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Hi! I’m Guy Montag, the protagonist in Fahrenheit 451. I was sent by Ray Bradbury to come to talk to you about his most well-known novel and also do some exploring in this future world. Psst, he said it was a really important mission and he sent me because I was his favourite character. Let’s start with a quick summary. (brings down a board)
Ray’s novel Fahrenheit 451 introduces a totalitarian and oppressive society in which it is controlled by the government.
In my world, books are considered corrupt because they assist in amending people’s thoughts and ultimately produces questions which is believed to lead to conflict and despondency of people. All intellectual curiosity and crave for knowledge must be suppressed for the good of the state, or in other words, for conformity.
Ray Bradbury portrays this futuristic world through me! I have a crucial duty of preserving this censored world, where the duty us firefighters is not to extinguish fires but instead create fire to burn books.
5 (234)
“ Very organized ,I enjoyed and Loved every bit of our professional interaction ”
The people in this world are drugged into supporting this mindless conformity that their society embraces, including me where I had dutifully followed these customs without rebellion. But a follow-up of disturbing events and encounters prompted my curiosity and I came to question my duty as a firefighter. I then begin to wonder what is inside of books that I burn so thoughtlessly that makes them so powerful, instigating me to steal a book to discover for myself.
This ‘unlawful’ act ultimately twisted my perception of myself, my job and life as a whole.
And that’s pretty much what the book is about! Now the ideas, values and concepts explored in the text.
The central idea of Fahrenheit 451 is the collapse of individual thoughts and intellectualism for the tenacity of control. Ray portrays a materialistic society that detests the values of free thought, friendship and love through the condemning of books. Us firemen are doing work for the government because we have no other job to do society doesn’t need protection from fire, they want protection from ideas, and it is this notion that branches out into a multiplicity of other ideas, values and concepts.
The thematic obsession that overtly arises in Fahrenheit 451 is the burning of books for the purpose of averting individualistic opinions. The idea of book burning is a melodramatic phrase that designates the suppression of sharing intellectual topics and thoughts, readily leading into the novel’s central idea of censorship. (JUST FIREMAN LIP SYNCING)
In the midst of this novel’s world, the censoring of intellectual knowledge is shown to create a mindless and despondent society, demonstrating the dangers of censorship in the modernising world. The Government controls this by implementing their power to the controlling of information in the computerized society, maintained within subjugation in the form of effacement of personal liberty. And in preserving this censored and dystopian culture, the society of Fahrenheit 451 descends into the nethermost level of intelligence, constraining it’s ability to progress. Bradbury is expressing a concern of the government’s power which we see has the ability to ultimately suppress free speech and individuality as meticulously as any totalitarian regime.
Bradbury also conveys the idea of self- censorship. Society in this novel is willingly engulfed in television programs and imitating what they see, which are also highly censored by the government to purely provide mindless entertainment – meant solely to pass time and not give any chance to trigger ideas. The world is entirely idealized in that no one has significant and meaningful conversations anymore or like my good friend Clarisse had mentioned “no one has time anymore for anyone else.” This all comes down to the impact of censorship and how the government has tried to conform everyone to think in the same way- prompted by the harshest measure of censorship systematic destruction by burning. And thus, through this lack of access to knowledge, the majority of society like my wife Mildred and Captain Beatty end up being alliterated – bringing in the notion of self-censorship. In the book when I tried to read a section of a book to Mildred and her friends, they are left enraged and one of the women even starts to cry. The other woman then became livid with me stating, “Silly words, silly words, silly awful hurting words. Why do people want to hurt people?” Through the belief that by reading books, people are indirectly hurting others, Bradbury conveys the idea that the people in this society live in a distorted world of ideals, readily allowing the government to take full control and demand of their mindset, thoughts and beliefs- which throughout the novel, shows to create problems such as violence, depression and even suicide.
