Dystopian Novel: Fahrenheit 451 - Research Paper Example

? Fahrenheit 451 Fahrenheit 451 Fahrenheit 451 is dystopian novel that was written in 1953 by Ray Bradbury. It presents a future in the United States of America where books have been made illegal and firefighters burn any house that they find books still in them. The book was published in 1953 by Ballantine Books. Bradbury took the materials of pulp fiction and transformed them into the mainstream American literature through a visionary parable of a society that has gone bad. Meanwhile, the citizens of the U.S are brainwashed by a drug induced and media saturated indifference. The book is an excellent piece that combines enchantment with enlightenment and awakens the imagination of humanity. Fahrenheit 451 is set in the twenty-fourth century and brings up a new environment where the media controls the people, in addition to the problems of overpopulation and censorship. An individual citizen is not readily accepted and the intellectual is seen as an outlaw in that society. In this society, television has taken up the common belief of family ties. The fireman has become an igniter of fire and destroyer of books instead of an insurer against fire and its dangers. Books are seen as evil and illegal because they influence people to think and ask questions about the way things are done in that society. The story begins with an incitement where Montag meets Clarisse McClellan. Montag works as a fireman who burns books for a living. One day as he walks home from work, Clarisse who introduces herself to him approaches him. Clarisse is young, beautiful, and energetic. She presents herself as an antithesis of anyone that Montag has ever met as she engages in a conversation with him especially in things that Montag has never considered. She is very inquisitive and she ponders about things such as love, happiness and the contents of the books that Montag burns. This character fascinates Montag (Bradbury, 1967). Over the next several days, Montag encounters a series of disturbing events that begin with his wife, Mildred, wanting to commit suicide through swallowing a full bottle of sleeping pills. This is followed by a strange occurrence that he encounters as he responds to an alarm about an old woman who has a stash of hidden books. When he reaches there, the woman stuns him by choosing to be burned along with her books. A few days after this, he learns that young Clarisse has been hit dead by a speeding car. This heightens the dissatisfaction in his life and he begins to find a solution by reading books from the stash that he stole from the fires he started. When Montag fails to report to work, his manger visits him at his home and explains to him that it is normal for a fireman to wonder what books give and he elucidates how books came to be burned. As Beatty explains, special interest groups and other minority groups laid their objections to books that offended them. Soon, all books were written with intent not to offend any person. He explains that this was not enough and the society as a unit decided to burn books instead of permitting differing opinions from authors. Beatty tells Montag to take 24 hours, read the books, and find out whether they have anything important and then give them off for incineration. This turns Montag into a long and frenzy night of reading (Eller & Touponce, 2004). When he becomes overwhelmed of reading, he turns to his wife for support but his wife prefers television to his company and does not understand why her husband takes the humiliating task of reading the books. When he remembers Professor Faber, he decided to visit him so that he can help him. Faber tells him that the value of the book is in the awareness of the life in them. He tells Montag that he needs the leisure to read them and the freedom to act upon the ideas of the books and offers to help him read. Faber will contact a printer to reproduce books and Montag will plant them in the residence of firemen to harm the reputation of the profession and destroy censorship. This leads to a completely new happening when Montag offers a book to Beatty only to be exploited by contradictions. An alarm sounds and when the two rush, they find that it is Montag’s house. Montag realizes that his wife has betrayed him. Beatty forces Montag to burn his house. However, Montag turns the flamethrower to Beatty and burns him to ashes. He goes to Faber's house and learns that a new hound has been placed on his pursue with a television squad and helicopters. He takes Faber’s clothes and runs to the river to disguise himself. He runs away and finds renegade intellectuals who love books. They welcome him and tell him to memorize the book of Ecclesiastes. Enemy jets obliterate the city but Montag and his newfound group move to find survivors and rebuild civilization (Bradbury, 1967). The aspect that strikes as the worst in Fahrenheit 451 is the illegalization and eventual burning of the books. This aspect has brought many more things in that society. Illegalization and burning of the books means that people are denied the freedom of though. This is because the government thought that people would start believing in different things that the government was afraid about. In the society, people have different ways of perceiving things and at no time will two people reason similarly in all cases. Writing books was an expression of individual thoughts about issues. However, as Beatty explained, the government started burning books because some authors started writing topics that offended other people. However, this issue was solved when people started writing books that could not offend anyone (Eller & Touponce, 2004). This did not stop the fireman from burning more books. The government created this very bad picture on its people. People were not allowed to express their thoughts through books. When one was found with books, the