Preview

Dystopia Essay Example

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
580 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Dystopia Essay Example
Dystopia is a Utopia gone wrong to create a society that rather than making people happy, makes people unhappy. That is exactly what the town in Fahrenheit 451 had become, a dystopia. The creation of this dystopia was the result of the government fearing the power given to the citizens through the knowledge in books so they took them away. The ban of books formed the dystopia, the people’s fear of being burned for reading made the social principles, and the people who didn’t fear to be burned rebelled and showed their society what was wrong with the way they were living.

What started this whole dystopia in the first place was the government’s fear of being overpowered by the citizens who read and gained power from the knowledge they had collected. Because of the government’s fear, books were completely banned and anyone who decided to break the law was burned with the books inside the house. People called the firemen were the ones to start the fire which differs from their former job of putting them out. Everything changed when the books got banned whether it was as simple as people getting an urge to read even if they never wanted to before or as drastic as a worker who once saved people from fires was someone who killed people with fire. Because the penalty was so extreme, the law was followed in most cases and a lot of people were afraid of being burned.

The only thing that kept this law in action was the fact that the people were afraid of the consequence which made society obedient as they quaked in fear. Because of the obedience, there always seemed to be routine. Nobody really knew how to feel about it because they didn’t want to know how to feel about it in fear that they would feel negatively towards it and be burned for the thought. The social principles throughout the whole novel, Fahrenheit 451, revolved around the fear of the people and the government as a whole.

What really scared the government, however,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    However Fahrenheit 451 is a society you don’t want to live in. Books are illegal in there society. Fireman who are nothing like modern day fireman, burns yours houses because there could be hidden books. In modern day society you can have your books out in the open, reading whatever you want. Clearly, the novel is a dystopian society compared to the modern day society which…

    • 346 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    This is due to the leaders of the society having such great an influence in the education system, newspapers, radio, television, etc. In the novel, the children grow up believing that books and literature are all harmful. They are taught that Benjamin Franklin was a firefighter and established the fireman’s code. “Established 1790, to burn English-influenced books in the colonies. First fireman: Benjamin Franklin.” All the people who had grown up in the society accepted these ideas as right. Especially the idea which is that all books are harmful and should be destroyed. Also, on account of the fact, that the majority of the residents of the society had grown used to acting obedient and conforming; it was shocking and extremely surprising for Montag, when he observed that Clarisse would think independently, and act on her own opinions. She refused to conform to the ideals of the social culture of Fahrenheit 451. Many of the individuals in the society grew up believing ideas and accepting them as right, due to the authority of the government by particular political…

    • 875 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fahrenheit 451 Allusion

    • 1213 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Fahrenheit 451 is a work of many themes, including issues such as censorship, government control, and oppression. However, one of the most prominent themes can be shown by the idea of, “although ignorance is bliss, intelligence is better.” The universe shown in the book is conservative, controlled, and ultimately dystopian. Citizens are controlled by fear, thus laws are almost self-enforced. "Remember, the firemen are rarely necessary. The public itself stopped reading of its own accord. You firemen provide a circus now and then at which buildings are set off and crowds gather for the pretty blaze, but it's a small sideshow indeed, and hardly necessary to keep things in line.” (Bradbury 58). The younger, more ignorant characters rarely disobey the law, because it’s all they’ve ever known and have no desire the change. Characters such as the main character, Montag, is not an example of this whatsoever. As a fireman, he has the opportunity to “read the books he burns”. He sneaks books and novels out of every…

    • 1213 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    With the fascist government in “Fahrenheit 451,” it can be easily inferred that books are not the only subject of limitation. It was said that cars were only allowed to drive at very high speeds and walking on the streets was forbidden, and that if people did otherwise, they would be given hefty fines and in some cases taken into custody. From this, it is almost obvious that the fascist government is trying to control all aspects of people’s lives. However, books have always been the way for these people to escape the harsh realities, and when the books, too, became forbidden, they were furious. To them, books are one of the last hopes they can hold on to. With fire, however, the government is quick in its mission to burn all copies of books. Fire is seen to be just as despicable and evil as the fascist government.…

    • 856 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Realism In Fahrenheit 451

    • 1110 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Fahreneit 451 is an excellent dystopian novel that teaches people about what the future is like without books. In Fahrenheit 451, the setting is a universe that does not read books because they are considered bad. It is a parallel universe in which firefighters actually start fires and burn books. All of the citizens agree with everything the chief firefighter says and the citizens just watch television all day and let their brains rot. Nobody ever thinks maybe books are good until a girl comes along and talks about how she loves books and it convinces Guy Montag, the main character, that maybe everyone else is wrong. In America, reading has gone down significantly and television has gone up extremely leading some people to think, maybe we live in Fahrenheit 451.…

    • 1110 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the setting, it is futuristic and fictional. In the theme, the dehumanization of society being connected with technology, it is very prominent. There are many technological advancements and things in general that have dumbed the society down. For example the politics, “…I laid it on the line for President Noble. I think he is one of the nicest looking men ever became president.”(Bradbury, 93). They voted on him based off what he looked like. The schools also changed the children only come home three days out of a month. Fahrenheit 451 also comments on society now. For example in technology, people barley have to think anymore because we have internet all the…

