Fahrenheit 451 in Today’s World
In the novel, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the author creates a picture of a society that resembles our present-day society in a variety of ways. Although a society in which government has total control over its citizens seems to be a little extreme, there are definitely clues that can be seen today that suggest that we are headed in the same direction. Some of the resemblances between the society in Fahrenheit 451 and our society today are the governments’ hypocrisy, the gullibility of the citizens who fully support the government, and the fact that books are becoming rather extinct due to advances in modern technology.
When the novel’s main character, Guy Montag, commits a great crime and is being searched for, a man that was thought to be Montag was killed, while the real Montag escaped successfully. Describing this situation, Ray Bradbury writes: “The camera fell upon the victim, even as did the Hound. Both reached him simultaneously. The victim was seized by the Hound and camera in a great spidering, clenching grip. He screamed. He screamed. He screamed!” (149). In this case, the government killed an innocent civilian just so that they would not be blamed for letting Montag escape. Today, there are a few instances where the government has done exactly the same thing. For example, following the September 11 attacks, the U.S. went on a search for one of its biggest enemies, Osama bin Laden. David Johnson writes in his article, Osama bin Laden, Wealthy Saudi exile is a terrorist mastermind: “Binding their fate to bin Laden's, the Taliban became the target of air strikes...
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...ch as the government’s hypocrisy, brainwashing of citizens, and the extinction of books are quite apparent in our society. If our society relies too much on the biased media, there will soon come a day when all citizens will be brainwashed, and the government will be able to achieve anything it wants to, regardless of the reason behind it. Sadly, there will not be much being done about this situation until we all realize our mistakes through a very rude and unexpected awakening.
Works Cited
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: The Random House Publishing Group, 1996.
Johnson, David. “Osama bin Laden: Wealthy Saudi exile is a terrorist mastermind.” Infoplease.com. 1 April 2008.
Matusek, Matt. “Purpose of Iraq war murky to Americans.” 17 September 2004. The Online Rocket. 1 April 2008.
Fahrenheit 451 Montag, a fireman who ignites books into glowing embers that fall into ashes as black as night. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, a message in which society has opened its doors to mass devastation. Guy Montag, a “fireman”, burns houses that have anything to do with books instead of putting fires out like the job of a real fireman. In Montag’s society, books are considered taboo, and owning books can lead to dire consequences. Ray Bradbury portrays a society in which humans have suffered a loss of self, humanity, and a powerful control from the government resulting in a fraudulent society.
Are you really happy? Or are you sad about something? Sad about life or money, or your job? Any of these things you can be sad of. Most likely you feel discontentment a few times a day and you still call yourself happy. These are the questions that Guy Montag asks himself in the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. In this book people are thinking they are happy with their lives. This is only because life is going so fast that they think they are but really there is things to be sad about. Montag has finally met Clarisse, the one person in his society that stops to smell the roses still. She is the one that gets him thinking about how his life really is sad and he was just moving too fast to see it. He realizes that he is sad about pretty much everything in his life and that the government tries to trick the people by listening to the parlor and the seashells. This is just to distract people from actual emotions. People are always in a hurry. They have 200 foot billboards for people driving because they are driving so fast that they need more time to see the advertisement. Now I am going to show you who are happy and not happy in the book and how our society today is also unhappy.
Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is a novel about a materialistic society that has forgotten social interaction with each other. This materialistic society is where Bradbury believed society today is headed<THE TENSES HERE ARE A LITTLE CONFUSING.>. The materialistic society in Fahrenheit 451 created through Bradbury's cynic views of society<THIS IS A FRAGMENT SENTANCE.> His views of society are over-exaggerated in contrast with today's events, especially in the areas of censorship and media mediocrity.
Henry David Thoreau, a famous American author, once said that “What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?” Essentially, Thoreau believed that even though most individual people are tolerable, society as a whole is not. Ray Bradbury reflects upon Thoreau’s ideas in his novel entitled Fahrenheit 451. In the novel, Guy Montag, the protagonist, realizes that his supposed utopia society is actually a dystopia. Montag finally realizes this when Clarisse, his young neighbor, asks him if he is happy. Although, Montag believes that he is happy, it becomes clear later in the novel that he is not. Montag finds countless faults in the society he lives in. Throughout the novel, Bradbury’s goal is to show the reader some faults in the world today, such as our education system and the effects of technology on lives.
To conclude, because the government was able to use censorship and promote ignorance, they were able control and manipulate their citizens. This novel also has resemblance to our world, this novel is a reminder of how powerful media can become if used the right way, society can be mislead into thinking false things. By promoting ignorance, the citizens started having very bland lives with no depth. People did not talk about ideas and feelings because they were obsessed and dependent on instant pleasure, they will start denying they own feelings because of this. Television and easy access to entertainment made books nonexistent.
