Fahrenheit 451 Propaganda Analysis

Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel written by Ray Bradbury, published in 1953. The story depicts a futuristic American world, where all books and literature are banned. The job of the “Firemen” is to burn all found. The novel was inspired by similar times in history when books were regulated. In the novel, it is apparent that the management of political power affects the actions, the minds, and the feelings of groups and of individuals in society. First, the actions, the minds, and the feelings of the people in the community will be greatly influenced by the propaganda and information let out by the government and political leaders. Fear greatly contributes to the reasoning behind many of the actions, thoughts, and feelings of the citizens.

In the novel, propaganda, especially the government’s access to influence television, is used to spread “Government-approved truth”, this sometimes has nothing to do with, or reflect the actual events. In circumstances where the government feels threatened, they can use their access to propaganda, to influence all the citizen’s actions, minds, and feelings. The individuals in the society of Fahrenheit 451 had essentially been programmed to have a very short attention span. The government leaders were feared that Montag could be viewed as a revolutionary figure; so after he killed Chief Beatty, and escaped the city; the political leaders were able to show, on every television, Montag being killed. Because the government had influence in the television, on every television screen they were able to display Montag being killed, in a fictional, very controlled pursuit. Consequently, the people viewed their leaders as exceedingly powerful and efficient. The actions, minds, and feelings of the people in the community; are immensely affected by the propaganda, and information let out by the political leaders of the

In any utopian society, two of the main causes for actions, thoughts, etc. is fear, or the lack of fear. The government leaders use their access to propaganda to either cause fear, or to eliminate whatever could potentially be the source of fear. Part of the reason why there is a “lack of fear” in the citizens, is because they don’t even know what to think! The government leaders were sure to destroy all books, which could possibly be propaganda, which might contradict their propaganda. Furthermore, this resulted in it being more difficult for any individuals to truly think for themselves. They were taught to only believe what the government says. The government in the novel used conformity as one of the main forms of control. This caused fear in those who were not conformed, and resulted in more individuals conforming. Fear greatly influenced the thoughts, feelings, and actions of the individuals and groups in the