    • 545 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fahrenheit 451 is a novel based on the role of burning books in order to eliminate their dissenting ideas. Guy Montag is a fireman who burns houses containing books, rather than putting fires out. In his community, laws are enforced to prevent folks from thinking. These rules try to hide the reality that the government is controlling people, as well as the faults in the world. The novel begins with the quote, "If they give you ruled paper, write the other way," from Juan Ramon Jimenez. I believe the quote reflects how you shouldn’t follow principles just because a society tell you to do so, instead, you must march to the beat of your own drum.…

    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When examining Fahrenheit 451 as a piece of dystopian fiction, a definition for the term "dystopia" is required. Dystopia is often used as an antonym of "utopia," a perfect world often imagined existing in the future. A dystopia, therefore, is a terrible place. You may find it more helpful (and also more accurate) to conceive a dystopian literary tradition, a literary tradition that's created worlds containing reactions against certain ominous social trends and therefore imagines a disastrous future if these trends are not reversed. Most commonly cited as the model of a twentieth-century dystopian novel is Yevgeny Zamiatin's We (1924), which envisions an oppressive but stable social order accomplished only through the complete effacement of the individual. We, which may more properly be called an anti-utopian work rather than a dystopian work, is often cited as the precursor of George Orwell's 1984 (1948), a nightmarish vision of a totalitarian world of the future, similar to one portrayed in We, in which terrorist force maintains order.…

    • 1086 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fahrenheit 451

    • 576 Words
    • 3 Pages

    At the beginning of the novel, Guy Montag was a firefighter who lived a monotony life controlled by the government who kept the society oppressed by erasing what they didn’t understand. Montag’s job was to burn down the houses with the books inside because it was illegal to have them. He witnessed an old woman suicide by burning herself alive with her books, this provoked his curiosity in literature. He stole a book from the burning house and took it home to know more about it. The government did not start the censorship of the books, it was caused due protests of minority over the controversial content found in books. The firemen were soon hired and told to burn books in the name of public happiness. The government didn’t want people to know more than they do because they will have more information and it will be harder to have them under control.…

    • 576 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Imagine a world where firemen start fires instead of putting them out. Fahrenheit 451 is set in a utopian, or dystopian to us, society, where books are burned and people rarely have real social interaction. Although Fahrenheit 451 seems nowhere close to our society, we are both alike and different to their world.…

    • 477 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In our day and age, books, ideas, and creativity, are widely acclaimed throughout the world and make up everyday life. Imagine living in a world where all those things are feared and the only time they are brought up is when they are destroyed. Individualism sure means the world to us, but it certainly did not mean much to most of the characters in Fahrenheit 451. Within the text, books represent danger, and the ideal life in society revolves around the use of technology as a form of entertainment. Characters are flat and cannot see what they are missing in life by getting rid of everything they think is bad. Ray Bradbury uses an idea of skewed “happiness” in society to create a dystopian world that outlines the effects of human society conforming to sameness to establish, “the ideal life.” In the text, people chose to censor the world because they believed that was the way to “happiness.” Furthermore, Mildred was used as a symbol of the people in society to show how mindless the world can be in order to achieve the perceived idea of “happiness.” On top of that, the notion of totalitarianism was used to show how easily people can be molded into doing things to create a “happier” outcome.…

    • 1648 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fahrenheit 451

    • 1082 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The main dystopian event that occurred in the novel Fahrenheit 451 is book burning which is carried out by firemen. This the opposite of what happens in the real world. In the real world firemen stop fires but in Fahrenheit they are the main culprits of book burning and fire making. In Fahrenheit it is like the civilisation is going back to the dark ages. In real life the public are not afraid of firemen but in the novel they are feared.…

    • 1082 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Can you imagine a society where books are banned? Can you imagine a society where fireman start fires instead of extinguish them? Well, the dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 written by famous writer Ray Bradbury explains how a book-less society can impact human beings in many ways. Bradbury tells us the story of a fireman named Guy Montag whose duty was to burn any house with books found in it. In the beginning, he is content with his government and laws and is a loyal supporter of the censorship society and imminent war. After many tragic events, Montag tries to discover ways to break away from the society and challenge the established government and its subgroups. In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury uses multiple characters like Montag and Faber to show how outsiders can target people in power and can break national laws to challenge the establishment. Montag challenges the establishment by killing his…

    • 637 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Living in a world where mistrust and deceit runs a totalitarian government. Ray Bradbury created a dystopia, where everyone in society questions one another's knowledge and criticizes other based on how different they are from everyone else. Trusting others is questionable throughout the novel. Meanwhile, everyone isolates each other from the rest of the world, where lacking of communication come into play and causes to make poor judgements towards another individual. In Bradbury Fahrenheit 451, mostly everyone in society lacks meaningful relation due to poor communication and trust.…

    • 909 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Fahrenheit 451

    • 318 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel written by Ray Bradbury. This novel presents a future American society where books are outlawed and firemen burn any house that contains them. In the novel, Ray Bradbury talks about the human experience of censorship and ignorance/knowledge.…

    • 318 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays