the removal of a more “tame” book from the curriculum (Lea). These realities are reflected in the way Montag’s society accepts government sponsored censorship so as to never offend “the minorities in our civilization” (54). It seems that in all corners of the world, so long as there are complex, controversial problems, there will also be an attempt at censorship. Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 remains a warning regarding the difference between “the freedom from and the freedom to” (Atwood 55). Fahrenheit 451 proves that “the freedom to” is more important that “the freedom from” even with the possibility of sadness, pain, depression, and