Parallels Between Fahrenheit 451 and Our Society
Ray Bradbury was born on August 22, 1920. He has written many science fiction and fantasy novels throughout his lifetime. Bradbury first began writing at the age of 12 or 13. After graduating from high school he spent most of his time studying in libraries because he could not afford to go to college. Bradbury eventually began to publish his own stories. Eventually, in 1943, he became a full-time writer. In 1953 Bradbury wrote what was considered his masterpiece; Fahrenheit 451. It became an instant classic for its “exploration of themes such as censorship and conformity” (“Ray Bradbury, Biography”). The novel is set in the future where books are outlawed. It tells the story of Guy Montag, a fireman whose job is to burn books. His views and opinions about society change when he meets a young girl named Clarisse, who makes him question the way things are. Although Bradbury wrote the novel about a futuristic fictional society, there are several ways that the society in Fahrenheit 451 resembles our society today.
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One way they do this is by burning books. The government hires firefighters to set fire to books. Montag is a firefighter whose “hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing symphonies of blazing and burning to bring down the … charcoal ruins of history” (Bradbury 3). The government gains control by telling them what to think instead of letting them think on their own. Montag, like most people in the society, is brainwashed into thinking a certain way therefore he does not have his own opinions and only know what the government allows him to know. Another way the government controls its citizens is by controlling them through fear. They use a mechanical hound as a control mechanism to intimidate people. The hounds main purpose is to track and kill people who try to escape with