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This poster presents how a homogeneous culture is created through conformity and censorship in Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. The society is transformed with the banning and burning of books along with addictive technology. Its ignorant citizens become like robots, who are all the same and unable to think for themselves. They lose the ability to connect with one another and are emotionally vacant. In this dystopian society, people choose conformity as they believe life is simpler when they are all the same.

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Fahrenheit 451 was published during the Cold War era. During this time many Americans feared that Communism would spread to the western world and lead to the government controlling what people read, hear, and ultimately think. The historical and political context of this novel helps readers understand Bradbury's concerns about conformity and censorship.

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As the citizens immerse themselves in technology they lose not only the ability to think for themselves, but powerful human connection. The citizens lack emotion and empathy for others, and their relationships suffer. Bradbury expresses his fears of the negative effects that technology has on society. Readers can see how the citizens in this novel parallel today's society. There has been a decline in social skills and human interaction since new technology including smartphones, headphones, and social media became normalized in society.

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"Nobody listens anymore. I can't talk to the walls because they're yelling at me. I can't talk to my wife; she listens to the walls. I just want someone to hear what I have to say. And maybe if I talk long enough, it'll make sense" (Bradbury 78).

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"So now you see why books are hated and feared? They show the pores in the face of life. The comfortable people want only wax moon faces, poreless, hairless, expressionless" (Bradbury 79).

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The society in this novel chooses to remain uneducated and distant from reality. Individuals fear being offended by literature or learning something that worries them. They would rather live comfortably with mindless thoughts and entertainment to distract them. The conforming society is the cause of the ban of books, not the government.

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Foster uses Mildred to showcase the rest of society's views and mindset in this novel. Mildred is a representative of all the mindless and ignorant citizens who are addicted to television and seashell radios. Mildred uses entertainment to distract her from her emotions. When it is revealed to the readers that Mildred overdoses on her sleeping pills, it is understood that Mildred is not truly happy and that she has no true purpose in her life to live for. Mildred refers to the characters on the television as "her family" which proves how disconnected she is from reality.

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found on padlet

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This society uses entertainment as an escape from emotions, responsibility, politics, and violence. Citizens continuously watch television or listen to the radio to distract themselves from real issues present in society. This makes it easier for the government to manipulate them by spreading propaganda through these entertainment platforms.

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"No, not anything. They name a lot of cars or clothes or swimming pools mostly and say how swell! But they all say the same things and nobody says anything different from anyone else" (Bradbury 28).

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"If you don't want a man unhappy politically, don't give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet, give him none. Let him forget there is such a thing as war" (Bradbury 58).

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"The government did not burn the books the people did" (Rohan 17).

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"Through mindless entertainment people easily "forget" the
rampant violence and war that plagues the world of Fahrenheit 451" (Rohan 18).

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"Protagonist Guy Montag' s wife, Millie, is a prime example of a stereotypical and apathetic citizen. Instead of finding a purpose or some way to actively spend her time
Millie spends all her free time either in front of the television or listening to her sea shell radios" (Rohan 18).

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“Furthermore, the ‘Committee's theatrical politics borrowed from the spectacle of game shows that came into their heyday with the advent of TV,’ which shows how closely Cold War politics were connected with mass culture and homogenization of thought" (Fox 28).

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“Cold War politics, polarization, and conformity were at its height in 1953 when Fahrenheit 451 was published. As mentioned previously, Bradbury’s status as a liberal thinker during this conservative age put him at a precarious position to speak out about McCarthyism and Cold War political conformity that worried many Americans" (Fox 27).

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In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the absence of literature and the overuse of technology eliminate original thought and individuality to create a dystopian society.