Examples Of Censorship In Fahrenheit 451

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The novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury showcases a dystopian future where the government of a country manipulates and bans information and media to control the public. They monitor and manipulate media to change public opinion and perception in a way that is favorable to the government. They also ban media like books that could let unwanted information into society, which could lead to dissent and conflict. Wartime governments control and influence media by supervising media, changing it to fit their agenda, and restricting unwanted media, to keep the public attitude where they want it. They do this because new media can bring new ideas that can challenge the status quo and public opinion. To maintain the status quo, governments will ban dissenting ideas, and change …show more content…

Since the printing press was invented, ruling powers have banned books to restrict opposing ideas and prevent dissent. This complete control of information allowed the government to control the public. To wrap up, governments use censorship to control public opinion and attitude and keep it in a place that suits their agenda. In Part 1: The Hearth and the Salamander, Captain Beatty explains to Montag why the Firemen do what they do. When he is explaining why books are banned, he says “Colored people don’t like Little Black Sambo. Burn it down. White people don’t feel good about Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Burn it down. Someone’s written a book on tobacco and cancer of the lungs? Are the cigarette people weeping? Burn the book. Serenity, Montag. Peace, Montag. Take your fight outside. Better yet, into the incinerator”(Bradbury 74). The government restricted the books because they made groups of people unhappy. If they removed the books, they could keep people happy, which would prevent civil unrest, dissent, or rebellion. To sum up, the government restricted books to keep people happy and easy to control. A similar situation occurred in the U.S. during World War

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