Fahrenheit 451 Research Paper

And I thought about books. And for the first time I realized that a man was behind each one of the books.” (Bradbury 49). In the dystopian society Fahrenheit 451, we follow the main character, Guy Montag. His job is to burn books on sight without any second thought. As the story progresses, so does Montag, and he realizes that burning books is not a good thing to do for a living. Though Fahrenheit 451’s society is drastically different from ours, there are some similarities that you may not realize that Ray Bradbury has planted in his book.

“A book is a loaded gun.” (Bradbury 56). In Fahrenheit 451’s dystopian society, books and all forms of literature are illegal. Books are banned because they give out conflicting views, offend too many people,

You threw them off at the river. They can’t admit it, either. They know they can hold their audience for only so long.” (Bradbury 148). Montag was on the run from the government for his crimes against the government, which the chase was also broadcast on TV as a show, which the whole city was watching. As Montag escaped from the police, the show showed that they caught and killed “Montag.” This is a perfect example of propaganda. The show did not want to reveal that they had lost Montag, that the government was weak. So, they killed a random man labeled “Montag” to make it look like the government failed. If the show showed how Montag got away, it would cause a rupture in society. The government wants to show how if you defy them, you will suffer the consequences. But when the world sees how one man beat the government, people freak out. This powerful, undefeated government could not catch one man. Just like in the real world, in Nazi Germany, World War II, Germany used propaganda to calm the public. They lost the war, but they said everything was fine. If they revealed that they were losing the war, they would reveal that they were weak, which would cause chaos. So, our society and Fahrenheit 451’s society both play the role of the government lying to the public to stay in