Fahrenheit 451 Dystopian Analysis

In Fahrenheit 451, all the citizens acquiesce to what the government wants them to do. In their society, thinking is outlawed, leaving the authority with ultimate control over the town. Everyone follows the same routine everyday, as if they were drones. The people’s leisure activities are the changeless: driving so fast that everything is a blur and violence. They are also constantly distracted by cacophonous sounds to make thinking difficult. Ray Bradbury criticizes the flaws of the dystopian society through their pursuit of happiness and elimination of thought. Firstly, the dystopian government likes to bombard the citizens with loud noises, making it impossible to think. For instance, when Montag was trying to memorize the verses of the

For example, when Montag was feeling sick, Mildred says to him, ‘“I always like to drive fast when I feel that way. You get it up around ninety-five and you feel wonderful”’ (Bradbury 68). Accelerated driving is a recreation to them. It makes them feel free, and no thought is needed. Whenever they don’t feel well, they just take the keys and drive all night long to escape their boredom. Also, during their first meeting, Clarisse is telling Montag about the outside world. She says, “‘Have you seen the two hundred-foot-long billboards in the country beyond town? Did you know that once billboards were only twenty feet long? But cars started rushing by so quickly they had to stretch the advertising out so it would last”’ (Bradbury 13). This observation shows that only their society needs huge billboards. The citizens drive so fast that advertising doesn’t work anymore. Everything they see while speeding is a blur. Furthermore, driving slowly is a crime. She says, “My uncle drove slowly on a highway once. He drive forty miles an hour and they jailed him for two days” (Bradbury 13). The government doesn’t want people to drive slow because it allows them to observe and that leads to potential thinking. That means there is a chance that people might see the flaws in the life they are forced to live. To the society, thinking is dangerous. They rather find pleasure in driving than perceive

The people live in a society where technology is the center of their lives. The rooms are filled with huge television sets and parlor walls. Everyone’s daily routine is to watch TV all day and to not think. When Millie’s friends come over to her house, they watch The White Clown. In the show, “Three White Clown Cartoon Clowns [chop] off each other's limbs to the accompaniment of immense incoming tides of laughter” (Bradbury 96). This type of violence is funny to Mildred and her friends, and they can’t stop talking about it. Everyone’s entertainment is the same and they all seem so amused by something so morally incorrect. “Two minutes more and the room whipped out of town to the jet cars wildly circling an arena, bashing and backing up and bashing each other again. Montag saw a number of bodies fly in the air” (Bradbury 96). The dystopian society’s government wants people to be so absorbed in violence that they don’t have a mind of their own. They let people see this violence, implying that killing and violence is permitted, which leads to the killing of animals. For example, when Montag decides to skip work because he wasn't feeling well, he says, “I’ve got an awful feeling I want to smash things and kills thing” (Bradbury 68). Mildred responds by telling him to take the beetle because you can hit rabbits and sometimes dogs. (Bradbury 68). Anytime something goes wrong, their first option is to kill.