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Dystopian Society In Pleasantville's Fahrenheit 451

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Living in a society with free sharing of knowledge allows individuals to use others’ viewpoints to determine their own perceptions. Many develop their identity and outlook of the world through sharing ideas in schools, literature, with peers, and in the media. However, when this communication process is limited or suppressed, people are inhibited from making fair assumptions and decisions. While this limits the freedom of individuals, societal systems can benefit from censorship since they can control ideas while preventing strife. These suppressive structures are seen in the societies of Pleasantville, by Gary Ross, and Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, as both dystopian societies create a false sense of security through the lack of any conflicts …show more content…

Citizens of Pleasantville have certain knowledge about themselves and society, but because of limited ideas, individuals are stuck with the same opportunities and values. A specific example of this is the view on gender roles: men hold power as the head of society, while women stay at home to cook and clean. There are no opportunities to change this structure, as the communication of ideas is limited to what is known, and individuals are not exposed to anything new. Everything learned and mentioned in society is all based off of predetermined ideas, and thus, there is no conflict. While this lifestyle provides harmony and order, conformity actually limits them from exploring greater opportunities. The town leadership fears a true deviation from the accepted social order, and as a result, the citizens of Pleasantville conform to this system. On the other hand, when individuals start voicing out their opinions, new ideas challenge the false peace they had in their conformity. After Bud and Mary Sue introduce different and rather contradictory ideas, like sex, color, and individuality, people start pursuing their passions as individuals, rather than society as a whole. With all these changes, individuals burst into color when choosing to leave “pleasant” behind for the freedom to express personal ideas and identity. Consequently, these new concepts creates disparity, specifically as society viewed gender roles differently than the new stances taken by women. This can be seen when George arrives home to find that Betty is mysteriously absent, but, more importantly, so is his dinner. Women, like Betty, are no longer constraining themselves to their limiting roles as housewives, and instead, they are communicating their new sense of freedom through actually studying in libraries and also through sexuality. This creates conflict between

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Dystopian Future Ever wondered what a dystopian future under totalitarian rule would look like and what the people in it would do and feel? Welcome to Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and 1984 by George Orwell. Winston from 1984 and Montag from Fahrenheit 451 live in terrible dystopian future were commonplace things like reading and even thinking are outlawed, these two characters in there respected book represent rebellion against government. They also must keep their secrets to themselves because of the danger it presents, the point of these characters is to defeat the totalitarian rule and create a new and fair government. The purpose of Winston and Montag is to defeat to afowl governments they have and replace them with new fair governments.

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People need authentic human interaction to be truly happy. This claim is supported by the novel, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the film, Pleasantville directed by Gary Ross, and the article, Why Loneliness Is Bad for Your Health by Nancy Shute. In Fahrenheit 451, people need authentic human interaction to be truly happy. This is supported with Montag and Mildred’s relationship and how Mildred says the parlor walls are “really fun” (18), but she still tried to commit suicide.

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Dystopian Affairs Ray Bradbury’s depiction of a dystopia is interpreted through Guy Montag and his escape from society as well as Captain Beatty and his desire to get rid of books when they explore the technology and its advances in his novel, Fahrenheit 451. Born in a time of despair from the ongoing World War II, Bradbury fell in love with books as well as horror from a young age, and he enjoyed the sense of adventure it created (“Ray”). Bradbury uses “Fahrenheit 451 [as a reflection of his] lifelong love of books and his defense of the imagination against the menace of technology and government manipulation” (“Ray”), and bases his plots, characters, and themes on his past experiences and memories. World War II is a time period when literature was suddenly disappearing and technology became greatly significant. Realizing the troubles technology will create, Bradbury wrote stories based on dystopian affairs, including his most powerful novel, Fahrenheit 451.

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Fahrenheit 451 is set in a horrible, yet very possible, dystopian world. The setting is very undesirable because everyone thinks that books are bad so they have prohibited all of them. Everyone has this Belief because over time it has been convinced that books only bring sorrow. Most people have forgot about books and their importance, but the people who haven’t forgotten try to sneak books into their homes only to then have their homes burned, sometimes with them in it. Books are valuable, worth the time and effort, and in Montags’ world books are considered dangerous.

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Ray Bradbury 's novel Fahrenheit 451 delineates a society where books and quality information are censored while useless media is consumed daily by the citizens. Through the use of the character Mildred as a foil to contrast the distinct coming of age journey of the protagonist Guy Montag, Bradbury highlights the dangers of ignorance in a totalitarian society as well as the importance of critical thinking. From the beginning of the story, the author automatically epitomizes Mildred as a direct embodiment of the rest of the society: she overdoses, consumes a vast amount of mindless television, and is oblivious to the despotic and manipulative government. Bradbury utilizes Mildred as a symbol of ignorance to emphasize how a population will be devoid of the ability to think critically while living in a totalitarian society. Before Montag meets Clarisse, he is

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Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, is a uniquely shocking and provocative novel about a dystopian society set in a future where reading is outlawed, thinking is considered a sin, technology is at its prime, and human interaction is scarce. Through his main protagonist, Guy Montag, Bradbury brings attention to the dangers of a controlled society, and the problems that can arise from censorship. As a fireman, it is Guy's job to destroy books, and start fires rather than put them out. After meeting a series of unusual characters, a spark is ignited in Montag and he develops a desire for knowledge and a want to protect the books. Bradbury's novel teaches its readers how too much censorship and control can lead to further damage and the repetition of history’s mistakes through the use of symbolism, imagery, and motif.

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At its very core, this shows the importance of sharing ideas, no matter how uncomfortable they may be. But as technology advances, and the internet is used to spread information at incredible speed, we begin to see the effects of not only too much information being shared with the public, such as the location of our military, but also how certain literature could be offensive to masses of people. The rise of Google and other platforms forces people everywhere to wonder what's more important: protection of information through censorship, or the freedom of speech and expression? Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a cautionary tale of what happens with excessive censorship could lead to in the future. Fahrenheit 451-a futuristic, dystopian novel about the main character, Montag, and his quest for books and knowledge as he battles the dangers of censorship, conformity, and the progression of dependence on technology.

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Ray Bradbury, the author of Fahrenheit 451, presents a society in which humans suffer from depression, fear, and loss of empathy which are the result of censorship of free thought and knowledge. Humans suffer from loss of empathy due to their lack of human interaction. People live in fear of the government as the dystopian society deprives the people of knowledge. Depression is evidenced by suicidal tendencies caused by hollow lives. Bradbury uses the loss of empathy in order to demonstrate the effects that censorship of free thought and knowledge have upon the individual and society.

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