Insulting Intelligence

As one reads Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, it is obvious that the government surpresses society. The government fears an individual who is knowledgeable. Therefore, the make people live in a world where they are blinded from the truth of the present and the past. "Who knows who might be the target of a well-read man? Me?"( Bradbury 58) Under their tyranny, the government has ways of keeping the civilians of the city from obtaining intelligence. They made it illegal to have books in ones possession. This prevented people from reading books, and obtaining the knowledge that are in them. Under state control, media is used to brainwash the society. They don't want people to think, in which to keep one from questioning the nonsense that are feed to them. And they used the firemen to instill fear in the hearts of the civilians. They made people comply with the rules of the society.

As technology is advanced in this society; advantageous for the government because they control the media. They have billboards, televisions, and music at their disposal, promoting information that keeps society from thinking. One can be literally surrounded by a television, as "some screens serve as an entire wall inside private homes, while more prosperous citizens build television rooms that resemble Cinerama, surrounding the viewer on four sides."(Overview). Since "television is the sole source of information", what society learns is what the government teaches them.(Overview)The music on the trains is like a broken record, as the lyrics are simple and repeated.

Also, to keep society from becoming knowledgeable, the government uses their power to instill fear. "For the time has come when owning books, even the possession of a single volume of nursery rhymes, are a heinous offense."(McComas) As a result, people are not exposed to the knowledge, ideas and thoughts of other people; which are contained in books. The government