Examples Of Dystopian Society In Fahrenheit 451

Daniel Wong
Mrs. Harper
English 1AS 2
November 2, 2016

Fahrenheit 451 advocates against the pursuit of pleasure and the elimination of thought. Bradbury criticizes a dystopian self-indulgent society that by burning books, driving fast, and having television walls, is pursuing pleasure and the elimination of thoughts.With Fahrenheit 451, he can warn the people of our society about the pursuit of pleasure and elimination of thought, and how this society can change from being what it is today to a dystopian society if they continue their choices.
In Fahrenheit 451, it is shown that burning objects like houses and books is a pleasure to have in the society that Montag lives in. For example, in the beginning before Montag rebels, he says that”It was a pleasure to burn.”(Bradbury 7). At the time, Montag is a fireman who burns books and the houses which the books are in. A fireman’s job is to burn the books so that people can not read, and Montag enjoys his job as a fireman. Burning the books and houses gives the people in that society pleasure due to them having the power to dominate an object. The people also rely on the firemen to protect the population from books so that

Montag is sick and doesn’t want to go to work. Beatty, the fire chief, tells Montag about the history of burning books, and Montag feels an urge to smash and kill. Mildred sees that Montag is murderous, and tells him to go take the beetle and drive it in the country, saying “You hit rabbits, sometimes you hit dogs.”(Bradbury 68), while still stating “You get [the beetle] up around ninety-five and you feel wonderful.”(Bradbury 68). When they drive fast, it doesn’t matter if they hit something or not, it only matters that pleasure is being gained. The pleasure of hitting and killing while going around ninety-five units per hour in a car meant to signify Satan is a rather pleasuring activity for the people of this