Fahrenheit 451 Censorship Essay

Power is not freewill; it is often supervised. Government interference is shown in the censorship of literature, communication, news media, entertainment, and the internet. This censorship allows the distortion of content that becomes available to the public. Fahrenheit 451 also displays censorship through communication with the public. Throughout history, it is clear that governments implemented censorship to control the knowledge available to the public. The same thing was done in Fahrenheit 451, and the book puts that censorship on display.

Censorship of literature is a big theme in both Fahrenheit 451 and in history. After the first emperor of the Qin dynasty unifies China, he orders the burning of books and scholars to avoid any comparisons of him to the past rulers. He goes to the extent of burning all the literature, which is a prime example of censorship. There is a reason why this is done: “With all previous historical records destroyed, he thought history could be said to begin with him” (Freedom to Read). Thus, by doing so he believes that history of China will restart with him. The emperor also believes that if people have no other knowledge, they would trust in him blindly. This resembles Fahrenheit 451, where the firemen start

burning all the books. In Fahrenheit 451, this is also due to not wanting people to gain knowledge. In both cases, knowledge is looked upon as a key to freedom. This is why in both history and the book, literature is censored to control that knowledge.
News media is a part of our daily lives because we watch it everyday. Even the news can be censored in a way that the public might not notice. Trump shows this when he says in an interview, “Puerto Rico debt would need to be erased.” (David A. Graham). After saying that, Trump orders media outlets to not release that line because it reflects badly on him. This attempt to censor the media is a way for Trump to control how the public views him. In Fahrenheit 451, the media is censored as well. The government has full control over the parlor televisions. It will only show them what the government wants them to see. Both use censorship of the medial to control the image that they want the public to see.
Entertainment is always shown in terms of film or shows. In the 1930s, films cross a line by displaying both sex and violence. The states, along with the Catholic Church, begin to exercise the power of censorship upon those types of movies and shows. This leads to “film stars known for their sexuality like Mae West were virtually put out of business, the gangster genre was forever altered, and political and social pressure eased.” (Tim Durham). In Fahrenheit 451, books can be found as a source of entertainment for some just like the movies are in the 1930s. Yet, those books are not allowed to exist because they contain gruesome and sexual scenes. The ones who were caught were burned along with the book, and that censorship of entertainment is seen in both history and the novel.
The internet is something the world is always using.

It is accessible virtually everywhere, sometimes with the touch of finger. Chinese people in the past are not really able interact with other parts of the world because of the “Great Wall.” The government then decides to censor the internet by adding another wall. The article shows, “but Chinese authorities soon threw up another wall to prevent the people from accessing information they deemed threatening to the Chinese Communist Party”(Jimmy Wu and Oiwan Lam). This exemplifies how Chinese authorities decide to censor the internet for their sake. This event is referred to as the “Great Firewall,” and it limits how Chinese people are able to see the other parts of the

world.
Communication is something we all desire and need throughout our lives. It is a way people express themselves. During the war between Israel and Egypt in 1967, the Egyptian government conceals the fact that they are losing in the war by telling everyone that they are winning. The Egyptian president displays this in the quote: “Gamal Abdel Nasser, later conveyed to U.S. President Lyndon Johnson that his troop buildup in the Sinai Peninsula prior to the war had been to defend against a feared Israeli attack” (Jeremy R. Hammond). This censorship is meant to hide fear from the public so they don’t lose hope. In Fahrenheit 451, the government also censors communication by blocking contact with the outside world. Both use this to hide the fact that a violent war is happening meanwhile.
Overall, the government shows censorship and interference in many ways. They do this to control what the public perceives and use it to their advantage. Whether it is censoring literature, news media, entertainment, internet, and communication, it is all a way to block any unwanted knowledge. All that is perfectly displayed in Fahrenheit 451, where censorship is implemented through most of those outlets.