Social Criticism Contained In Fahrenheit English Literature Essay

Social Criticism Contained In Fahrenheit(postnominal)(postnominal) English Literature EssayI was walking and public lecture with a writer friend , when a police car pul guide up and an officer stepped aside to ask what we were doing. Putting angiotensin-converting enzyme foot in drift of the other, I said . That was the wrong answer. The police worldly concern repeated his question. I replied, Breathing the air, talking, conversing, walking , its illogical, youre stopping us. If we had wanted to rob a shop, we would flip driven up in a car . As you see, we have only our feet. Walking, eh?, said the officer dont do it again (Bradbury 1993, p.57)This encounter was the inspiration for a young Bradbury, who acquire his living selling short stories, to write his novella The Fireman. But due to the tense policy-making situation in America he had problems to make this tommyrot public. Nevertheless, an avant-garde publisher was delighted by the story and wanted to print it, upon c ondition that its author expanded it to a novel. At first, Bradbury doubted whether he could fulfill that, exactly finally, in 1953, he completed the novel Fahrenheit 4511with great enthusiasm for he stated that I did non write Fahrenheit 451 it wrote me (Bradbury 1993, p.58). However, as Bradbury criticizes the political climate in the U.S., difficulties emerged again to find a publisher, who would print portions of Fahrenheit. Fortunately, a Chicago editor bought his manuscript to release it in three issues of his peeled magazine. It cancelled let out that the young editor was Hugh Hefner, the publisher of Playboy.This troublesome publication history of Fahrenheit markedly reflects the content of the novel beca utilisation it is unsex in a world, where censorious or dissident individuals atomic number 18 oppressed. Analogously, political resistance cause difficulties for Bradbury to level criticism against American society in his novel. On these grounds, this paper exami nes in which respects the topics of Fahrenheit contain criticism of society and how the fictional story refers to the sociopolitical circumstances of the 1950s in America.2. Criticism of society in Ray Bradburys Fahrenheit 451Within the primary(prenominal) motives of the novel, Bradbury incorporated criticism of society. So, in the following, the socio-critical implications of the topics pleasure, engineering, censorship and prevail sunburning will be carved out.2.1 Entertain mentEntertainment plays an important role in Fahrenheit since it is employed to manipulate society. It is ubiquitous in any situation so that eitherday life of the citizens is characterized by steady diversion. For instance, tiny Seashell Radio receivers be conceived as electronic equipment to fob minor news and toneless music off on the population. Mildred the protagonists wife and a generic playative of society even wears the Seashells man sleeping so she is completely captivated by the government s propaganda. Moreover, in every living room, huge walls be installed which resemble a standard TV but span over several walls and broadcast three-dimensional footage. People watching these programs consider the actors to be familiar persons as they be able to interact with them. Mildred is powerfully influenced by this entertainment medium since she is looking forward to reading out some missing lines in a scene, which have been mailed to her for participating in the program. Thus, she feels satisfied as all look at her out of the three walls and she says the lines (Bradbury 1953, p.23). As the two statements I think thats fine and I sure do (ibid) are the lines she has to read, Mildred subconsciously indicates her agreement with what is being said (Booker, p.88).Furthermore, omnipresent advertisements like two-hundred-foot-long billboards in the streets or the train radio prevent people from thinking by directing their attention toward repetitious slogans. In order to visit his confederate Faber, Montag goes by subway where he suddenly starts to scream Shut up, shut up, shut up (Bradbury 1953, p.73) when hearing a dentifrice advertisement, whereas the other passengers are tapping their feet to the rhythm of Denhams Dentifrice, Denhams Dandy Dental Detergent, faintly twitching the words Dentifrice Dentifrice Dentifrice (ibid). Other devices that illustrate the biasing impact of entertainment in the novel are joke-boxes that repeat the same jokes most of the time (Bradbury 1953, p.32) and music walls in cafes on which colored patters are running up and down (ibid). through with(predicate) the perpetual influence of the media, emotions and own thoughts are debarred from the public and besides intellectualism and curiosity are repressed. Hence, the propaganda spread in the media maliciously deceives the citizens so that they are under the whoremonger of having a part in determining that ideology (Booker, p. 88), although it is obvious that the opportunity for