Imagine a world where words and pages are burnt into ashes, a world that destroys and has forgotten how to build, where the human race cannot think thoughts except ones that they are given to them, and can’t remember what it feels like to know why one cries. In this world, one created by Ray Bradbury in the novel Fahrenheit 451, humans have forgotten even themselves. These people are ignorant of the fire that surrounds them, and are blind that the match that created that fire came from their own hands. They are being censored by the government and are also censoring themselves from the knowledge that took humanity thousands of years to create and from feelings that are too painful to feel.
In this future world, the humans have become disconnected from each other. No one talks to each other and has any real conversations. For instance, when a neighbor in the novel talks regularly with her family, she is considered an outcast and looked down upon. When talking was brought up to women, they “jerked and stared” (p. 96).
Everyone is also isolated from the outside world and what’s going on in it. They are detached from the decisions that their leaders make. They have all become remote people who are unaware of
The people in this future world are given a sense of movement so that they feel purposeful, though in reality their censurers have given that movement no meaning and purpose. “We keep them moving. We give them fun.” (p. 59). That’s all the world wants -- fun. They have lost all reason, and they are left with gloom so they look to be entertained. But because there is so much movement, it is impossible to concentrate. They feel they are moving but they are actually going nowhere. They are moving to fill the empty space they are left with and to attempt to leave their troubles behind. The government chooses movement because no one is given the “time to protest” (p. 84). Movement is a key way in which the government is censoring the world.
Even though Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is set in the future, this novel could just as easily been set in the present. Even today, the government is censoring us from the truth and many are censoring themselves from their true feelings. America was completely carefree until September 11th. We had an attitude that nothing would ever happen to us. And now there is a possible war against Iraq, though the real reason behind our president’s
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