Government Control And Censorship In John Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451

Dystopias come in all shapes and forms, there are some that are Big Brother paranoia mixed with an extreme violence then there are others that destroy originality, take advantage, and control through manipulation, but all teach lessons. Through various dystopian elements, the author develops comments and forms reflections on today’s society within his work. Fahrenheit 451 incorporates government control and censorship as a way to introduce dystopian features that relate to society today. However, that doesn’t mean everything should be taken literal. Government control and censorship are dystopian elements that the author, Bradbury, cultivates to support his commendation on various issues, which relate to today’s society without being identical.

For example, firefighters burn novels and the authority restricts people from reading books; however, today, firefighters stop fires, books remain safe from destruction, and people encourage reading. The relationship between the government and citizens are different within the novel and today’s society. In the novel, the government provides happiness for the people through entertainment and false security. For example, they “…cram them full of non-combustible data, chock them… full of 'facts ' they feel stuffed, but absolutely 'brilliant ' with information” (Bradbury 58), which demonstrates the manipulation within the relationship. Another difference is in Fahrenheit 451 society disapproves of the individual mentality, but today’s society embraces the independent mentality. Beatty says, “We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal as the constitution says but everyone made equal” (58). Lastly, war is not serious within the novel but seen as a common task. When Mildred’s friends come over, they talk about their husbands going to war like they are going to the store. Today, war is not an every day occurrence, and it is respected and taken seriously. There are many differences in Fahrenheit 451 and today’s society and each still play a vital

In the novel, Fahrenheit 451, the government controls the people through various maneuvers. First, they remove any idea of individuality and create one universal thought through the burning of the books. Then, they distract the people with desirable laws, for instance, allowing the speed limit to be well over a hundred. Yet, they still maintain strict laws like restricting a slow and thoughtful lifestyle, for example, Clarisse says, “My uncle drove slowly on a highway once. He drove forty miles an hour and they jailed him for two days… [Then] for being a pedestrian” (9-10) Lastly, they invert their ideas through entertainment; therefore, people subconsciously gain their mentality. Society today is too fast, which can be a detriment if people aren’t careful. However, people have believed “the most effective way to achieve human happiness is through the belief that the future will inevitably be faster than the present” without knowing, “a society that lives in the fast lane can never be a sustainable society,”. “We have quickened the pace of life only to become less patient. We have become more organized but less spontaneous, less joyful. We are better prepared to act on the future but less able to enjoy the present and reflect on the past”. The Author of the 1991 best-seller The Overworked American, Schor says her research shows that “millions of Americans are