Fahrenheit 451 Totalitarian Government Analysis

In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury criticizes the totalitarian government and its dysfunctional system which ultimately causes the failure of the society. He reveals the total control through the destruction and burning of literature, the deafening environment which prevents one from concentrating, and the elimination of the ability to think by media brainwashing. The action of the government affirms that it attempts to gain ascendancy by restricting the freedom of speech.

The first way Bradbury criticizes the flaw of the totalitarian government is that all books are prohibited. The fire team is established to start fire instead of putting fires out, they are ordered to search for and burn books. Since literature is banned, the lack of reading stops people from gaining information and becoming

intellectual, therefore the government can accomplish their total manipulation of one’s thoughts. From another perspective, people become ignorant about the corrupt system of the manipulative government, because one of the primary ways that humans obtain information is cut out. As a result of the burning of books, individuals are unable to make up their own minds. For example, Mildred exemplifies an individual that the government wants. She is fearful of books and thinks of others as threats if they have books. “ She's nothing to me; she shouldn't have had books. It was her responsibility, she should have thought of that. I hate her”(54). Due to the lack of reading, Mildred is not aware of the society and she cannot develop her own emotions. Her sense of feelings are based off of fraudulent information that she perceives from the government.
Another way that the author criticizes the totalitarian government is by revealing the bombardment of advertisers and the cacophonic environment.

While Montag is going to Faber’s house, he tries to memorize a line from the Bible. However, he is constantly distracted by the advertiser. “ The people whose mouths had been faintly twitching the words Dentifrice Dentifrice Dentifrice”(81). Montag finds it extremely hard to concentrate that he cannot even make sense of a few words. In order to prevent any thinking or conversation, the government puts on casual radio channels as their manipulative tool. The continuous and meaningless words of casual radio channels ensure that nobody can be engaged in a situation where one’s fully focused. In terms of Montag’s case, his ability to concentrate is obliterated by the repetition of “ Denham’s Dentifrice”. Furthermore, the government executes the law that a driver must drive at a speed above a hundred miles per hour. The law is designed to function as a distraction, just like the bombarding advertisers. Due to high speed traveling, the sound of the wind and other sorts of noises are so piercing that no conversation can be

initiated.
Finally, Bradbury criticizes the failing system of the government by illustrating the media brainwashing that eliminates the ability to think. There is no real entertainment in the society, but individuals do not realize that. The majority of people consider the parlor walls as their entertainment. However, they are not participating or interacting, the information being received by the people is filled with the deceiving words of the government. Thus, the people living in such dystopia are naive and cannot generate their own ideas. In addition, the community becomes violent due to the media brainwashing, the actions of the white clown greatly impact the society. “ A minute later, Three White Cartoon Clowns chopped off each other's limbs to the accompaniment of immense incoming tides of laughter”(89 ). The brutal show distorts one’s comprehension of the reality, which allows the people to only think of their own pleasure. It also creates an image that violence is righteous. Both instances demonstrate the evil deed of the autocratic government, trying to restrict the society to think by using the media.
Under the censorship of the government, the society in which Montag lives in is flawed in multiple ways. The suppression of the totalitarian government prevents the society from becoming knowledgeable, it forbids anyone from focusing, and distorts the understanding of reality. Proscription of literature, bombardment of advertisers, and media indoctrination directly lead to the destruction of the dystopian society. Bradbury does not only criticize, but also tries to inform us that despotism of a government will only results in failures of a society.