1984 And Fahrenheit 451 Essay

While reading 1984 by George Orwell and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, I could determine that both novels gave into the theme of subjugation to the media. 1984 is set in a dystopian society where everyone is forced to believe in a totalitarian government run by a group called The Party. The Party is advertised by a public figure named “Big Brother,” and although we never find out in the novel whether he actually exists or not, the society of Oceania seems to obey his every order. Where as in Fahrenheit 451, also set in a dystopian society, books have been abolished by the government and firemen are employed to burn all books and the house’s that they have been kept in. In both of these novels, the government subjugates their citizen’s thoughts and actions by control through the media, and the two main characters fight against the government in
order to gain ownership of their destiny. In 1984, two slaves of the media that are continuously focused on are the telescreens and the Inner Party.
The Inner Party is the ruler of Oceania and the group that governs, makes the decisions for, and monitors the public. They are also the group that is in charge of the telescreens. The telescreens are monitors that have been installed all over Oceania to ensure that nobody is disobeying “Big Brother.” These telescreens allow the Inner Party to observe an individual’s every move and arrest them if they see any suspicious acts. In Oceania, people aren’t even allowed to think any rebellious thoughts unless they want to be turned in. The Inner Party has such a grasp on the population that people will go to great limits to avoid being seen on a telescreen. For example, in the beginning of Winston and Julia’s relationship, they had to plan public meetings months in advance by slipping notes in each other’s hands to ensure that no telescreen would pick up their unusual behaviors. The Inner Party enforces such strong discipline on Oceania through the telescreens, which gives into the novel’s theme of subjugation to the
media. Throughout the novel, Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury allows the readers to become enveloped in a society without books. The dystopian society in which it is set believes there is no reason for people to read books since they are only made up of fiction. There are two characters in the novel that have especially strong feelings against books, therefore being slaves of the media, Mildred and Beatty. Mildred is the main character, Guy Montag’s, wife. Mildred worships her television shows as if they are real life events occurring. She has no awareness of the importance of books.