censorship in Fahrenheit 451

Censorship of Fahrenheit 451

In the book Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, suppression takes up a vital part of the
dystopian culture. The story portrays the picture of total societal control by the government of
communication watches or reads. Censorship appears to affect community, leaving control to
the government adversely, but eventually leaves us with various ethical lessons.
As stated by Bradbury, censorship breeds ignorance since community thoughtlessly
submits the government (Bradbury 129). Most individuals in the book are oblivious of their
displeasure with society, including Mildred, Guy Montag’s wife, who nearly commits suicide
by unintentionally ingesting a whole bottle of sleeping pills.
Censorship has a huge influence on the knowledge and behaviours of the individuals in
society. Ultimately, the civilization is "trapped" in a poisoned environment saturated with
misinformation (Wright 56). What is dangerous is that the government assumes that
community has to cooperate by regulating all kinds of media; yet, once residents get side-
tracked by the implications of owning and reading books, misery and anarchy arise. Reading
literature fosters knowledge, which stimulates individuals to reflect, yet censorship has made
the culture uninformed.
As a result of government censorship, technology is provided to distract a naive populace.
The "parlor wall" or television replaces real discussions with family and friends, and
Schmoop claims "TV is the enemy” (Bradbury 129). In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
describes it as "replacing reading, curiosity, and intellectualism" to make people happy.

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Fahrenheit 451 teaches us three things: to accept the things we cannot alter, avoid making
selfish decisions, and remember that society will perish if we do not think. The moral
precepts and cautions of Fahrenheit 451 are directed squarely at today's audience. In
Bradbury's view, human society may quickly become repressive and regulated if it does not
reverse its inclination to censor and deny an individual's natural rights.

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Works Cited

Bradbury, Ray. "Fahrenheit 451." In the Mind's Eye. Routledge, 2021. 129-141.
Wright, Ada. "Cancelling, Counter-speech and Censorship: Reconciling free speech in a
Brave New Social Media World." Political Science Undergraduate Review 7.2
(2022): 56-67.