Freedom In Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451

How would you feel if all of your freedom had been taken away forever? In Fahrenheit 451 written by Ray Bradbury no one has any true freedom because the government controls everything, someone is always telling you what is right even if you think it is wrong and someone telling you there is always a threat to a free society.

In the book the government controls every aspect of your life. The government wanted to protect its’ people even if the people didn’t want the protection. “It didn’t come from the government down. There was no dictum, no declaration, no censorship, to start with, no! Today, thanks to them, you can stay happy all of the time, you are allowed to read comics, the good old confessions, or trade journals.”(Bradbury 55) The government basically took away everything that somebody didn’t agree with, they basically took all of the bad parts of history out and made new things that would please everyone. The government thought that the only way to keep people happy was to control every aspect of their life so nothing would go wrong. They are always telling people what is right and wrong to keep them happy and so the government will always be in control.

Captain Beatty is Montag's main influence on these matters. “Colored people don’t like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White people don’t feel good about Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Burn it. Someone’s written a book on tobacco and cancer of the lungs? The cigarette people are weeping? Burn the book. Serenity, Montag. Peace, Montag.”(Bradbury 57) Beatty is basically saying that anything that makes anyone unhappy is completely wrong and should be burned. Montag is starting to realize that everything that the government tells him is not always right. Even if you had your own thoughts someone is telling you there is a fear or a threat to a free