Essay on Fahrenheit 451 Utopia Thru Materials

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Fahreheit 451
Fahrenheit 451 is a literary work of art. It is a novel about censorship and one mans fight against it. The story was written in the fifties, but is set in the future. Ray Bradbury s prediction of what the future will be like is precise in some aspects, but completely outrageous in others. He pi

Fahrenheit 451
In the 1950 novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury presents the now familiar images of mind controlled worlds. People now live in a world where they are blinded from the truth of the present and the past. The novel is set in the, perhaps near, future where the world is in war, and firemen set fires inst

Utopia through Materials?

Ray Bradbury s Fahrenheit 451 is a novel about a materialistic society that has forgotten social interaction with each other. This materialistic society is where Bradbury believed society today is headed. The materialistic society in Fahrenheit 451 created through Bradbury s cynic views of society. His views of society are over-exaggerated in contrast with today s events, especially in the areas of censorship and media mediocrity.

The purpose of media is quite simple, it is as Carl Jensen describes it, a warning signal--information--that alerts the citizens that something is wrong which needs attention and resolution. An aware and informed populace could then influence its leaders to act upon that information in an effort to solve that problem (Jensen, Project Censored). But Media has often been criticized for promoting a mass mediocrity, because it only tells the public what it wants to hear. The idea of Media promoting mass mediocrity is a reoccurring image in Fahrenheit 451. Such is not the case in today s society. One of the most successful freedom fighting campaign has been the Tibetan Freedom Concert, a rock concert where artists and citizens converge, sharing their views for Tibetan freedom from Chinese oppression. Over the three years of its existence, the concert has generated so much publicity that it has forced President Bill Clinton to step in and try to hasten the negotiation between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama. In a Sonicnet Music News article, the Dalai Lama said:

Through this live show, many, many Chinese will have gained a better awareness of President Clinton s feelings about Tibet, and also President Jiang s feelings, and I think that can be enormously helpful in the long run. (Media Inclusion 1)

The Dalai Lama expresses the importance of publicity that has first been generated by the Tibetan Freedom Concert. Not only did it create awareness for the Chinese as the Dalai Lama suggested; it also created awareness around the world but especially in North America. Ask any North American teenager, never mind What they feel towards the idea of Tibetan oppression from the Chinese? , just ask him Where Tibet is? three years ago and he would probably look confused and answer by asking Would you like fries with that? . Ask that same teenager now, and he would likely give an educated response. The Tibetan Freedom Concert is just an example of how powerful modern media is if it can be used properly. Such is not the case in Fahrenheit 451; media promotes mediocrity by telling the public only what it wants to hear. Everything s got to have a snap ending. Granger explains to Montag how media works in order to keep the audience:

The show s got to have a snap ending, quick! If they started searching the whole damn river it might take all night. So they re sniffing for a scapegoat to end things with a bang.

(Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, p. 148)

As Granger explains, everything must have a snap ending in order to keep the public interested. Thus media creates news that the public want to hear instead of the truth. And by getting what they want, the public destroys the primary purpose of news, which is to alert the public about a social problem so that they can make an informed decision to influence their leaders to action. But if the public gets what they want, then they are not presented with social problems that need to be solved by the majority of the general public, because the majority of the public would not go and look for problems in society. Modern media contrasts greatly with Bradbury s futuristic media, because it presents to the public what needs to be heard, whereas Bradbury s futuristic media tells the...

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