creativity is dulled (ibid) severely by the government. Even though the citizens are not compelled to adapt their selves to the state dogma, they do not revolt because they are manipulated by the anti-intellectualism spread in the media. Booker refers to this as a brainwash of the audience into conformist behavior (ibid). This attitude of the figures in Fahrenheit might be traced back to Bradburys biographical background because, during the Cold-War era, the dominance of mass media and entertainment increased immensely. On that score, American officials were convinced that if people could be persuaded that what they were getting was what they wanted increasingly simple and sensational entertainment, study reduced to headlines then they could be controlled (Charles, p. 13).Such control is also exercised at school since the educational system described in Fahrenheit intemperately relies on mass media and sports to prevent critical discussions. For instance, Clarisse reports M ontag on her school life in which she has to attend sports lessons like basketball or running as well as TV-classes, where they just run the answers at you, bing, bing, bing (Bradbury 1953, p.31). Correspondingly, Zipes argues that, in Fahrenheit, schooling serves to wash up the young so that they are tame, but the frustration felt by the young is then expressed in their fun outside school, which always turns into fero urban center (p.7).The literary conception of media consumption habits in Fahrenheit reflects Bradburys critical opinion concerning the role of television in society. Since the early days of television in the 1950s, new media has been crowding out traditional reading as a popular form of entertainment. Thus, in the face of the pupils declining reading ability, schools abandoned text-based teaching methods and increasingly used television in classrooms. This development is seized in Montags America, where entertainment, especially television, stupefies the populace b y saturating their minds with useless information (Booker, p.88). Consequently, the educational system in Fahrenheit tends to cram the pupils so full of non-combustible data, chock them so full of facts they feel stuffed, but absolutely brilliant with information . Dont give them any slippery stuff like philosophy or sociology to tie things up with (Bradbury 1953, p. 57f.).Bradbury wants to show the repercussions of excessive entertainment by describing a world in which people lose personal contacts and nearly turn out no relation to reality so that the government can manipulate the populace without any restraint. In this regard, the problem of delirium and loneliness caused by the persistent distraction of the media is not really with the system, but with the people (Booker, p.89) who are forced into line subconsciously because of the propaganda broadcasted all the time. Accordingly, Beatty states that any man who can take a TV wall apart and put it back together again is happ ier than any man who tries to equate the universe, which just wont be equated without making man feel bestial and sole(a) (Bradbury 1953, p. 58).2.2 TechnologyMedia does not form the only highly developed issue in Fahrenheit. Besides, the topic of technology is of importance. Although technology or so relates to entertainment in some respect, it must be considered a separate aspect that stands out due to several futuristic elements. Science in planetary is on a high level in Fahrenheit since houses are make out of a fireproof material, subways run under the city and banks are open all night due to robot tellers in attendance.Besides that, sundry science-fiction inventions prevail in Bradburys novel, such as the robotlike Hound. It is an electronic physical that injects morphine into someones leg and is employed to seek out a person who is wanted by firemen. What distinguishes it is that Montag wonders whether it is a stretch out or not. Correspondingly, the Mechanical Houn d is referred to as the suddenly beast, the living beast (Bradbury 1953, p.26). Montag flees the Mechanical Hound after his house has been burnt and he has killed Beatty. The pursuit is broadcasted on TV and as Montag can escape, the footage shows the death of some other person, who is pretended as him. By that, the propaganda aims to prove society that rebels have no chance to protest and get killed in case they take flight. According to Zipes, the Mechanical Hound represents all the imaginative technological skills of American society transformed into a ruthless monster and is used to obliterate dissenting humanity (p.9).As Bradburys novel can be seen as a reflection of the 1950s in America, the Mechanical Hound takes up the fear of robots during this time. In the 1940s, the first robots were built after the invention of the calculating machine by Zuse in 1941. Subsequently, they became a popular concept during the late 1950s and early 1960s, when automated machines were first used to instigate factory operators. Nevertheless, many