Spiraling Into Oblivion

One of the main themes of Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is the topic of censorship throughout the novel. The first amendment states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” In Fahrenheit 451, though, books are banned altogether and even possessing one is crime; restricting not only freedom of speech, but also freethinking.

Bradbury never blatantly tells us why censorship has become so important in the futuristic society in which Montag and the others live. He does, though, give us a little insight as to how it got that way.

One of the main reasons books are banned in Montag’s society is because it sparks intellectual thinking, which the government does not want. The government believes that any kind of knowledge provided by books is harmful because books encourage people to question power, freedom, and society. The government also fears the fact that books have the ability to make certain people or minorities discontent. This is explained when Beatty says “Colored people don’t like Little Black Sambo, burn it. White people don’t feel good about Uncle Tom’s Cabin, burn it” (59). Eliminating the uncomforting aspects of life was the main goal of society at this time.
Another reason that books have been banned is due to the stimulation of newer technologies such as interactive televisions, which has slowly dwindled peoples’ desires to read. People would rather spend time interacting with their televisions or driving their fast cars than sitting down to read a book. Beatty states, “it didn’t come from the Government down. There was no dictum, no declaration, no censorship, to start with, no! Technology, mass exploitation, and minority pressure carried the trick” (Bradbury 58).

Since the government has censored so many aspects of the society’s life, they no longer know what the needs of real families and real people are. Because everyone focuses so much on television, people do not realize that the family portrayed in the shows are another tool used by the government to control society. People do not realize that by censoring books and providing television as the only source of entertainment, their minds are manipulated so that everyone has only one point of view.