Bradbury had foreseen the problem of the developed world and had wrote the society in Fahrenheit 451 that revolves around technology. Through the depiction of the dystopian society in the novel,technology will or has already become a major part of our lives that people have used mindlessly without caution – symbolising a version of our future that has become bleaker due to the uncontrollably increasing use of technology. Bradbury invites the reader into a world engineered by advancing technology and governed by invasive mass media causing a fear of independent ideas and thoughts. People who are viewed as ‘normal’ in the society are those like again my wife Mildred who had probed to me, “How long you figure before we save up and get the fourth wall torn out and a fourth wall-TV put in?” She spends most of her day inside their parlour where she considers the characters in the TV shows as ‘family’, while ignoring the people who are actually around her, an epitome of the average Fahrenheit 451 citizen. People no longer engage in meaningful and significant conversations, nor do they care what is actually happening around them as they are gradually drawn into the virtual mindless world that technology readily provides.
Another form of technology used in the novel are seashell earpieces giving of calming sounds to prevent people from having time to think their own thoughts. Again, Mildred is shown to have these in her ears all the time to a point where she becomes “an expert at lip syncing from ten years of apprenticeship at Seashell ear thimbles”. Bradbury allows the reader to understand that in this dystopian society, mere physical objects such as earbuds have the capability to conceptually block out Mildred’s good consciousness and compromise her relationship with me and the world around her. From these insights we see that the society in Fahrenheit 451 prioritises technology in society as being the most imperative thing. It is shown to impel conformity indirectly, turning the citizens into passive, malleable people that conform only to society’s wishes while lacking the ability to invoke their own opinions.
The idea of political correctness also has a massive impact of compelling the storyline. As Captain Beatty explained to me, people stopped reading books over time as their society started to revolve around simple pleasure. Another reason for this idea of political correctness is the undeniable fact that different groups of people share differing values and beliefs, and because of this there is an undisputable chance that people will become offended by their controversial content. Not only this but because the act of banning books effectively avoids the risk of questions that lead to disagreement, revolution and anarchy – or simply again to aim for political correctness. And thus, in order for everyone to become seemingly content, censorship rulings were approved – a law intended so nobody has to feel bad. This is the case of Fahrenheit 451, through the censoring of entertainment content and the burning of books, leading to a society where everyone is too scared to act or say anything that would potentially be offensive to anyone, and thus because of this, nothing ‘real’ would be done or said at all – a fall into dehumanisation. Political correctness has become so significant that people are terrified to express their thoughts. In the novel, America is at war, yet nobody cares.
Wow, that was a ton of ideas Ray had in his mind! Now to what makes this a key text… Oh… I don’t think I know this one.
(POOF)
“who are you?”
“Hey there Montag! I’m a university student studying Fahrenheit 451! I see you’re struggling with that question. I think I can help you!”
“Really! Well go ahead then”
Since its first publication, Fahrenheit 451 had sold 10 million copies worldwide. It has been regarded as Ray Bradbury’s most popular novel and has been reprinted scores of times since initially published in 1953.
In Fahrenheit 451, technology and violent acts are widely demonstrated as a contributor to advancing the plot. Although this book is set in the twenty fourth century, its ideas and values has many similarities to today’s world. The lessons gained from this classic, namely the threats of censorship and authority control has become increasingly important and the novel is as relevant today as it was when it was first published. The fact that this dystopian science fiction contains so many timeless themes where no matter how much time goes by, people will always regard the future with suspicion, undeniably makes Fahrenheit 451 a key text.
The idea that controlling the flow of information remains a notion timelier than ever. We live in an era where information can not only do incredible damage but regulating it remains equally as conflict-ridden. We are still fed censored information which readily applies to the notion Bradbury conveys in his novel. News are given for the pleasure and ease of people and to deny fault and wrongdoings – for example the news coverage of the fake capture of Montag near the end of the book when in fact he had already escaped. This was done so the government could retain supreme control of the people by showing their power is superior at all times, and to keep the civilian’s content and unthinking. This idea still remains relevant today where we are still confronted with ‘fake news’.
The advancement of technology is also very much relevant in today’s society, and this is why so many people connect to a book like Fahrenheit 451 – a disturbingly exaggerated yet accurate representation of the future of our society if we continue to advance in the way we do. Like us, they have plenty of time to think for themselves. And yet like us, they prefer to mindlessly watch screens filled with propaganda that overpowers their good consciousness.