Americans feared the nature of robots and were afraid that they might take control over human beings. Referring to this anxiety, Bradbury arouses criticism on the fast pace in which technologies have developed so that people lose control about the way their lives are determined by new electronic equipment. In Fahrenheit, a computer system keeps track of each and every citizen (Zipes, p.8) to ensure that everybody behaves in a politically correct way and does not develop an own opinion.In Bradburys novel, technology is also used in the field of medicine to deaden the senses while keeping people alive as machines (Zipes, p.6). For example, Mildred is treated by two men with two machines after taking an overdose of sleeping pills. One machine slides into her stomach like a black cobra down an echoing well (Bradbury 1953, p.18) and pulls out all the content. The second machine pumps all of the blood from the body and replaces it with fresh blood and serum (ibid). As this process of revival is very versed, Montag asks the operators how often they use these machines. It turns out that every night they are employed for at least nine times. Carrying someone elses blood is an extraordinary perception for Montag so he is floor at hearing that so many people take an overdose and must be rescued by blood transfusion.Another way of apply technology can be spotted in the communication betwixt Montag and his mentor Faber, who has built a bullet that enables a permanent contact mingled with them. It is a tiny device that cannot be observed since it is placed in the ear and resembles a Seashell Radio. Due to this invention, Faber can counsel Montag on his reactions and answers in every precarious situation that is brought by the fact that Montag owns makes. So here technology is employed to emancipatory and humanistic interests (Zipes, p.7).Throughout the entire novel, war is omnipresent. Radio broadcasts wrong i nformation about current attacks or force-levels and warns that war can erupt at any moment even though jet bombers are flying above the city several times a day. The populace in Fahrenheit started and won two atomic wars (Bradbury 1953, p. 68) and a third one destroys the city at the end of the novel. By that, Bradbury wants to criticize the rapid nuclear mail race during the Cold War (Zipes, p.7), after seeing the consequences of the bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The Cold-War era lasted from 1947 until 1991 and was characterized by a constant political tension between the Soviet Union and the Western world (Greiner). This tense situation was attributable to the strong dichotomy of political ideologies and the fear that this conflict could escalate and lead into a nuclear war was very widespread, particularly in the United States. A historical event that change Bradbury in this context was the Korean War from 1950 until 1953. It was a proxy war between the Eastern and the Western Block in which the U.N supported the republic of Korea, whereas the Peoples Republic of Korea achieved assistance by the Soviet Union (Hickey).2.3 Limitation of fundamental rightsDespite the fact that governmental activities are not described in detail, their impact on society and daily life is apparent in regard to manifest restraints In Fahrenheit, the freedoms of information, expression and press are severely restricted.For instance, the people acting in the novel are not informed about the true situation concerning the atomic war because government deludes them through its censorship. This delusion has far-reaching consequences, namely the destruction of the city by an atomic bomb at the end of the story since propaganda has hindered individuals to foresee their imminent destruction (Bradbury 1953, p.140).Similar to the government in Fahrenheit, the Office of Censorship heavily censored reporting on warfare during the Second World War. At that, information which could be useful for the opponent should not be broadcasted neither on TV nor radio. In this connection, the office was also responsible for concealing the existence of atomic bombs so the American population did not know about them in advance the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Hanyok).The parallel between history and the fiction in Fahrenheit continues in the 1950s with respect to the delusion about weapons of war. Thereby, the stifling atmosphere delineated in the novel comments on the intellectually heavy climate in America. Although the Bill of Rights guarantees all Americans the freedoms of talk and press as a constitutional right, censorship was at these times allowed and enforced by the United States government (Bruck, p.10). By means of prior restraint, which was considered a de-facto-censorship, government could injure First Amendment rights and control the publishing of unwanted ideas (Pfister, p.141 f.). For example, in 1950, the magazine scientific America was f orced to censor an bind about a Hydrogen-bomb. The magazines publisher argued that