Propaganda In Fahrenheit 451

The novel, Fahrenheit 451, conforms to two conventions; manipulation of history, and individuality and dissent are bad. Through the manipulation of history the government of this society holds a tight rein of the firemen, for example. In the beginning of the novel Montag meet a girl named Clarisse, who asked a thought provoking ‘question’ from him, “Is it true that long ago firemen put fires out instead of starting them?” (Bradbury 5), in reply he said, “No. Houses have ALWAYS been fireproof, take my word for it” (Bradbury 5). Later on as the novel progresses Montag questions the role of the firemen long ago. In reply Stoneman and Black drew their rule book which contains little history and read, “Established, 1790, to burn English-influenced books in the Colonies.

The fact that firemen used to put out fires is censored through manipulating the fact that this group was established in 1790, and houses have always been fireproofed-ensures their role ‘today’ as they won’t think about the role of firemen before the houses were fireproofed; is significant as firemen are the enforcers of censorship law. Knowing that firemen once used to put out fires may portray the government as evil and may give birth to rebellion within the censorship enforcers. The author is trying to stress the importance of history, and is exposing the dangers that young adults these days can be prone to taken advantage of, as we don’t show much interest in history. Another convention used in this novel is; limited freedom. The government depicted in this novel, limits the freedom by burning books which holds wisdom and makes us think. “Give the people contests they win by remembering the words to more popular songs or the names of the state capitals or how much corn Iowa grew last