One and the Same

Author's Note:

This is my comparative essay assignment for Fahrenheit 451. I am comparing F451's society and government to America's government and how we could turn into that.

Burning books, 100 miles per hour speed limits, air-headed unloving wives... what kind of world would this be? In the novel, Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, firefighters are summoned to burn every written word -- in books, magazines, any piece that makes people think.  The books' dystopian society is based off of no person knowing more than they are supposed to.  People are no longer allowed to cruise down streets, stop for moment, or even have a real conversation with their family.  If you were to repeat this to me, it would sound like an extremist version of our world today.  Fahrenheit 451 is so disturbing precisely because it is plausible.

Fahrenheit 451's futuristic version of America would be possible for several reasons.  Our current country's government is based off of knowing everyone should have equal rights, but understanding that the people themselves should be different.  On the other hand, Fahrenheit 451's, government is based off of wanting to make everyone "feel stuffed, but absolutely brilliant with information.", because schools were "turning out more runners, jumpers, racers, tinkerers, grabbers, snatchers, fliers, and swimmers instead of examiners, critics, knowers, and imaginative creators."  To me this shows that this futuristic world wants to create more athletes that know facts, instead of individuals that can comprehend answers to questions about those facts. 

America's government could turn into this type of society by giving more power to state governments and leading people to believe that one state is it's own 'country'.  Ray Bradbury said in an interview, "if you watch the local news, your head will turn to mush." To me this shows that if we lose touch with what is going on around us, we will no longer pertain knowledge of the world as a hole, thus leading to "forty eight hour wars" bombing other countries when we have a problem.  In conclusion, I believe that the similarities between the fate of America to Fahrenheit 451 are very similar. 

While the similarities are significant, there are a few differences between our current society and Fahrenheit 451. The first is, America currently has a government that allows no person all the power, it has hundreds and hundreds of people who can sway a decision to ban, or burn, all books.  Another small discrepancy is the different speed limits.  I believe that while it doesn't seem like a huge deal, it significantly changes car accident and death rates, leading to more need for police and government control.  A third difference is, people in Fahrenheit 451 no longer care about reading, making it easier to have their books burned, nobody truly wants to do something about it.  While in our present country, there are a significant amount of scholars, professors, and teachers who would not let that happen.  To conclude, I found both the US and Fahrenheit 451 to be quite similar, but discovered there are some differences.

America versus Fahrenheit 451: which world is exaggerated, which is real?   Since the similarities between the two worlds are so substantial, it is definitely possible that we could turn into Fahrenheit 451's society.  The idea of world like Fahrenheit 451 creates such a scary picture inside one's mind, but that is only because we know that it could happen to us.