Censorship plays a significant role in the theme of Fahrenheit 451; in fact, it may be the most important one. Censorship is the suppression of speech and communication in public or using other information that may be banned and can be taken offensive by the government which wishes to control their society. In the novel's futuristic world, owning and reading books is illegal and strictly forbidden. Members and citizens of their society focus mainly on entertainment, technology, immediate satisfaction, and, ultimately, speeding through life. If books are found, they are burned with the house, and their owner is arrested (pdf pg. 27). If the owner refuses to leave their house or hand over all of the books, as is the case with the Old Woman, he or she often burns along with them (pdf pg. 17-19). The society described in the book is a dystopian society. Which is similar to those used in the books and movie series, "The Hunger Games" and "Divergent." People in their society with interests other than technology and entertainment are viewed as "strange", and as possible threats, much like Clarisse McClellan (pdf pg. 29-30). These people are often imprisoned and may not have the same rights as to others who follow the government's rules.
However, in the book, Bradbury doesn't give a clear reason why censorship has become so great in their society and how it really started. On the other hand, the author implies numerous amount of causes. The fast cars, loud music, and huge advertisements create an animated society without room for reading literature, self-reflection, or for admiring nature (pdf pg. 29-30). Bradbury gives the reader a short description of how society slowly lost interest in books, first minimizing the variety of them, then relying on only titles, and finally just forgetting about them altogether. Bradbury also infers to the idea of different "minority" groups and how they were offended by some types of literature (pdf pg. 28). When having his discussion with Montag, Beatty mentions how dog lovers got offended by books about cats and how cat lovers got offended by books about dogs. However, the readers can only assume which minority groups Bradbury was really talking about. Finally, in the Afterword to the book Fahrenheit 451 (pg. 167 novel), Bradbury clearly proclaims his sensitivity in attempts to restrict his own words. For example, he feels "censored" by letters that suggest he should give stronger roles to the women or black men who audition. Bradbury sees the suggestions and objections as the first step towards censorship and book burning. Casas, 2 Fahrenheit 451's society, reflects today's society by revolving around technology. Today most people don't ever pick up a book because they ca...
