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The Theme Of Censorship In Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles

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In the novel, Martian Chronicles, written by Ray Bradbury, several short stories are presented. Each particular chronicle presents a theme that is applicable to modern life. The theme of censorship is presented in the chronicle, “Usher II,” as well as in the other subsequent sources. In the chronicle, “Usher II,” censorship is shown since Stendahl’s books were burned in the great Fire of 1975. Stendahl is not allowed to read books and all fairy tales are non-existent. There are also people called the inspectors of ‘Moral Climates’ who make sure that nobody in the society is reading fictional books. If someone were to break this law, they can be sent to jail. In other words, the society is disapproving of imagination or anything that is fictional. To read fictional stories or anything that encouraged imagination is banned from the society. “Every men, they said, must face reality. Must face Here and Now....1975; they lined them up: St. Nicholas and Snow White and Rumpelstiltskin…and shot them down” (Bradbury 106). Censorship was also displayed in the article, “Campus Censorship: It is Worse …show more content…

The piece entitled, “Censorship,” by J. Frohnmayer, displays a person’s mouth being covered with hands. These hands have words that represent principles and laws in the society. This signifies that laws limit the freedoms of people. This can represent that people are limited in their words as an attempt to suppress chaos amongst the people. It can also be seen that the person’s eyes are closed, symbolizing that he/she is not happy that they are not allowed to express their thoughts and beliefs. “…if you have a differing opinion from the rest of society, your word in is danger of getting censored. The relationship between censorship and cultural values is also apparent …….. we really value young children’s innocence and this is obvious in our attempt to protect them using censorship” (Sarelly par.

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