fireman not only burned books but also the house where the books were found. This in itself is criminal because the government engaged in arson and burning private property. Worse off is the problem that arose from burning books. This brought about killings in the society. For instance, the old woman was burned alongside her books and her house. This shows that the government valued the opinions that it wanted people to have more than the lives of the people. People were killed and the government seemed not to care. Another instance is where Montag pointed the fire machine at his chief, Beatty, and burned him to death (Reid, 2000). Were it not for the illegalization and burning of books, these killings would not have occurred. When Montag fled his hometown, he met other intellectuals who loved books. As they plan to counter the government’s plan by memorizing books, the government sends attack jets that destroy property and kills masses just because of the issues of books. This is very wrong because the government that is supposed to protect the freedom of thought, freedom of expression and the right to life of its people is the same government that takes away these freedoms and rights through burning of books and committing murder (Koster, 2000). If I were living in that society, I would change this by stopping investing on the printing industry. This is because the government had concentrated on burning houses that had print books. This was the only way that the government wanted to end writing and reading books. Instead of printing books, I would advocate for other means of exercising the freedom of thought. I would do this by using electronic media such as movies or putting writing into electronic gadgets that would allow people to watch or read television sets. This is because the society had taken up television culture to the extent that they did not value their families. Therefore, the people would readily access content that was put in television. Secondly, I would encourage people to read books memorize important ideas from the books and throw the books away to avoid being caught by the government. This would be a good way to prevent houses from being burnt down. I would also sensitize people on their rights and freedom of thought and expression because the government was denying them these freedoms by encouraging burning of books. This would see everyone in the society rise up to demand for his or her rights of thought and expression. While Fahrenheit 451 has been considered as the most effective prose works of Bradbury, the novel failed because of its sentimental evocation of culture and the academic literary aspirations. The justification of the intellectual pursuits in the novel, as a virtuous and humane ideal, in addition to the fact that reading has been portrayed as heroic occurs as elitist and romantic. In the novel, Bradbury did not refute Beatty’s version o the history of burning books and the convoluted rational for censorship that the society started burning all books in general. As a result of this, the novel positions intellectuals against the masses instead of positioning the individual against the state that is at fault. The intellectuals have been portrays as the ones who bring the problem to the society as opposed to the state. Thus, the novel implies that the totalitarian state is exonerated by blaming the populace for the decline of books. On the other hand, the intellectuals in the form of the book lovers are entrusted with repopulating the society. The novel’s defense of humanity expresses very little faith in the masses because they do nothing to help alleviate the problem. Instead, they sit comfortable watching television. In addition, the high culture allusions created in the novel appear too obscure for the general reader. The shift between dystopian and utopian structure in the novel creates subtlety and inconsistency in the novel. Clarisse McClellan a seventeen-year-old girl is a typical person of that age where people do not care for how the society needs them to think or behave. However, a speeding car knocks Clarisse down before the reader can fully understand her role in the novel and the society (Spencer, 1991). The book is relevant in today’s societal issues as seen by various parties in the world controlling information. There are many present day crusaders who fit in the fireman’s mantra. For instance, many religious groups have called for the ban of Harry Porter’s books from school libraries for the notion that they promote witchcraft. In addition, the FCC has maintained that pastied women breasts are more offensive than several men trying to tear each other’s head apart. In addition, one could question the MPAA’s dictation of what can be shown in movie theatres. In conclusion, Bradbury wrote a novel that brings up the theme of media consumption as its underlying message. The book is a form of science fiction that brings pulp fiction to mainstream American literature. The book evokes a strong intensity of entrapment where the society does not care about its freedoms and rights or what happens to others. People are dependent on drugs and television evinces the redemptive ability of humankind. References Bradbury, R. (1967). Fahrenheit 451. New York: Dramatic Publishing. Bradbury, R. (1967). Introduction to Fahrenheit 451. New York: Simon and Schuster. Eller, J. R., & Touponce, W. F. ( 2004). Ray Bradbury: The Life of Fiction. Kent: Kent State University Press. Koster, K. D. (2000). Fahrenheit 451. New York: Cengage Gale. Mancini, C. (2011). Censorship in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. New York: Cengage Gale. Reid, R. A. (2000). Ray Bradbury: A Critical Companion. New York: Greenwood Publishing Group. Spencer, S. (1991). The Post-Apocalyptic Library: Oral and Literate Culture in Fahrenheit 451 and A Canticle for Leibowitz, Extrapolation, vol. 32, No.4. 1991: 331-342. Read More