Henry David Thoreau, a famous American author, once said that “What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?” Essentially, Thoreau is saying that even though people are normal, we as a society are not and have various faults. Ray Bradbury reflects upon Thoreau’s ideas in his novel entitled Fahrenheit 451. Despite that fact that Bradbury is describing how society might look in the future, he is actually criticizing the society we live in today. In the novel, Guy Montag, the protagonist, realizes that his supposed utopian society is actually a dystopia. Montag finally realizes this when Clarisse, his young neighbor, asks him if he is happy. Although Montag believes that he is happy, it becomes clear later in the novel that he is not. Montag finds countless faults in his society. Throughout the novel, Bradbury’s goal is to warn the reader of faults in society, such as the education system and our attachment to technology.
While Montag is on the run from the government because of his possession of books and rebellion. He has to cross a huge highway with speeding cars to get away. While he is running he sees a cars headlights trained on him and he immediately thinks its the police coming after him. While trying to get away Montag becomes flustered and falls down and the car avoids hitting him. He realizes the people driving the car was not the police but some teenagers. Seeing a rare occurrence of a man walking down the road the teenagers thought nothing but lets hit him. Montag is in shock “they would have killed me… For no reason at all they would've killed me”(128) the kids have grown up with no value for human life, they do whatever pleases them at the moment, and don't know or care about the consequences that are affected by their choices. the government hold complete control of every citizen. Montag, still on the run is heading for the tree line to conceal himself, while the whole chase is being broadcasted to every person. on elm terrace. while on montag is making a run for it the announcer tells everybody on the count of ten to open up their doors and look for the wanted fugitive “‘police suggest entire population in the Elm Terrace area do as follows: Everyone in every street open a front or rear door or look from the windows. The fugitive cannot escape if everyone in the next minute looks from his house. Ready!’… the doors
The novel can still be used as a warning to show the effects if the government had total power over a nation. They would abuse their power if the citizens had no say. The government will make the residents believe what they want them to and hear what they want them to hear. For example, in Fahrenheit 451 the narrator says,”The innocent man stood bewildered, a cigarette burning in his hand. He stared at the Hound, not knowing what it was. He probably
The novel 1984, by George Orwell, made me paranoid. It made me suspicious of our government's power and intentions. I became aware of the potential manipulation which the government could impose upon us. I came to see that the people I believe to be wholly dedicated to the well-being of society, the people I rely so heavily on to provide protection and security have the power to betray us at any given time. I realised that in my naivety I had gravely overlooked the powerful grip government has over society, and what it can do with that power.
Fahrenheit 451’s relevance to today can be very detailed and prophetic when we take a deep look into our American society. Although we are not living in a communist setting with extreme war waging on, we have gained technologies similar to the ones Bradbury spoke of in Fahrenheit 451 and a stubborn civilization that holds an absence on the little things we should enjoy. Bradbury sees the future of America as a dystopia, yet we still hold problematic issues without the title of disaster, as it is well hidden under our Democracy today. Fahrenheit 451 is much like our world today which includes television, the loss of free speech, and the loss of the education and use of books.
Prepare for the future, because the future is prepared for you. In the dystopian novel, by the extraordinary, Ray Bradbury, Guy Montag, a fireman, learned a lot of information about his past. Having people with the same mindset as Montag around him, he planned to make the society he lived in better. Even-though, he started to lose everyone he cared for and became the “nasty man” to the people that were around him, Montag went out and fought for what he believed. Having an individual mindset helps a person deal with what is happening, and prepares them for what will
Fahrenheit 451 is a science fiction book that still reflects to our current world. Bradbury does a nice job predicting what the world would be like in the future; the future for his time period and for ours as well. The society Bradbury describes is, in many ways, like the one we are living in now.
Montag’s government clearly shows its power over its people. The citizens of Montag’s society can’t think for themselves, and are completely emotionless. Clarisse McClellan plants the seed of a rebellion in Montag. He rises against the government and like a phoenix rises again from the societies ashes. Ray Bradbury creates a dystopian society that is reborn from its own destruction. The society was lacking in emotions, curiosity and was a prisoner of their own government.
The North Korean government is known as authoritarian socialist; one-man dictatorship. North Korea could be considered a start of a dystopia. Dystopia is a community or society where people are unhappy and usually not treated fairly. This relates how Ray Bradbury's 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451 shows the readers how a lost of connections with people and think for themselves can lead to a corrupt and violent society known as a dystopia.
Haass, R. (2006). The New Middle East. Foreign Affairs, 85, (6), 2-11. Retrieved from JSTOR database.