Examples Of Dystopian Society In Fahrenheit 451

Dystopian Society

The Dalai Lama once said, “Without technology humanity has no future, but we have to be careful that we don’t become so mechanised that we lose our feelings.” He is warning the people of today's society. Dalai Lama states that we can’t let technology take over, or we will stop expressing feelings because we will be addicted and obsessed with technology. Just like Dalai Lama, the author of the novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury, writes about the danger of technology taking over this particular society in the book, which leads to citizens not expressing feelings. These examples show that the society in Fahrenheit 451 is dystopian.

The citizens of the society think they are living in a perfect utopian society, where nothing

is wrong.

In reality, there are many things that portray a dystopian society, including that they can’t think for themselves. When the main character, Guy Montag, starts to question the society he’s living in, the Chief fireman, Beatty, explains, “‘Cram them full of noncombustible data, chock them so damned full of ‘facts’ they feel stuffed, but absolutely ‘brilliant’ with information. Then they’ll feel they’re thinking, they’ll get a sense of motion without moving’” (61). Beatty believes that no one should think for themselves. They get fed the answers to feel smart and to feel like they are thinking, but they don’t have their own opinions or beliefs. Everything is done for them because the government wants them to conform. A society where people can’t have their own individual thoughts is an example of a dystopian society. Another reason why this society is dystopian is because no one cares about people dying. Later in the book, Montag doesn’t see his friend outside where she usually is every day. Many more days pass, and Montag’s wife, Millie, finally tells Montag that she overheard that the girl got hit by a car and died. Montag is

furious that Millie didn’t tell him sooner. Millie responds by saying, “‘Forgot’” (47). Montag then says that this happened four days ago. How could she forget? Then Millie says, “‘I forgot all about it’” (47). Millie forgot about the death of a 17-year old girl. This is because death happens so often in this society. Millie acts like nothing happened. This shows that the citizens have no feelings. The citizens in the society think they are living in a perfect place, when there are actually many flaws. People don’t have minds of their own, and they don’t have feelings. There is no individuality. They are living in a dystopian world, and no one knows it yet.
In this society, families have children not because they want to have kids, but instead to repopulate the Earth. The parents living in this society don’t care about their children or love them. Mrs. Bowles, Mildred’s friend, is talking about her children to Mildred saying, “‘I plunk the children in school nine days out of ten. I put up with them when they come home three days a month; it’s not bad at all. You heave them into the ‘parlor’ and turn the switch. It’s like washing clothes: stuff laundry in and slam the lid’”(96). The parents only see their kids three days a month. Parent to child relationships are not strong at all. It seems like they are not even family. There is no care or love between people in this society. A society where there is no love or strong relationships demonstrates an example of a dystopian society. Another reason why this society is dystopian is that their president is elected based on looks. Mrs. Bowles also states during the conversation about politics, “‘I voted last election, same as everyone, and laid it on the line for President Noble. I think he’s one of the nicest-looking men ever became president’”(96-97). In the book, President Noble’s competitor, Hubert Hoag, is described as short, hard to understand, and he is caught picking his nose, while President Noble is tall and handsome. These very different candidates are not chosen to run against each other on accident. Winston Noble is the obvious choice for the citizens. The government makes sure the public will pick the president with the best looks. The president is just a symbol, when in reality, the government is doing the actual work. This is unfair and wrong, which is an example of a dystopian society. In this society, parents don’t care about their children, and the citizens base their judgements on looks. These characteristics make the society dystopian.
Another example where the society is shown to be dystopian, is that some citizens want to die.

There is an instance in which this happens. In the story, Montag is armed with a fire hose and Beatty is unarmed. Montag murdered Beatty by burning him with the hose. After, Montag started to think about what he did and he realized, “How strange, strange, to want to die so much that you let a man walk around armed then instead of shutting up and staying alive, you go on yelling at people and making fun of them until you get them mad and then…” Montag believes that Beatty, instead of being quiet to try to live, Beatty kept provoking Montag so that Montag would get so mad that he would kill him. A society where people want to die, most certainly shows this to be dystopian. Another reason why this society is dystopian is because the government makes a show with violence and murder to please the people. The show is the chase and then killing of Montag, and people find this entertaining. Only, Montag escaped and the government doesn’t want to show the citizens that they had failed, so they murder a fake Montag to please the audience. Montag figured this out, with help from his new, trustworthy friends that are just like him. They read books and escaped as well. One of the friends named, Granger told him they watched the chase happen and explained, “‘They’re faking. You threw them off at the river. They can’t admit it. They know they can hold their audience for only so long. The show’s

got to have a snap ending, quick!’” (148). Montag’s friends believe that the government needs to keep the public entertained and to show the people what they want to see. The citizens of this society have short attention spans so the government had to have a fast, action packed ending. Granger explains further, “‘So they’re sniffing for a scapegoat to end things with a bang’” (148). This is when the government decides to use a fake Montag to murder, because they don’t want to disappoint the public.
In conclusion, the society in the book Fahrenheit 451 displays many characteristics of a dystopian society. The citizens can’t think for themselves, people do not care about death, and relationships are not strong. Additionally, looks play a critical role in the society, people want to die, and the government filmed and displayed a violent chase to entertain and please the people of the society. These examples from the novel are awful and scary, but in reality, these characteristics can also be found in today’s society.