What Is The Moral Of Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury wrote the book, Fahrenheit 451, to warn his society about the dangers presented in his novel, and although the future has become the present, the scenario presented by this critically acclaimed novel may occur in the near future. The novel, Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, tells the tale of Guy Montag who lives in a dystopian society, where murder, and suicide are everyday occurrences, along with the censorship of anything, even the private thoughts of citizens. Montag is employed by the government as a fireman, a man whose obligation it is to burn books, which have been prohibited by society in an effort to make everyone “happy”. However, after meeting some rather radical individuals, the means in which he used to view his world

Everyone in this society possesses one or more Parlor Walls to entertain themselves with, whilst the education system grants the youth an entire class to watch television. Our society is at risk of this particular danger, especially in rich, technologized countries, such as America. Average Americans view over five hours of television on a daily basis. Along with this, television, especially “reality shows” can affect the way we live our lives in noxious ways. According to a study directed by the Central Michigan University, “reality shows” may change our emotions in astonishing ways, by making people much more aggressive than what is considered normal. NPR or “The National Public Radio”, reported on this issue by stating, “Each participant in the study watched one of three varieties of television: an aggressive surveillance show like Jersey Shore or Real Housewives, an uplifting surveillance show like Little People, Big World, or a fictional crime drama like CSI. . . ‘It turns out those who had watched Jersey Shore or Real Housewives actually gave louder, longer blasts

Another over-reliance on technology is that the “law enforcement” currently existing in Montag’s world is not human, rather, an unfeeling murdering Mechanical Hound. According to, Fahrenheit 451, it states, “A new Mechanical Hound has been brought from another district. . . Mechanical Hound never fails. Never since its first use in tracking quarry has this incredible invention made a mistake. . . nose so sensitive the Mechanical Hound can remember and identify ten thousand odour-indexes on ten thousand men without re-setting! . . The victim was seized by Hound and camera in a great spidering, clenching grip. (133-149)” The problem with the Mechanical Hound is not that it is used, rather it is the way it is used by the current society. The government uses it to silence any “radical”, or to censor anything that is in any way derogatory towards the current way of life. People are killed by the Hound as if it was like a hunt for an animal as seen when it is broadcast on the television. This is an imminent danger in