Our Society Compared to the Dystopian Society of Ray Bradbury´s Book Fahrenheit 461

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Bradbury, the intuitive author of Fahrenheit 451, describes the future of our society to be quite aberrant. He satirizes many aspects of society and displays the various atrocious examples we are setting for the future. One social institution being satirized in Bradbury’s novel is law enforcement. Law enforcement refers to a system in which people act in an appropriate manner to punish people who violate rules and norms of society. Though this definition is shown to be inaccurate in the dystopian society and apparently our own society. The degree to which our society is becoming more similar to Bradbury’s dystopian vision can be shown with real world examples.
The opinions of the citizens seems to be taken very lightly in the dystopian society. According to Beatty, "Not everyone born free and equal, as the Constitution says, but everyone made equal. Each man the image of every other; then all are happy, for there are no mountains to make them cower, to judge themselves against" (58). These “mountains” in society are known as “free thinkers” for they think at a higher level and question their surroundings more. The fact that the law disallows this freedom of speech proves the First Amendment to the United States Constitution to be nonexistent. In recent cases, a book, ‘The Hindus’, is pulled from the shelves of India due to a decision by publishing house Penguin after a 2011 civil lawsuit was filed against them. As stated by the critics, the book contained, “several unforgivable discretions.” Jairam Ramesh, the Union minister, claims that this is an “atrocious decision” and that “such action is clearly some Taliban-type outfit.” These circumstances definitely manifest the similarities that are starting to show in our world.
“Fre...

... middle of paper ...

...ety of Fahrenheit 451 have become a reality. As shown by real world examples, Bradbury’s dystopian vision is being revealed in many aspects of our society such as freedom, privacy, and members of authority. If nothing is done to restore our impolitic society, we will lose control of everything valuable to us and ultimately become a Bradburian based society.

Works Cited

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Ballantine, 1953. Print.
Chirico, Jeff. "Are Police Drones Invading Your Privacy? - CBS Atlanta News." Are Police Drones Invading Your Privacy? CBS Corporation, 6 May 2013. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.
Staff, Blade. "Canine, Robot Soon to Help Oregon Police Fight Crime." Toledo Blade. John Robinson Block, 30 Oct. 2012. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.
Westhead, Rick. "Penguin Agrees to Destroy Copies of 'The Hindus'" Thestar.com. John D. Cruickshank, 11 Feb. 2014. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.

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