only facts, which have been public before, were part of the article and that only a few lines referred to construction details of the bomb. Moreover, he brought forward the argument that the Americans needed this information in order to form an intelligent judgment. Nevertheless, Scientific America was constrained to publish a redacted version of the article and had to destroy the original run of the issue (Swanberg).In addition, further measures of censorship and infringement are briefly worded in the novel. In order to prevent people from communicating, the government eliminated the porches from all houses (Bradbury 1953, p.59) and closed all Liberal Arts Colleges (Bradbury 1953, p.69).Heretofore, this paper analyzed the methods with which the government in Fahrenheit brings the population into line. Hence, the treatment of those, who do not adapt to this enforced conformity, will be examined.On th e one hand there are individuals, who do not adapt their selves to the rules, like Clarisse McClellan. She likes asking questions and deliberating about everything. Even her hobbies going hiking in the mountains, bird watching and collecting butterflies (Bradbury 1953, p.25) are very shadowy because it is exceptional that someone is interested in something that has nothing to do with media. Owing to her unadjusted personality, Clarisse has to see a psychiatrist who should investigate why she is rather doing things on her own than participating in car races with her friends (Bradbury 1953, p. 25). Despite her chatty attitude, Clarisse is considered to be antisocial, treated like a stranger and excluded from society.On the other hand, those who offensively take the system are punished immediately. As soon as the firemen are informed about somebody who owns books, they march out to burn the books together with the persons home. Thereupon, convicted book owners are sent to the asylu m (Bradbury 1953, p.34). In order to avoid the menacing exile, critics set up a hidden camp on a woebegone riverside (Bradbury 1953, p.130). Viewed in this light, people who deviate from what is normal place themselves outside the protection of society (Charles, p.13).In Fahrenheit, Bradbury depicts an atmosphere of insecurity and lack of faith between the characters. Dissident individuals have to live in constant scare of denunciation and ban. As an example, Mildred betrays Montag to the firemen on account of the fact that he owns books (Bradbury 1953, p. 103).This practice of political condemnation relates to the atmosphere in the United States during the late 40s and early 50s. Several evolutions of the Cold War, such as the detonation of an atomic bomb by the Soviets in 1949, led to an increasing anti-Communist hysteria in America. Reflecting the decreasing faith within society, the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) set itself to purify America of any communist ic activities in the course of the Second Red Scare. For example, in 1947, the HUAC inquired whether a group of Hollywood screenwriters called the Hollywood Ten supported Communist propaganda. The accused, mainly directors, radio commentators and actors, were blacklisted and boycotted by their studios. These proceedings led to the social isolation of the artists so that they did not succeed in finding new jobs (Emmons, p.xviii Georgakas).A further wave of Communist persecution in the U.S. went down in history as McCarthyism. In 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy delivered a speech in which he asserted that the State Department wittingly employed communists. This speech made McCarthy nationally famous and is considered to be the opening act of a long-lasting period of Communist repression. Americans were able to watch Senate hearings on TV in which McCarthy exposed alleged Communists. These public inquiries created an atmosphere of fear and mistrust that left many Americans unsure, whethe r to confide in their neighbors, public officials or media figures (Emmons, p.xxi).2.4 Book burningThe hardest assist of censorship in Fahrenheit is the ban of all books. Owning books is a capital offence that is cursed with burning the books and arresting their readers (Bradbury 1953, p.34). The high relevance of this aspect is already suggested by the title of Bradburys main work Fahrenheit 451 is the exact temperature at which book paper catches fire. On top of that, it is a striking feature that, in the novel, the firemens job is to burn books instead of slacking a fire (Bradbury 1953, p.9).In Fahrenheit, book burning is propagandistically justified by technology, mass exploitation and minority blackjack (Bradbury 1953, p.54). More precisely, captain Beatty reports that book burning started when modern technologies like photography, radio and television were invented and displaced books (Bradbury 1953, p.51). Furthermore, he blames the huge population to be a factor which caus ed the book burnings. He argues that the bigger a population is, the bigger the minorities