Surveillance In Fahrenheit 451 Essay

Citizens are perceived to be under constant surveillance in Fahrenheit 451. While talking to Guy Montag, Captain Beatty says “Here or there, that’s bound to occur. Clarisse McClellan? We’ve got a record on her family. We’ve watched them carefully” (57). The police and firemen are watching Clarisse McClellan’s family and have records from watching over the McClellans. They are not the only family being watched though, many of the other families in the novel are being watched. The night that Montag goes to Granger’s camp, Granger tells him “Right now, some poor fellow is out for a walk… Don’t think the police know the habits of queer ducks like that… Anyway, the police have had him charted for months, years (141). The authorities track the movements of people and store the data. The patterns of the people are recorded for years and from the data, they can see their people’s habits. The citizens in Fahrenheit 451 are under constant surveillance by the government.

In the novel, when Clarisse and Montag are talking, this line is shown: “Do you ever read any of the books you burn?’ He laughed. ‘That’s against the law” (5). The laws that the government enforces are strict and prevent any type of reading. The actions of the people are limited by the law and if the people do not follow the law, they are punished. The night that Mildred Montag has her friends over, Montag decides to read poetry, but before he does this line is shown: “That’s not right,’ wailed Mrs. Bowles. ‘We can't do that” (95). Many of the citizens in the novel believe that reading is wrong and information is not supposed to be obtained. The government makes many of the citizens believe that the law is right and should not be fought. The information people in the novel access is restricted due to the people not wanting information and government laws against getting