Censorship In Fahrenheit 451, By Ray Bradbury

While Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 may be a work of fiction, its message is one that is relevant to our modern world, surrounded by technology and control. The novel describes a society where books are banned and conformity is the norm. Instead of books, people indulge in mindless leisure activities that revolve around technology. Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is a chilling dystopian tale that explores the dangers of censorship and the importance of preserving knowledge and individualism. The main character, Guy Montag undergoes a mental rebirth, beginning to understand that the “happy” world he lives in is simply kept this way to keep control. One way that Bradbury showcases the dangers of replacing knowledge and curiosity with mindless technology

Mildred is Montag’s wife who is found unconscious and overdosed on sleeping pills right at the start of the novel. When Montag confronts her about it the day after, Mildred denies that she was trying to commit suicide, but instead claims that she didn’t even consume the pills and attempt to commit suicide. "You took all of the pills in your bottle last night.” “Oh, I wouldn’t do that,” she said surprised. “The bottle was empty.” “I wouldn’t do a thing like that. Why would I do a thing like that?” (Bradbury, 17) This upsetting statement shows how Mildred’s life, filled with technology and absent-minded acts, leads to an unfulfilling life. As Mildred is speaking to him about the events that occurred in the past night, she is plugged into the devices that cause her to feel so meaningless. While Mildred continues her ways throughout the novel, Bradbury uses her as an example of what is wrong with over-satisfaction. When Montag is imagining the bomb striking the hotel in the final part, Montag, “saw or felt the (television) walls go dark in Millie’s face, heard her screaming, because in the millionth part of time left, she saw her own face reflected there, in a mirror instead of a crystal ball, and it was such a wildly empty face, all by itself in the room, touching nothing, starved and eating of itself, that at last she recognized it as her own and looked quickly up at the ceiling as it and the entire structure o the hotel blasted down upon her,” (Bradbury, 152-153) This description, although imaginary, is extremely important to show how Mildred had a split-second realization when the bomb hit that her life had become meaningless through technology. The amusing television shows and radio broadcasts had filled her head with worthless thoughts. Technology wasted her life away and when she looked back at herself through the black screen, she saw an empty face and an empty