Fahrenheit 451 is also filled with hope and offers ideas for how people of all times can resist the shallowness and thoughtlessness of the age – another reason why the novel is a key text. And as with any dystopian fiction, the plot amplifies the trouble features of the world around us and imagines the consequences of taking them to an extreme. It also provides thought provoking questions about the society we are living in and also the near future that is to come.
Do want a world where books are outlawed, where history is controlled and censored by those in power? Do we want to lack the ability to have meaningful conversations with each other? Do we want to lack the ability to think for ourselves and have our own beliefs and opinions? And do we want to use our technology to the point where it becomes a threat to humanity — a dangerous and omnipresent distraction? All these questions rise from Fahrenheit 451 insisting us to compare this dystopian society to the world we live in today and how long we have if we are to continuing living the way we do until we identically resemble this totalitarian world.
WOww…. Thank you for your help! I didn’t know his book would still be this popular!
No worries, Good luck on the rest!
Okay, now to context! (POOF)
RAY? What are you doing here?
I ran out of money for my hourly typewriter, so I thought to check by to see how you’re going. Context huh? Let me answer this one since I was the one who wrote it.
RAY and simple images on the side
The time period in which I wrote my novel had an immense impact on the plot. I had developed Fahrenheit 451 during the late 1940s and published it in 1955, just after World War II, and during the early stages of the Cold War, concurring with America’s increasing fear of communism. The tendency of dystopia is of fear and despair and greatly reflects the concerns of the civilians after the horrors of World Wars and the destructive aspect of technological advancement.
During this period, television quickly became a dominant force in American culture, and with the increasing of television came more advertising. In Fahrenheit 451, the overuse of these technologies is evident within the plot where a family’s affluence is measured by how many wall-sized screens dominate one’s parlour. Television has destroyed society’s interest in reading, and individuality and free speech is eclipsed by social conformity.
My other major theme of censorship and forced conformity, where reading books is against the law which portrays the irrationality of the 20th century where people in power repressed free speech and individuality.
I also wrote as a social commentary on the numerous things that were occurring at the time. I was influenced by events such as the political and technological happenings of the era. The novel’s publish date in 1953 was the height of the campaign of terror instigated by Joseph McCarthy, a U.S Senator who believed every highly-placed politician was communist and saw a subversive in every author and movie writer. His influence led to an arrest of writers, actors and musicians and the firing of numerous people who were black listed– reflecting my strong anti-censorship message. For example, when Montag meets the outcasts, they tell him that “All we want to do is keep the knowledge we think we will need intact and safe. We’re not out to incite or anger anyone.” These outcasts have the same sentiment of obedience that the citizens of the US had during Senator McCarthy’s reign.
Also comparing this notion of censorship and control of my novel to the time during WWII, Hitler and the Nazis had similarly banned and burned hundreds of thousands of books, using new technologies they attempted one of the largest mind control experiments by setting up state controlled schools and a propaganda machine which censored all information in the public media. The U.S government also responded to its fear of growing communist influence with attempts to censor media and literature and examined possible disloyalty of American citizens and people like Montag who questions their acceptance of the state law. This reflected the strong censorship message that I had conveyed where the government utilised the latest technology to censor entertainment and restrain individual thought, and utilised firemen’s job to burn printed materials.
Government policies have always and will play a large role in influencing and shaping each individual’s values and attitudes and even the perspective of the world and others around them. I epitomised this notion about how the government can modify the culture of an entire population by implementing beliefs and policies that they believe create the ideal society. Through idea of outlawing books, the government changed how knowledge and free speech are perceived. The majority of the people in the dystopian society of Fahrenheit 451 are drawn to these values, exhibiting the government’s effect on the cultural mindset of the population.