are. Consequently, authors had to stop dealing with controversial issues in order not to offend any minority group.beyond that, an important reason for books to be excluded from society is that they are considered to cause unhappiness. Propaganda declares that people could not deal with literature without being unhappy or feeling lonely (Bradbury 1953, p.57).In his essay Burning Bright, Bradbury points out that he related the motive of book burning in Fahrenheit to historical events, particularly to the book burnings that had been carried out by the Nazis during the 1930s and 1940s (Bradbury 1993, p.58). At that time, books of Jewish and degenerated artists were first blacklisted and then burnt (Lischeid, p.105f.). On May 10, 1933 more than 25,000 books were burnt by German students because the German Student Associations Main Office for Press and Propaganda proclaimed a nationwide Action agai nst the Un-German Spirit (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). Especially works by Sigmund Freud, doubting Thomas Mann, Heinrich Heine, Karl Marx, H.G. Wells and Erich Maria Remarque affected (Charles, p14) since they were considered a threat to the state-enforced conformity (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). In this point, the Nazi book burnings resemble the ones in Fahrenheit because, in both cases, the motivation of destroying books is to forcefully maintain an idea of man that is predefined by ideology.Where they burn books, they will end in burning human beings, Heinrich Heine wrote in 1821, one century before the Third Reich. History has proved this to be a true prediction (Charles, p.15) First the Nazis burnt Jewish and degenerate books and later they started to burn Un-German individuals in concentrations camps. In Fahrenheit, a parallel to this development can be perceived. An old book-owning woman is burnt alive for she refuses to leave her house when firemen arrive to set her house on fire (Bradbury 1953, p.38f.). Montag is the only one who exhibits a guilty conscience about burning a woman alive and starts wondering about the books distinctiveness and the reasons why you might die for them.By using the book burning motive Bradbury criticizes the hard means which are applied to control the thoughts of the citizens as well as the locking up individuals who do not adapt to the common rules (Bradbury 1953, p.34). But in the end of the novel, the authors outlook is not solely hopeless. When the city is destroyed, the book lovers are the only ones who survive so it is up to them to rebuild a civilization that neither persecutes intellectuals nor infringes personal freedoms.3. ConclusionSince Bradburys novel is more than 50 years old like a shot, the question, whether its social criticism is still valid today, emerges.To start with, the futuristic media described in Fahrenheit envisioned the popularity of headset radios, interactive TV and live new broadcasts (Bruck, p.58) that are in style today. But for the main part of his novel, Bradbury intended to put a critical focus on entertainment and the resulting alienation within society. In this context, the currently discussed effects of excessive media consumption are comparable to those described in Fahrenheit. For example, persons who are addicted to computer games give up all their personal contacts. Connected with the media, the novel also addresses the manipulative use of it that persists down to the present day. For instance, advertising still tries to influence people and most of them are not aware of it. Another point of Bradburys media criticism refers to the use of television in classes and the lacking education of adolescents. As most of the young people today rather use modern media in their leisure than spending their time reading books, Bradbury was right in foreseeing that the reading levels will drop.However, concerning the fear of the nuclear arms race during the Cold War, the social criticism in Fahrenheit is not up to date anymore. Cold War ended in 1990 and the U.N. pursues a disarmament policy to reduce the number of high tech weapons. But what is frightening about those weapons today is the question to which extent they would pose a threat to manhood if they fell into the hands of terrorists.In his novel, Bradbury also criticized the infringement of the expression of opinion as he envisioned a world where dissident individuals were punished. Today, such an oppressive climate still prevails in North Korea and other totalitarian regimes that enforce censorship. But in America, everybody is free to say what she is thinking. The book burnings mentioned in the novel represent a strong measure of governmental censorship, whereas in modern-day America, the American Library Association promotes intellectual freedom (American Library Association). But nevertheless, some inglorious books are still banned from schools and public libr ariesSo all in all, the social criticism contained in Fahrenheit is still valid today to a large extent.