Social Criticism Contained In Fahrenheit English Literature Essay

Social Criticism Contained In Fahrenheit(postnominal)(postnominal)(postnominal)(postnominal) English writings Es putI was walking and talking with a salvager booster station , when a police car pulled up and an officeholder stepped give away to take what we were doing. Putting one foot in front of the other, I utter . That was the wrong answer. The police macrocosm duplicateed his question. I replied, Breathing the air, talking, conversing, walking , its illogical, youre lemniscus us. If we had cute to rob a shop, we would have 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 bring in his living selling short stories, to write his novella The Fire composition. but out-of-pocket to the tense political space in America he had capers to shop this figment reality. Nevertheless, an avant-garde publisher was delighted by the story and wanted to print it, upon condition that its author expanded it to a novel. At graduationly, Bradbury doubted whether he could fulfill that, entirely fin every last(predicate)y, 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 set out a publisher, who would print portions of Fahrenheit. Fortunately, a Chicago editor program bought his manuscript to mercantile establishment it in three issues of his reinvigorated magazine. It turned out that the young editor was Hugh Hefner, the publisher of Playboy.This troublesome publication recital of Fahrenheit markedly reflects the marrow of the novel because it is set in a cosmos, where life-sustaining or heterodox individuals be oppressed. Analogously, political resistance cause difficulties for Bradbury to level objurgation agains t American golf club in his novel. On these grounds, this paper examines in which respects the topics of Fahrenheit contract criticism of distinguishing and how the fictional story refers to the sociopolitical circumstances of the mid-fifties in America.2. Criticism of parliamentary procedure in Ray Bradburys Fahrenheit 451Within the principal(prenominal) powers of the novel, Bradbury incorporated criticism of society. So, in the following, the socio-critical implications of the topics recreation, technology, censorship and apply throw a fiting antecede be carved out.2.1 EntertainmentEntertainment plays an important role in Fahrenheit since it is employed to manipulate society. It is ubiquitous in every slip so that everyday life of the citizens is characterized by steady di magnetic declination. For instance, tiny Seashell tuner receivers be conceived as electronic equipment to fob minor news and toneless music off on the community. Mildred the protagonists wife an d a generic interpreter of society even wears the Seashells while sleeping so she is completely enthralled by the governments propaganda. Moreover, in every living room, huge walls be installed which jibe a standard TV but span over several(prenominal) walls and broadcast three-dimensional footage. People watching these programs consider the actors to be kn accept persons as they are equal to interact with them. Mildred is strongly influenced by this entertainment medium since she is looking forward to variation out some wanting(p) lines in a scene, which have been mailed to her for subdivisionlyicipating in the program. Thus, she touchs genial as all look at her out of the three walls and she says the lines (Bradbury 1953, p.23). As the ii 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 existence said (Booker, p.88).Further more(prenominal), omnipresent advertisements kindr ed two-hundred-foot-long billboards in the streets or the train communicate prevent nation from cerebration by directing their attention toward repetitious slogans. In regularise to get down his confederate Faber, Montag goes by sub instruction where he suddenly starts to scream leave out 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). appointer(a) whatsiss 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 color in patters are chairning up and down (ibid).Through the perpetual influence of the media, emotions and own thoughts are debarred from the public and as comfortably happyism and curiosity are repressed. Hence, th e propaganda interpenetrate in the media maliciously deceives the citizens so that they are beneath the illusion of having a part in determining that ideology (Booker, p. 88), although it is obvious that the opportunity for creativity is blunted (ibid) severely by the government. Even though the citizens are non compelled to change 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 con regulateing behavior (ibid). This attitude of the figures in Fahrenheit office be traced cover 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 plenty could be persuaded that what they were getting was what they wanted change magnitudely simple and sensational entertainment, information reduced to headlines then they could be controlled (Charles, p. 13). much(prenominal) control is also exercised at school since the educational system exposit in Fahrenheit heavily relies on mass media and sports to prevent critical discussions. For instance, Clarisse reports Montag on her school life in which she has to attend sports lessons akin 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 exhaust the young so that they are tame, but the frustration felt by the young is then verbalised in their fun outside school, which always turns into violence (p.7).The literary fancy of media consumption habits in Fahrenheit reflects Bradburys critical opinion concerning the role of television set in society. Since the early days of television in the 1950s, new media has been displace out traditional reading as a popular form of entertainment. Thus, in the face of the pupils declining reading ability, schools abandoned text-based t all(prenominal)ing methods and increasingly employ television in classrooms. This development is seized in Montags America, where entertainment, especially television, stupefies the populace by saturating their minds with useless information (Booker, p.88). Consequently, the educational system in Fahrenheit tends to pile the pupils so full of non-combustible data, chock them so full of facts they feel scarf outed, 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 profuse entertainment by describing a world in which people set down personal contacts and nearly bear no relation to reality so that the government can manipulate the populace without any restraint. In this regard, the problem of alienation and loneliness caused by the permanent distraction of the media i s not unfeignedly 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 happier than any man who tries to equate the universe, which just wont be equated without making man feel bestial and lonely (Bradbury 1953, p. 58).2.2 TechnologyMedia does not form the only passing developed issue in Fahrenheit. Besides, the topic of technology is of importance. Although technology almost relates to entertainment in some respect, it must be considered a s much aspect that stands out due to several futuristic elements. Science in general is on a high level in Fahrenheit since houses are built out of a growproof material, subways run under the urban center and banks are open all night due to automaton tellers in attendance.Besides that, sundry science-fiction inventions prevail in Bradburys novel, such as the windup(prenominal) hound dog. It is an electronic animal that injects morphine into someones leg and is employed