Examples Of Dystopia In Fahrenheit 451

What if you lived in a world where suppressing people’s thoughts is the goal of the government because it is so terrified of conflict and disagreements leading to something as big as wars and revolutions? We, as people of Earth, need to learn to abide by each other’s different controversial opinions or else we may cause the end to the human race as we know it. Diminishing the chance of upsetting someone with an idea that may come across as controversial, will cause a problematic society, as shown in the fictional dystopia presented in Fahrenheit 451, because ideas need to be presented whether everyone will agree with it or will be offended by a “troubling” statement. The broken society portrayed in Fahrenheit 451 teaches us what can happen

if we allow the government to take control over the knowledge we receive because of how controversial certain things may seem and it also teaches us the importance of self-analysis.
To begin with, Fahrenheit 451 teaches us we should not censor any opinions or knowledge for blissful ignorance.

"’…Bigger the population, the more minorities. Don't step on the toes of the dog lovers, the cat lovers, doctors, lawyers, merchants, chiefs, Mormons, Baptists, Unitarians, second-generation Chinese, Swedes, Italians, Germans, Texans, Brooklynites, Irishmen, people from Oregon or Mexico. The people in this book, this play, this TV serial are not meant to represent any actual painters, cartographers, mechanics anywhere. The bigger your market, Montag, the less you handle controversy, remember that!... Authors, full of evil thoughts, lock up your typewriters. They did.’” (--Page 89) Basically, we should not insult one another and anger each other yet, a single comment should not result into riots. We need to learn how to disagree with each other because we will not always agree and Fahrenheit 451 teaches us this again on page 92 where Captain Beatty continues, "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.” This is where censorship becomes worse because at this point, the government is censoring facts and the reality will always stay the same no matter how you feel about it unless you rise and commit to making a

reform.
Continuously, Fahrenheit 451 also explains the importance of introspection.

"'And someday we'll remember so much that we'll build the biggest… steam shovel in history and dig the biggest grave of all time and shove war in and cover it up. Come on now, we're going to go build a mirror factory first and put out nothing but mirrors for the next year and take a long look in them'"(--Page 242) Based on the quote, self-examination is very eminent because this is how we improve ourselves to become better people by pointing out our weaknesses and figuring out how we can turn them into strengths. “How did it start? How did you get into it? How did you pick your work and how did you happen to think to take the job you have? You’re not like the others. I’ve seen a few; I know. When I talk, you look at me. When I said something about the moon, you looked at the moon, last night. The others would never do that. The others would walk off and leave me talking. Or threaten me. No one has time any more for anyone else. You’re one of the few who put up with me. That’s why I think it’s so strange you’re a fireman. It just doesn’t seem right for you, somehow.” (--Pages 41-42) This shows how shallow and mediocre people can be without self-analysis. Introspection shows us what kind of people we are and how moral we can

be.
In conclusion, Ray Bradbury presents to us a world where people traded knowledge and themselves for “blissful” ignorance and teaches us through Fahrenheit 451, a censored world is not necessarily tranquil or content. Censorship leaves people with an inadequate and distorted picture of the ideals, values, and problems of their culture. Writers may often be the spokesmen of their culture, or they may stand to the side, attempting to describe and evaluate that culture. Yet, partly because of censorship, many writers are ignored or inadequately represented in the public schools and many are represented in books that are not essentially their best work but represented by their safest or least offensive work. Censorship came about because people wanted things done faster, they didn't want ideas challenged, they didn't want criticism, and they didn't speak out when they saw censorship happening. Montag feels empty inside because has become a product of this society, feeling the way they tell him to feel, thinking what they tell him to think. He feels empty inside. Faber tells him, "’It's not books you need, it's some of the things that once were in books.’" (--Page 82) As Oscar Wilde said, “The books that the world call immoral are the books that show the world its shame.”