Influence Of Mass Media In Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451 is a novel written by Bradbury in the late 1940s. During this period, there was a growing fear of communism by the US government. In response, the US government tried to censor the media and literature and to restrict free speech. The FBI investigated the potential disloyalty of U.S. In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury described a society where firemen set fires to burn books. The government banned books thinking that literature would “incite people to think or to question the status quo of happiness and freedom” offered to them (Sisario 1). Instead, the government tried to influence how people think and act. The government used the latest entertainment technology to control thoughts and feelings by controlling what people see and hear. Bradbury’s society was so suppressed that book owners were considered insane. Any man who owned books was taken to the asylum. Beatty further explains, “Any man is insane who thinks he can fool the government and us” (Bradbury 63). Through the character of Guy Montag and his identity conflict, Bradbury shows us that without literature, people lack independent thinking, and society deteriorates.
Bradbury painted a picture of how the government used mass media to control …show more content…
He portrayed a futuristic authoritarian government that used censorship and burned books to keep people under control. The government used mass media to control people by saturating them with shallow information. Different authors described this technique of control as “elimination of controversy” and oppression by “constant stimulation of pseudo-needs”. Even though Bradbury criticized the misuse of mass media, he believed in using mass media to project useful content. Bradbury also described how a superficial education system could raise irresponsible citizens who do not obey basic rules and laws and do not value human