to adjudicate out a person who is wanted by firemen. What distinguishes it is that Montag wonders whether it is a drop dead or not. Correspondingly, the Mechanical Hound is referred to as the dead 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 another person, who is pretended as him. By that, the propaganda aims to prove society that rebels have no chance to sound off 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 human beingity (p.9).As Bradburys novel can be seen as a reflection of the 1950s in Ame rica, 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 computer by Zuse in 1941. Subsequently, they became a popular concept during the late 1950s and early 1960s, when automated machines were first used to support 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 strong pace in which technologies have developed so that people recede control intimately 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 existing as machines (Zipes, p.6). For ex ample, Mildred is treated by two men with two machines after taking an overdose of sleeping pills. One machine slides into her paunch 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 line from the body and replaces it with reinvigorated 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 time. Carrying someone elses blood is an extraordinary perception for Montag so he is shocked at hearing that so many people take an overdose and must be rescued by blood transfusion.Another way of using technology can be scratchy in the communication surrounded by Montag and his mentor Faber, who has built a fastball that enables a permanent contact between them. It is a tiny device that cannot be observed since it is placed in the ear and resembles a Seashell Radio. cod to this invention, Faber can counsel Montag on his reactions and answers in every precarious stain that is brought by the fact that Montag owns books. So here technology is employed to emancipatory and human-centered interests (Zipes, p.7).Throughout the entire novel, war is omnipresent. Radio broadcasts wrong information about current attacks or force-levels and warns that war can erupt at any moment even though jet bombers are flying above the metropolis 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 weapons system 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 Hesperian world (Greiner). This tense sit uation was due 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 get together States. A historical event that affected 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 political 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 finesse has far-reaching consequences, na mely the closing 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 piece of Censorship heavily censored reporting on warfare during the due south 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 tribe did not know about them before the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Hanyok).The analog between history and the fiction in Fahrenheit continues in the 1950s with respect to the delusion about weapons of war. Thereby, the stifling ambience delineated in the novel comments on the intellectually oppressive climate in America. Although the Bill of Rights guarantees all Americans the freedoms of nomenclature and press as a constitutional right, censor ship 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 unwished ideas (Pfister, p.141 f.). For example, in 1950, the magazine Scientific America was forced to censor an phrase 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, only stripes of censorship and rape are briefly worded in the novel. In order to prevent people from communicating, the government elimi nated the porches from all houses (Bradbury 1953, p.59) and closed all bad 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 the 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 suspicious because it is prodigious that someone is interested in something that has nothing to do with media. Owing to her unadapted personality, Clarisse has to see a psychiatrist who should investigate why she is or else 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 a ntisocial, treated like a stranger and excluded from society.On the other hand, those who objectionably defy 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 asylum (Bradbury 1953, p.34). In order to avoid the menacing exile, critics set up a hidden campy on a deserted riverside (Bradbury 1953, p.130). Viewed in this light, people who stoop 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 th e 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 delegation on Un-American Activities (HUAC) set itself to purify America of any communistic activities in the course of the Second Red Scare. For example, in 1947, the HUAC inquired whether a grouping 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 quake 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 discussion section wittingly employed c ommunists. 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, whether to confide in their neighbors, public officials or media figures (Emmons, p.xxi).2.4 Book burn markThe hardest sanction of censorship in Fahrenheit is the ban of all books. Owning books is a capital offence that is express 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 s absent a fire (Bradbury 1953, p.9).In Fahrenheit, book burning is propagandi stically justified by technology, mass exploitation and minority pressure (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 caused 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 appal 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 anxious 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 t he Nazis during the thirty-something and 1940s (Bradbury 1993, p.58). At that time, books of Judaic 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 educatee Associations Main Office for Press and Propaganda proclaimed a nationwide follow out against the Un-German Spirit (United States final solution 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, on e century before the Third Reich. History has be 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 commonality 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 i s up to them to build a civilization that neither persecutes intellectuals nor infringes personal freedoms.3. ConclusionSince Bradburys novel is more than 50 years old today, the question, whether its social criticism is motionless validated today, emerges.To start with, the futuristic media described in Fahrenheit envisioned the popularity of headset radios, interactional 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 emphasis on entertainment and the resulting alienation within society. In this context, the currently discussed do 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. attached with the media, the novel also addresses the manipulative use of it that persists down to the present day. For instance, advertize still tries to influence people and most of th em are not mindful 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 munition 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 mankind 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 northwestward Korea and other totalitarian r egimes 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 scandalous books are still banned from schools and public librariesSo all in all, the social criticism contained in Fahrenheit is still valid today to a openhanded extent.