Totalitarianism In Fahrenheit 451

Totalitarian dictatorships and oppressive government throughout history have used censorship and propaganda to control their citizens. Ray Bradbury plays a crucial role in exposing and criticizing the prohibition of books and films with the use of knowledge and education. In the novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury uses his childhood experiences to influence his writing on the book burnings in Berlin through his adolescence and his purpose of the importance of literature in a democratic society.
Ray Bradbury dedicated his life to the genre of science fiction and to challenge the growing issues within society. He was born on August 22, 1920, in Waukegan, Illinois (Wolfe 23). From this point on, he made “immensely successful stories” (Touponce)

This connection strengthens his agenda of the importance of education. However, throughout the book, Bradbury “sees book burnings as not simply a totalitarian phenomenon, but one that has some roots in the process of democratization” (Wolfe 23); thus is the cause of the rise of mass-culture in America. An argument Bradbury defends in the story is that in order to be connected to others, people must realize the importance of books that reflect other people's perspectives of the world (“Fahrenheit 451” 144). Bradbury speaks through the narration as Montag transforms throughout the story. When Montag returns home from a day at work with stolen books, he shows his wife, Mildred, and he explains his reasoning for bringing the books to the house: “Maybe these books can get us half out of the cave. They just might stop us from making the same damn insane mistakes” (Bradbury 102). Montag is in a society that values technology and immediate gratification over free speech, which is the cause of the isolation between each citizen (“Fahrenheit 451” 144). This is at the point that Montag comes to a realization that he can “break alienation from other humans” (“Fahrenheit 451” 144) by reading and deciphering the messages that each book has to offer. One night, Mildred has friends over to watch a show in the

Due to the educational process in Fahrenheit 451, a “consumer culture completely divorced from political awareness” (Seed 83) is created. Bradbury depicts an heavily censored society where people essentially form the laws by their behavior over the years. The government went along with the people (Smolla 110). By creating an extremely suppressed society, Bradbury pushes his philosophy of the importance of literature and education within a