Bradbury’s Societal Criticisms Societies throughout history have had flaws. Even societies that are intended to be “perfect” have some undesirable trait about them. In Fahrenheit 451, the author, Ray Bradbury, criticizes the flaws in his society in the 1950s. Bradbury’s criticisms on the society in which he lived are reflected in the society he creates in his book. The growing use of technology, censorship, and the level of dissatisfaction with life that Bradbury sees in his society is displayed in the world of Fahrenheit 451. Bradbury considers the increase in technology use in his time diminishes the ability to think for oneself, creates distance between people, and replaces real human contact with artificial relationships. We first see
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The people in the book have done away with everything they believe is an undesirable aspect of life. They are “flowers trying to live on flowers instead of growing on good rain and black loam” (85). They only want to experience the happy and pleasurable facets of life. Growth, however, occurs from learning from the troubles of life that come. Bradbury believes that censorship takes away the unpleasant instead of letting the knowledge of that unpleasantness help people to grow. Censorship also takes away the details of life. In Fahrenheit 451, books are banned to remove the details of life that aren’t pleasurable. Yet, books “[have] pores. [They have] features” and “the more truthfully recorded details of life… [one] can get on a sheet of paper, the more ‘literary’ [one is]” (85). The author believes books show the reality of life, the rises and falls that occur. Bydiscarding the falls of life, all anyone will ever know is the happy, which may seem good, but it isn’t truly life without the falls. Ray Bradbury also thinks that, in his society, political correctness is taking away from the quality of literature. In Fahrenheit 451, the captain of the firemen, Beatty, mentions that “[their] civilization is so vast that [they] can’t have [their] minorities upset and stirred,” which is why they burn books like Little Black Sambo and Uncle Tom’s Cabin (63). The unsavory aspect of books aren’t going to please everyone, everywhere. According to Bradbury, though, the books still hold literary value. Censorship is a flaw that Bradbury sees in his society, one important enough to include in the world of Fahrenheit
The people in the book have done away with everything they believe is an undesirable aspect of life. They are “flowers trying to live on flowers instead of growing on good rain and black loam” (85). They only want to experience the happy and pleasurable facets of life. Growth, however, occurs from learning from the troubles of life that come. Bradbury believes that censorship takes away the unpleasant instead of letting the knowledge of that unpleasantness help people to grow. Censorship also takes away the details of life. In Fahrenheit 451, books are banned to remove the details of life that aren’t pleasurable. Yet, books “[have] pores. [They have] features” and “the more truthfully recorded details of life… [one] can get on a sheet of paper, the more ‘literary’ [one is]” (85). The author believes books show the reality of life, the rises and falls that occur. Bydiscarding the falls of life, all anyone will ever know is the happy, which may seem good, but it isn’t truly life without the falls. Ray Bradbury also thinks that, in his society, political correctness is taking away from the quality of literature. In Fahrenheit 451, the captain of the firemen, Beatty, mentions that “[their] civilization is so vast that [they] can’t have [their] minorities upset and stirred,” which is why they burn books like Little Black Sambo and Uncle Tom’s Cabin (63). The unsavory aspect of books aren’t going to please everyone, everywhere. According to Bradbury, though, the books still hold literary value. Censorship is a flaw that Bradbury sees in his society, one important enough to include in the world of Fahrenheit