Ap Literature Farenheit 451 by Braxton Jourdan

Abstract

brjourdan — 2023-11-28 14:31:19 UTC

This poster will focus on Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and how it relates to the Red Scare during the time this book was written and how this novel rebelled against the times by critisicing these ideals and irrational fears of Communism. This criticism was done through the use of authoritarianistic roles of the government in Bradbury’s dystopian society and the ethical and moral conflicts of censorship, as this was meant to parallel what was happening in America during the second red scare in the 1950’s. Through analyzing observations of educational sources and the text of Bradbury’s novel in tandem, the argument he is making becomes more apparent. This will also be achieved throughout the poster presentation through graphic imagery and artistic renditions of the controversy of what is known as McCarthyism or the Second Red Scare.

Thesis

brjourdan — 2023-11-29 14:38:40 UTC

The dystopian society presented in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is used to warn readers about the reperucssions of social censorship and the irrational fears of conflicting ideologies during a time where the fear of communism was at an all time high.

Evidence #1

brjourdan — 2023-11-30 14:00:11 UTC

"When he “couldn’t sell to any magazine because they were all running scared” he defiantly published excerpts in one of the first issues of Playboy in 1953. Luckily, the editors were brave enough to say “the hell with what McCarthy thinks.” 52 The defiant tone of Bradbury and Fahrenheit 451 shows that he was aware of the repercussions but was either very dedicated (and possibly too rebellious) to pull back or tone down his role as America’s cautionary teacher." (Fox 16)

Evidence #2

brjourdan — 2023-11-30 14:40:33 UTC

"While still another reviewer commented that Fahrenheit 451 should “step out and take hold of you” because “recent tendencies” in American history point to the fact that Bradbury examined fundamental problems with American society and “simply carried these ideas to their logical conclusions.” 45 These positive reviews indicate that there was a receptive audience in 1953 that had the same cautionary eye as Bradbury." (Fox 14)

Works Cited

brjourdan — 2023-12-01 14:08:19 UTC

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Evidence #3

brjourdan — 2023-12-04 01:25:39 UTC

"In its mad fear that communism would invade the state, the government had throughout much of the 1940s and

1950s been wary to a fault in hunting out citizens whom it may think that have a compassion with leftist causes. They were

mechanically considered as dangerous to democracy and the country. Much of this monitoring policy focused on published

material. Citizens lost their jobs and reputations for having books or journals that were labeled by the government as friendly to communism." (Gebreen 216)

Evidence #4

brjourdan — 2023-12-04 01:40:03 UTC

"The controlling group regulates most aspects of the individual’s existence, everything from

one’s daily routine to their family unit and career. The individual is not as important as anything more than a part of the

whole. As long as the status quo is maintained, the individual is typically safe, anonymous in the crowd. As conflict is

necessary for storytelling, no dystopian work would be complete without dissension (Baldick, 2001, p. 74)." (Gebreen 218)

Evidence #5

brjourdan — 2023-12-04 01:48:26 UTC

"We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal, as the Constitition says, but everyone made equal. Each man the image of every other; then all are happy, for there are no mountains to make them cower, to judge themsleves against." (Bradbury 55-56)

Evidence #6

brjourdan — 2023-12-04 01:53:06 UTC

"Colored people don't like Little Black Sambo. Burm it. White people don't feel good about Uncle Tom's Cabin. Burn it. Someone's written a book on tobacco and cancer of the lungs? The cigarette people are weeping? Burn the book...Funerals are unhappy and pagan? Elimate them, too." (Bradbury 57)

Evidence #7

brjourdan — 2023-12-04 01:55:30 UTC

"They were given a new job, as custodians of our peace of mind, the focus of our understandable and rightful drad of being inferior; officlal censors, judges, and executors." (Bradbury 56)

Connection for Evidence #2

brjourdan — 2023-12-04 02:13:58 UTC

As stated by David Fox, Ray bradbury wrote this novel in order to warn both America's society, and te governing bodies at the time about what they're doing. Bradbury makes the statement with his novel by arguing that these radicals amongst the United States government, especially Joseph McCarthy, are taking outlandish and radiclal ideas and making them logical in their heads to justify what was happening in the US during this time. This comes after Joseph McCarthy led a witch hunt amongst the US government on grounds of suspicion of communist infiltration by holding hearings and investigations accusing people of treason. These investigations led to the distruction of people's lives, soley based on speculation, even after they were proven innocent.

brjourdan — 2023-12-04 02:16:55 UTC

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Fun Fact!

brjourdan — 2023-12-04 02:24:32 UTC

Jospeh McCarthy was born in Grand Chute, Wisconsin on November 14, 1908!

Domino Effect

brjourdan — 2023-12-04 02:29:32 UTC

Countries bordering communist states were theoretically more susceptible to communism.

Connection for Evidence #3

brjourdan — 2023-12-04 03:04:10 UTC

You can also see these factors of censorship and oppression of differentiating ideas in Bradbury's novel through the burning of literature and cesnorship of the public. Just as people were black listed for books or journals labeled by the government as communist, people in the dystopian society of Fahrenheit 451 are also labeled as a threat and the books are burned or restricted from the public. As you can see with the parallel between Bradbury's society and America at the time that this novel is a direct criticism on America's society by pointing out it's fundamental flaws and irational fears of these communistic ideologies.

brjourdan — 2023-12-04 03:08:27 UTC

Connection for Evidence #6

brjourdan — 2023-12-04 03:18:33 UTC

Bradbury uses this dialog between Guy Montag and Captain Beatty to show the reader that restricting certain types of media or censorship is unneccesary and futile. This is shown by the many examples Beatty is talking about to show that people don't always agree with everything and you're never going to get everyone to agree on ideals and ideologies. These conflicting ideas were what America was built upon as we are a melting pot of cultures and backgrounds. This alone is what makes America able to be as great as it is and the irony of censoring ideas so that society doesn't end up like the communists that censor ideas is what the author of Fahrenheit 451 is trying to point out.

brjourdan — 2023-12-04 03:22:50 UTC

brjourdan — 2023-12-04 03:25:54 UTC

Connection for Evidence #5

brjourdan — 2023-12-04 03:36:43 UTC

Looking through the lens of criticism, one can see that by including this statement in his novel, Bradbury uses his dystopian society as a model of the US, as discussed previously, and uses the fear of the American society to mock them. He does this by using their ideologies of all men are creating equal and the very US Constitution and blends it in with ideals of communism through the fact of everyone being made equal. The reason Bradbury does this is because he is trying to show the reader the hypocracy among the US government and its censorship by trying to create and mold people's ideals into one and make everyone equal by crtizing opposing values. Bradbury uses the phrase "Each man the image of every other..." to criticise individuallity and the suppression of free thinking through this mass witch hunt and unnecessary persicution of people with apposing ideas based on a fear of their own ego.

brjourdan — 2023-12-04 03:42:46 UTC

brjourdan — 2023-12-04 03:48:06 UTC