The novel implements the culture of forgetting. The activities that are described in the novel such as listening to seashells and watching the parlour walls compliments the value of the people that they wish to forget about the important things in life. We can observe from this portrayal that the culture of forgetting has a dominant stance in society. As a lack of understanding or ‘care’ about what is actually going on around them, the majority of society in the novel is ‘messed up” and makes the same mistakes over and over again. This also links back to the wrongdoings of the government where we cannot solely blame the culture of forgetting solely on the individuals because it was initially the government that helped promote this attitude by discouraging individuality and provide mindless entertainment to merely pass time. And the practice of this culture has led to people to value only themselves, ignoring everything and everyone around them. For example, when Montag asks one of Mildred’s friends about her kids, she responds, “I plunk the children in school nine days out of ten. I put up with them when they come home three days a month. It’s not bad at all. You heave them into the parlour and turn the switch. It’s like washing clothes: stuff the laundry in slam the lid.” From this, we see that she doesn’t care about her kids. She wants them to be away from her and forget about them - and this sums up the mindset and attitude of the majority of the society in Fahrenheit 451 where they don’t care about anything or anyone.
Thanks Ray… Okay next is adaptations.
Ooh OOH I want to answer this one too.
When I came to visit the future I watched the 2018 American dystopian drama film directed by Ramin Bahrani which an adaptation of my book. Firemen burn not only books but also any delivery system – picture postcards, video cassettes, record albums. It is a film that drags the source material into a tinted future where not just books, but all forms of writing and art have been outlawed and mass communication instead takes place through emoji-like images sent in the Nine – a heavily censored- state propaganda, a spilling update of the internet. Guy Montag played by Michael B Jordan becomes disillusioned and questions why he is so determined to continue on this knowledge ruining mission. Seeing the increasingly rapid rise of fake news, social media and technology in this world– an adaptation of Fahrenheit 451 might be more relevant than ever.
There are many changes that arise from my 1953 classic to the 2018 adaptation, including one of the simplest yet most critical point the burning of books. Though there are still books to burn in this dystopian future, most of them aren’t printed material but instead and more commonly, existing online. So not only do firemen destroyed outlaw written work by lighting physical pages on fire, but the job also includes smashing hard drives and seized computers. Bahrani’ shift from physical books to that of files still lives up to my novel because it preserved the theme of government censorship and how this had a detrimental influence on one’s individuality.
While I thought this was a relatively successfully upgrade, I also thought about the fact that my book deals with countless ideas, such as censorship, technology and political correctness, each worthy of their own movie. So, at 100 minutes total, Bahrani doesn’t have the time to provide intense focus to each. There was simply too much plot and world to build for a mere 100 minutes and the end result seemed rushed and rigid. We are not even given enough time to flesh out who the main character Montag is and the fact that he went from being a book burner to a book protector in mere minutes made the whole movie seemed less engaging. Bahrani also left out some crucial details from the book. For example, Clarisse doesn’t die in the movie and she is shown to work with Captain Beatty. Comparing this to my book this change made no sense and cannot even be seen as an update to the story.
Another major change he made in the adaptation is unlike in my novel where Montag’s wife Mildred plays a major role in the portrayal of this dystopian society, he lives alone. As a result of this, some adaptation changes feel hollow. In the novel, Montag comes to several important realisations through the interaction and communication with his wife, yet the HBO adaptation decided to eliminate her from the movie completely. They also decided to eliminate Faber, the person who Montag approaches about the books at first and plays a vital role in the advancing of the plot. The plot itself I found made less sense with these vital characters missing.
Although it is a well-reasoned update on my older classic story, and the visuals depicted are exquisite, the resulting chains of events and the lack of available time, I believe does not yet live up to the importance I intended for my original work.
1984 by George Orwell is one of Britain’s most popular dystopian novel, highlighting the dangers of totalitarianism and warns us against a society governed by censorship, surveillance and propaganda. This is issue is explored similarly in Fahrenheit 451. George Orwell was a socialist who became overwhelmed with the strength of communism during the Cold War in 1949, where a small group of people governed the lives of many. This was what 1984 was trying to relay and this is similar with Bradbury via the government’s order to burn all books to restrict individual thought. As Bradbury published Fahrenheit 451 during the climax of the cold war, he too had written on his views about the communist political system.
