Fahrenheit 451: Examining Censorship and Free Expression

In the work “Censorship in Fahrenheit 451 Essay” we will research the themes of dystopian society and censorship. Dystopian texts empower us with the notion that no depiction of society is flawless even if it appears to be. An example of a text renowned for its interpretation of a dystopian society is Ray Bradbury’s science fiction novel Fahrenheit 451. Fahrenheit 451 conforms to the Dystopian genre through its use of themes such as lack of individuality, prolific censorship, and the negative impact of technology in a seemingly idyllic society. Bradbury utilizes the dialogue of characters and visual imagery, alongside other language conventions, to construct these ideas in a way that reflects central themes and elements that are evident in a plethora of dystopian texts.

In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury depicts a society that suffers due to a lack of individuality. Society is designed so that despite people not being “born free and equal” the Constitution declares that everyone is “made equal.” This notion is expressed during Beatty’s monologue, during which he explains that society should not give someone “two sides to a question to worry them,” instead they should be given none. By making everyone equal and restricting their thoughts, the government creates societal pressures that force people to have the same opinions and skills. In doing so, they strip people of their individualism. This notion is exemplified when Beatty’s dialogue reveals that the smartest person was frequently “selected for beatings and tortures after hours”, conveying that society itself was a significant impetus to the loss of individuality. The government crams people “full of non-combustible data” to make them “feel like they’re thinking.” This pacifies thinking by exploiting people’s willingness to mindlessly take in information. The government’s exploitation is further fuelled by technology’s ubiquitous influence in society, which leads to people becoming “idiot monsters” who “lay asleep with their white thoughts and their snowy dreams” inside rooms made of large television screens. This description acts as a symbolic metaphor for how people’s obsession with mindless entertainment has led to them becoming simplistic beings, whose opinions are only influenced by what is broadcasted to them. Through Beatty’s dialogue, Bradbury depicts a society where people are forced to conform to societal standards and in doing so, lose a sense of who they are. This reflects a common theme in the dystopian genre where a loss of individuality is the cost of seeking an idyllic society.

In the Fahrenheit 451 censorship essay, we see that the overreliance of technology in Fahrenheit 451 suggests that vast technological advancement is detrimental to the well-being of society. Bradbury uses visual imagery to describe the Hound, a trembling beast that utilizes a “four-inch hollow steel needle” to “inject massive jolts of morphine or procaine” so that it can incapacitate its targets. The danger the Hound poses to people is revealed when it targets Montag allowing it to “seize his leg and stab the needle” into his leg. This reveals that the Hound causes harm to mankind as it was designed to target humans as a punishment. Technology also detriments humanity through the mindless entertainment it provides. In Beatty’s dialogue, he reveals that the prevalence of television in society has resulted in classic books being “cut to fifteen-minute radio shows” to require less thought. This compression has led to people being filled with meaningless information that describes “words to more popular songs” or “the names of state capitals” leading to intellectual regression that detriments society as it enables people to blindly accept faults in society and the Government. Bradbury’s use of visual imagery and dialogue reveals how technology can be used to silence and execute people. This reflects the frequent motif in dystopian genres wherein technology is detrimental to society.

The government in Fahrenheit 451 relies on the censorship of opinions and books in order to preserve the peace in society. This censorship was catalyzed by mankind’s eagerness to absorb meaningless entertainment leading to books being “leveled down paste pudding norm”. Similarly, Beatty’s dialogue reveals that the need to appeal to minorities was another catalyst for censorship. He suggests that a happy society cannot exist if there are “minorities upset and stirred”.This notion gradually led to books being burnt so that they couldn’t offend anyone. Literary censorship facilitated the compression and silencing of opinions, which eventually led to the intellectual regression of society. To enact the censorship, the Government introduces the firemen, people who are tasked with burning down books and the homes of their owners. It is later revealed that not only have firemen been hired to “burn people’s houses and their books,” but that people are also imprisoned for owning books. Montag is placed “under arrest” for keeping books in his home, and a person is “seized by Hound,” most likely to be executed. The Government’s willingness to imprison and execute people to accomplish their vision of a perfect society suggests that they may not have the well-being of people in mind. This facilitates people’s ignorance to the government’s unethical tactics. The prevalence of censorship, and its negative impacts on society, is a common theme in dystopian texts. This theme is reflected in the text through Bradbury’s use of plot devices.

In conclusion of 'Fahrenheit 451 essay censorship', Fahrenheit 451 can be considered a prototypical example of a dystopian text, as it uses common themes present in the dystopian genre such as how government exploitation, an overreliance on technology, and censorship can have profound negative impacts on society. Ray Bradbury uses these themes to construct a dystopian society that is fundamentally flawed, despite the government’s attempts to make it appear otherwise. In doing so, he also provides a powerful warning of the dangers of pursuing a perfect society in a world where perfection may never truly exist.