How Mismanagement Of Political Power And The Media Is Exemplified In Fahrenheit 451 In the world of Fahrenheit 451, firemen start fires, burning down any houses with books. Fahrenheit 451 follows Guy Montag, who learns to break free of this society and how he finds the value of books. In Fahrenheit 451, the extreme mismanagement of political power and the media cause society to turn against books and, along with, any ideas or people considered “too radical.” There are three examples in which this idea is exemplified. First of all, the constant brainless media given to the people of Fahrenheit 451 lead to a decline in the love of books, ideas, and social connections. Second, the government supports people’s ignorance using brutality and the use of the media. The last example is the fact that the entire society loathes books and the ideas that come with them. Now I will take a deeper look into each of these examples.
The constant brainless media has turned people against ideas, books, and true social connection. This is one of the most concerning examples because it is happening in real life. Much of today’s media is empty of any real value and only used to give one’s eyes something flashy to look at. A great example comes from the work, Fahrenheit 451. Take a close look at the media described here; “Abruptly the room took off on a rocket flight into the clouds; it plunged into a lime-green sea where blue fish at red and yellow fish. A minute later, three White Cartoon Clowns chopped off each other’s limbs to the accompaniment of immense incoming tides of laughter.” Notice how every single thing that happens in this example is simply flashy imagery. And there is no true substance within it. Everything shown on the television program is disjointed and is not conducive to true deep thought. This isn’t even the worst of it. People in Fahrenheit 451 realize that there are barriers in their society thanks to the media, and they attempt to fill the void with false interaction. Yet another example from Fahrenheit 451 shows this false interaction. “Well, wasn’t there a wall between him and Mildred, when you came down to it? literally not just one wall but, so far, three! And expensive, too! And the uncles, the cousins, the nieces, the nephews, that lived in those walls, the gibbering pack of tree-apes that said nothing...” We see here that Guy even outright notices there are walls between him and Mildred. He and his wife should have no barriers between them, yet the media’s false interaction puts up a horrible barrier. The entire society of Fahrenheit 451 is interconnected yet more separate than ever. If this is disturbing to you, then you might just be realizing that this is very nearly the society you live in. We are constantly absorbed in our media, paying more attention to our phones, televisions, and games than to our own families. And what is even worse, this is supported by the government in Fahrenheit 451. The government in Fahrenheit 451 only supports people’s ignorance using brutality and media manipulation. The greatest example of that is how the government supports the firemen to burn books that contain any ideas considered “too radical.” If for whatever reason you don’t believe the firemen in Fahrenheit 451 are supported by the government, take a look at this quote from Beatty, the chief of the firemen. “Any man’s insane who thinks he can fool the government and us.” Here Beatty makes the notion that one is insane if they think they can fool the government and the firemen. In addition to the firemen, the government also uses “The Hound” to seek and destroy books and the people who possess them. The Hound is a terrifying machine, as is shown when it is hunting down and killing “Montag,” all while being filmed for the whole world to see. “The Hound leapt up into the air with a rhythm and a sense of timing that was incredibly beautiful. Its needle shot out. It was suspended for a moment in their gaze, as if to give the vast audience time to appreciate everything, the raw look of the victims face, the empty street, the steel animal a bullet nosing the target.” The sheer horror of this mechanical creature is usually enough to keep people from books and radical ideas. Even then, most people have turned against books and radical ideas. The entire society in Fahrenheit 451 loathes books and the ideas that come with them. The Hound and the firemen are almost unnecessary because everyone already hates books. A brilliant example of this sentiment is when Beatty talks about how terrible books can be. “What traitors books can be! you think they’re backing you up, and they turn on you. Others can use them, too, and there you are, lost in the middle of the moor, in a great welter of nouns and verbs and adjectives.” Here Beatty talks in a roundabout way about how the ideas in books can conflict and how “they turn on you.” It is clear as day that people like Beatty believe books are extremely vile and able to betray you. And Beatty is not very extreme in his views of books. When Montag reveals his collection of books to Mildred, she completely flips out and demands he incinerate them. He also reduces one of Mildred’s friends to tears with a mere poem from a book. It is clear to see that the people care about nothing but the bare necessity to keep society functioning and loathe higher idealistics that books present. The following quote talks about how this has spilled into the school system in Fahrenheit 451. “School is shortened, discipline relaxed, philosophies, histories, languages dropped, English and spelling gradually neglected, finally almost completely ignored. Life is immediate, the job counts, pleasure lies all about after work. Why learn anything save pressing buttons, pulling switches, fitting nuts and bolts?” This statement says, in essence, that their society values nothing save the bare minimum. Life should not be complicated, it should be for nothing but pleasure. People don’t need to be educated, they don’t need any of those nasty books and the ideas that come with them. All that is needed is the minimum. That is the sentiment of this entire society. To put it quite simply, it can be seen how the media and government in Fahrenheit 451 have turned against books and the ideas in books in three examples. The constant brainless media is the focus of everyone and lead to a decline in books, ideas, and human connection. The government supports all the book and idea hatred using brutality and media manipulation. Last but not least, the entire society loathes books and radical ideas, wanting nothing but minimal work and maximum pleasure. Through those three examples, we can see how the mismanagement of political power and the media has caused everyone to turn against books, “radical ideas,” and those associated with them.
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Welcome to The Writers Block!AuthorKen Mears is a new 17 year old author, here to share his wisdom, advice, and experiences with you, the reader! Archives
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