Orwell’s novel warns people of the severe danger totalitarianism poses to society where the notions of personal rights, individual and free speech are pulverised under the powerful hand of the government. He gives the readers a view of what preserving communism might lead to if it was allowed to advance unchecked. The Party is unfaultable in its universal control over the people largely through utilising technological development. And through its effective psychological manipulation tactics, the Party destroys all sense of individuality and independence. Life is constant and orderly with no one standing out where everyone wears the same things, eats the same and live the same. People are only permitted to think what the Party tells them to think and the belief that independent thought it dangerous as it could lead to revolt and this idea is also highly emphasised in Fahrenheit 451. And Also, like Fahrenheit 451, technology us an extremely important tool that the Party uses to maintain control over society.
Wow, critical much Ray? Anyways I believe that is the end! The rest is up to her.
Who?
She’s there, staring at us through the screen. Apparently, she’s doing a major work related to your book! She needs to propose her idea now. We should leave
Oh really! Good choice and good luck! We better be of then. C’mon Guy, hurry up.
For my major work I am considering about making a video with the story being told in poetry. I felt this form was the most effective way to convey my idea as many people often disregard body language, verbal tone and other visual cues as a huge role in conveying a message. I love the idea behind camera angles, lighting and background effects to convey a notion and I feel it would effectively compliment my idea of exploring the idea of dystopian world.
My idea of having poetry instead of normally telling a story came through while watching numerous videos and movies. For the most part I loved the idea behind it, yet sometimes I felt they were over wording the plot which takes away from the importance of the idea. Poetry’s advantageous attribute is that it emphasises words, and builds tension in a shorter amount of time, which enhances the emotion of the audience – which I felt could effectively compliment of my considerably short video to convey a complex idea.
My main concept for my video is to portray a bleak dystopian society like the one that Fahrenheit 451 presents though I would like the exaggerate this society more through visual imagery as I feel that a dystopian world can never be effectively understood without seeing it. I want to explore the issues of that Fahrenheit 451 explores such as censorship, advancement of technology and conformity, which all combines to create a dull and meaningless world. I aim to show this dull world through the colours black and where anything that is coloured is considered to be a threat to society.
My key idea which I would like to explore and stand out from the rest is the lack of individuality. My goal is to effectively portray a world where everyone is the same same clothes, same facial expression and same thoughts. I want to hyperbolise this issue to highlight the major impact lack of individuality would have on our society.
I do not want to create a long speech to go with the video because I would like to focus most of my effort and time into the visual imagery and to create subtle effects that convey strong meaning. I want to utilise colour, lighting and sound effects as much as possible to draw the audience in and let them interpret what the video is trying to convey instead of spelling it out to them as story-telling often does.
To summarise, the key themes that I am considering of portraying but is subject to change is
In my Independent Related Project, I found that I was interested in this idea of a dystopian world and I wanted to convey this visually. In this task I have explored much about dystopian societies and the aspects that placed them in this category. Also, while reading Fahrenheit 451 I was imagining the world I was reading visually, with some monotone music in the background and the playing with camera angles to convey different notions. This idea of creating a video to portray this world and its issues is an extension of my research into the ideas and aspects of a dystopian society depicted in Fahrenheit 451.
I plan to read more texts that explores the issues that Fahrenheit 451 undertake such as Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and 1984 by George Orwell to get a different take on the same issue. I also plan to watch a few short videos that convey complex ideas without the use story-telling- which I feel would be the most challenging for me to accomplish as I would need to make sure that I can convey an idea strongly by merely utilising visual imagery and music. I also would like to take some time to learn more about the context surrounding the development of Fahrenheit 451. This could include watching old movies and films or reading books from that time. I feel this is a very important step in completing my major work as by having as close as I can get view of what Bradbury was influenced by at that time while writing his novel I can understand why he perceived things the way he did and why he wrote the dystopian society the way he had. This would aid me to effectively create my own dystopian society while embedding key issues that was present in Fahrenheit 451.
Idea of a Dystopian World in "Fahrenheit 451". (2021, Feb 03). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/idea-of-a-dystopian-world-in-fahrenheit-451-essay
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