Fahrenheit 451 Research Paper

Negative Impacts of Censorship

1.72 billion. That is the number of how many people are affected by censorship on any day (Gaille). About 76% of people in North America have concerns of the Government censoring information through television, radio, books, music, and the internet (“The State of Internet Censorship– Statistics and Trends [Infographic]”). Only 21% of the world population has non censored internet (“The State of Internet Censorship– Statistics and Trends [Infographic]”). Bradbury, the author of Fahrenheit 451, discusses the topic of censorship and the negativity it can bring upon a society. Throughout the novel, the utilization of censorship became inauspicious because the government censored everything from books to the television

In the novel Fahrenheit 451, the main character discovers that so much history and past events are within the books that he is burning. "It's not books you need, it's some of the things that once were it books....The same infinite detail and awareness could be projected through radios and televisions, but are not" (Bradbury 78). The society this book is written about does not know the past events and what made their community the way it is today. Multiple characters question this yet no one knows the answer to why it is this way. Because of this oblivion, the characters seem to be less intelligent and unaware of what is going on with their society. In the real world today, this is also very relevant. “Their [North Korean Government] goal is not to inform, but to indoctrinate and control common people, to explain to them what they should think about the world” (Lankov). North Korea is one of the most known countries for extreme censorship. Their government blinds the people and only tells them what they decide to, and tend to twist the truth with many topics. In countries like North Korea, the people are so unaware of the outside world and are unable to learn about past events. As well as in the novel Fahrenheit 451, North Korean government has placed the citizens of their county into an oblivion of the real world and what

When Montag is talking to his wife Mildred, she is very tuned into the sudden loud noises to keep her paying attention. "Speed up the film, Montag, quick, Uh! Bang! Smack!... Politics? One column, two sentences, a headline!... the centrifuge flings off all unnecessary, time-wasting thought!" (Bradbury 52). Montag believes that having the televisions is taking away importance from the stories being told. As the author showed, everything is being shortened and nailed down to be quick and easy so the people can get the information right away. The characters seem to forget anything if it lasts longer than a few scenes. By censoring media and the shows being broadcasted to such an extreme, it is hurting their society and making them less aware of what really happens. Not only is this a problem in the story Fahrenheit 451, but also in the world today. “According to scientists, the age of smartphones has left humans with such a short attention span even a goldfish can hold a thought for longer” (Watson). In a study done in Canada, two thousand people participated in a study to see how long their attention span was (Watson). According to this study, people with smartphones has dropped in attention span from 2008 to now only eight seconds when a goldfish is nine (Watson). By using this information, one can conclude that using