Censorship In Fahrenheit 451, By Ray Bradbury

Post World War II 1950s was a period marked by the baby boom and technological advances including the television. Both developments had a profound impact on the American society and growth of suburbia culture. It was also a period of caution and suspicion after World War II with memories of the Nazi’s persecution still burned in people’s memory. This underlying nervousness was perpetuated by the Cold War, McCarthyism, and growing fear of Communism on American soil. This undercurrent affected attitudes towards differing non-conforming points of view. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, is a novel that dives into the dangers behind censorship and the impact technology has on free thought and human interaction. Bradbury’s characters, such as Guy

Free-thinking Clarisse stirs self-doubt and tells Montag, "’you're one of the few who put up with me. That's why I think it's so strange you're a fireman, it just doesn't seem right for you, somehow.’ He felt his body divide itself into a hotness and a coldness, a softness and a hardness, a trembling and a not trembling, the two halves grinding one upon the other” (Bradbury 21). Montag is profoundly impacted by the woman and begs her to "Come on, woman!" but the woman says "You can't ever have my books," as she stays and burns with her books (Bradbury 35). Montag questions why “’weren't [you] there, you didn't see," he said. "There must be something in books, things we can't imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don't stay for nothing’” (Bradbury 48). The intellectual Professor Faber warns Montag about Beatty and censoring intellectual curiosity "But remember that the Captain belongs to the most dangerous enemy to truth and freedom, the solid unmoving cattle of the majority. Oh, God, the terrible tyranny of the majority.” (Bradbury 104) Bradbury was personally concerned with potential censorship during the 50’s climate and with Fahrenheit 451 “argued that books would become outlawed because people themselves would become

Bradbury’s characters in Fahrenheit 451 are dependent on technology and in turn, they have trouble sustaining intimate relationships. Mildred is obsessed with the wall to wall television parlour. Montag asks, "Will you turn the parlour off?" Mildred responds "That's my family" (Bradbury 46). Montag is frustrated and lashes back, “Let you alone! That’s all very well, but how can I leave myself alone? We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?” (Bradbury 49). Mildred would rather spend time with her modern technologies versus her husband. Montag’s marriage lacks passion and intimacy and he feels that "We have everything we need to be happy, but we aren't happy. Something's missing. I looked around. The only thing I positively knew was gone was the books I'd burned in ten or twelve years. So I thought books might help" (Bradbury 78). When Montag interacts with Clarisse, it highlights how people should connect with each other. “You're not like the others. I've seen a few; I know. When I talk,