Fahrenheit 451: Religious Freedom due to the Extremity of Communism

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In his novel, Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury entices and allows readers to interpret the deeper meaning of the text, which lies far beyond the characters and the setting of the dystopia. Throughout the 50’s and 60’s, many people were deprived of religious freedom due to the extremity of communism. USSR, during the Cold War, required countries to be communists limiting them from their necessary freedoms. Within each of the multiple tragedies in which the story explores, there is a link to the peril and warfare that occurred while this book was written. Bradbury binds the issues with communist countries in the story, and relates it to his fictional text highlighting communism as ineffective system of government and an excessively controlling atmosphere. For example, in 1968, Czechoslovakia attempted to release from the strict Soviet control. A new Czechoslovakian leader, Alexander Dubcek, tried to restore a shattered freedom that has been taken away since the end of WW2. Czechoslovakian People freely expressed themselves and read banned literature, which resulted in the Soviet Union sending Warsaw troops, tanks, and with little retaliation from the Czechoslovakian citizens, transformed them into an uncompromising communist nation. Although this even happened after Fahrenheit 451 was created, it was foreshadowed by Bradbury due to the nature and mindset various countries withheld in the 1950’s. Hence, Bradbury conceals various components of the world’s flaws by means of allusions and metaphors, ultimately paralleling the world to a dystopian society. Bradbury highlights that the world’s major flaw is limiting and restricting people from their necessary basic freedoms.

Throughout Fahrenheit 451, the community thrives by means of placi...

... middle of paper ...

... retaliation from disobeying the laws. Evidently, People in Montag’s community witness different burnings of books and houses on a daily basis, paralleling the dystopia to the public at this time envisioned the Nazi’s public book burnings.

Works Cited

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Simon, 2012. Print.

Kerr, Calum A. "Literary Contexts in Novels: Ray Bradbury's 'Fahrenheit 451.'" Understanding Literature: 1-7. Literary Reference Center. Web. 8 May 2014. .

Sisario, Peter. "A Study of the Allusions in Bradbury's 'Fahrenheit 451.'" The English Journal 59.2 (1970): 201-12. JSTOR. Web. 8 May 2014. .

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