Bradbury talks about many different aspects of life in the futuristic society of Fahrenheit 451. Perhaps the most mentioned aspect is that of censorship, as that is behind the plot of the story. Many of his predictions for a future society are surprisingly similar to our society today, while not exactly the same.
Guy Montag, the main character, is a fireman, someone, who, in this society, starts fires instead of putting them out. These fires are started to burn books, which are not allowed to be read, or owned by anyone. It is explained by Montag's captain, Beatty, why books are banned, "You must understand that our civilization is so vast that we can't have our minorities upset and stirred...Colored people don't like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White people don't feel good about Uncle Tom's Cabin. Burn it." (59) You can tell that this society is one based around keeping everyone happy and this censorship keeps, or tries to keep everyone happy. However, you can tell in the interviews with Bradbury that he would be against this , if it were to happen in our society. In the Coda, Bradbury talks about how he is against the censorship of literature, using examples from his own life. For example, he was put off when a college wouldn't use one of his plays because there were no women parts. Bradbury says "...it's a mad world and it will get madder if we allow minorities, be they dwarf or giant, orangutang or dolphin...to interfere with aesthetics. The real world is the the playing ground for each and every group to make or unmake laws. But the tip of the nose of my book or stories or poems is where their rights end and my territorial imperatives begin, run and rule." (178) Bradbury clearly could care less about anything else people do with the legal system and censoring, as long as it doesn't interfere with his writing. This would appear to be the part of society which he dislikes the most. The fact that some people were able to destroy someone else's book solely because they, as an individual were upset, frustrates Bradbury. Bradbury also seems to detest the lack of intelligence introduced by technology, "The main problem is the idiot TV...The camera never stops and holds still. So it clicks off your thinking; you can't think when you have things bombarding you like that...We bombard people with sensation. That substitutes for thinking." (184)
The future America that Bradbury describes, does seem, to be ever so similar to the society we're living in now. The use of technology, like the Seashells and televisions that take up entire walls, are similar to our iPods and flat screens. Ever increasing speed and the deterioration of the schooling system, appear to parallel our society today, scars are made to go faster, and children are learning the very minimum; just enough to pass the tests. Montag's neighbor, Clarisse McClellan, introduces the reader to the deteriorating school aspect of society, "An hour of TV class, an hour of basketball or baseball or running, another hour of transcription history or painting pictures, and more sports, but do you know, we never ask questions, or at least most don't; they just run the answers at you, bing, bing, bing, and us sitting there for four more hours of film teacher."(29) Not only do the students appear to learn nothing, but they aren't inquisitive and weren't taught to question the world around them. This may have been caused by the fact that, according to Captain Beatty, everyone should have the same intelligence level in order for everyone to be happy, so eliminating those that are above intelligence, is beneficial to their society. On page 60, Beatty explains how society is able to level the playing field and better eliminate these great minds, "You can't rid yourselves of all the bad ducks in just a few years. The home environment can undo a lot of what you try to do at school. That's why we've lowered the kindergarten age year after year until now we're almost snatching them from the cradle." From this you can draw similarities to our schooling system; curriculums are stripped to the basics so that no one is "left behind". It would seem that a society similar to this would be possible, though probably not as extreme.
Even now, with everyone having to politically correct so that we won't hurt anyone's feelings, and making everyone a winner, even if they didn't work or try at all, we are beginning to head towards the society of Fahrenheit 451. It is well put by Granger, one of the men who memorize books, how man continues to destroy himself, "...it looks like we're doing the same thing, over and over, but we've got one damn thing the phoenix never had. We know the damn silly thing we just did. We know all the damn silly things we've done for a thousand years and as long as we know that and always have it around where we can see it someday we'll stop making the goddamn funeral pyres and jumping in the middle of them. We pick up a few more people that remember every generation." (163) If we can stop destroying ourselves, we can create a better society, one that doesn't resemble that of Fahrenheit 451.Bradbury's novel shows a true portrayal of what a society such as ours could turn into if we are not careful; we could soon have firemen similar to those of Guy Montag and Captain Beatty.
