Fahrenheit 451: Censorship In The Modern World

A simple book written with the best intentions; Ray brings to the world Fahrenheit 451 in 1953 (Kipen). Having World War II influencing Ray’s ideas for the book. Fahrenheit 451 brings ideas and points that Ray Bradbury felt the need to write and open the public’s eyes to, as to how technology is changing people’s lives and they are leaving behind books and their critical thinking. Ray Bradbury brings a book about censorship and how banning or in this case burning books does not keep people from the curiosity of the message books have. A big irony arises and his book becomes banned and censored, exactly the same way as in his book.

The Hunger Games is a science fiction book about a dystopian society which holds annual killing games that results in only one victor. Panem, a futuristic nation in North America, is split into 12 districts, which has their own specialties. This society is hated by the people because of the Capitol (also known as the government) not enforcing sanitation rules and the many deaths of children from ages of twelve to eighteen in the “death games.” The president of Panem is President Snow who makes decisions that would only benefit himself and the upper class. In this book, there are many examples of censorship which makes the people angry because the government is hiding it from them.

Censorship in America is often debated. Erin Manning, texas-based writer explains that the American Library Association chooses to censor certain books because of “inappropriate content” and “second rate writing”(Manning 1). Parents attempt to protect their children from the outside world, by limiting their exposure to age appropriate language. When parents do this, their children’s knowledge of the outside world may be limited to what parents let their child view. Although some parents may feel that their child needs filtered information and entertainment, others believe that children and teens need to be shown uncensored content.

Technology and government censorship: Intertwined More than any country in the world, the United States values and symbolizes freedom. Thus, most Americans have an obstinate belief that they are free; however, the truth is that their knowledge is being restricted under their unconsciousness. This act of filtering information by the government is called government censorship, and it has existed in our society since the time of Socrates in 339 B.C.E. Since then, government censorship has been constantly changing its characteristics and methods according to the advancements in technology. An alarming rate of technological advancement has boosted information flow, hence prompting the government to restrict information through censorship.

Censorship is a common theme in both books and movies today. The novel, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, and the film, Equilibrium, are no exception. Censorship is the regulation and control of information viewed as unacceptable by a person or group. Censorship is often used to hide information from the general public in order to enforce their ideology and to prevent people from becoming educated on a topic to form their own opinions (Definitions of Censorship, n.d.). This creates a large difference in social stratification between people in power and the rest of society which is why it holds so much power.

When it comes to the government multiple questions are raised, particularly whether they control us or if we actually have an effect on their decisions. Personally I feel the government is definitely controlling us. As a student, I am confined to doing the grueling daily task put in place by the government. Attending school is a prime example of the excessive power the government has. America is supposed to be a nation of freedom founded by our ancestors in the late 1700’s , how much freedom do Americans really have?

The First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America states American citizens have the right to freedom of speech, press, and religion. ("First Amendment") Censorship is the infringement of these rights. Americans should never be censored because it goes against the first amendment and everything that the men and women of the U.S. military have fought and died to protect. When people are not censored they can live freely without worry of being told what they can and can’t do. They can say what they want to say and produce things without having to worry about breaking a law.

Censorship is the practice of officially examining books, movies etc., and suppressing unacceptable parts. In Fahrenheit 451 censorship takes a major role because they censored all books. They didn 't give them permission to read neither to have books. They did this to an extreme that if they found them in someone’s house they would burn them and also the house. In this book the work of the firemen was to start the fires by burning them instead of extinguish them.

The case study Censorship of Terror and the Struggle for Freedom instantly starts as a focus on the censorship of media in South Africa. The author introduces the history of censorship in journalism. The author introduces where censorship began with its official grassroots of which was a 50 year long period in which the national party came in to power. This party enacted law which forced censorship on to the South African press. However, the entire focus on the article is not on state sponsored censorship, but on the censorship of journalists by individual political parties, organizations, and terrorist groups.

To burning of books in Germany and to the restrictions of news on the internet there are many forms of censorship in the world. Censorship is an unjustifiable thing for people to live through. The countries that do have censorship do not give out the full information that is needed for the people of the country, their citizens stay ignorant to the truth of what is going on in society. When groups of people stay ignorant of what is going on in the world there is no room for improvement of learning. One will stay uneducated of their government and may not see that it’s corrupt.