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Henry Haggart

Fahrenheit 451 Historical Analysis

Over 10 million copies of Fahrenheit 451 have been sold. What influenced Ray
Bradbury to write this book? I believe Communism, the American prejudice against it,
the threat of nuclear war, and extreme censorship in the U.S influenced Ray Bradbury to
write Fahrenheit 451.
In the 1950s, communism was looming over the United States and propaganda
about it was common. This view of communism influenced his creation of the society in
the book Fahrenheit 451. With the Soviet Union growing, and anti-communism
propaganda at its peak, Ray Bradbury lived through the Red Scare (a time period of
much anti-communism) that influenced his vision of a dystopian society. In the 1950s
communism was displayed as a oppressive type of government, where everyone gets
the same low pay and are all the same. A propagandic comic at left* shows the views of
anti Communists. This small comic was meant as a awareness campaign. The
government was arguing that communism was an oppressive government, and the
communist party was planning on using this to take over the world. to keep America
against communism and the USSR. Though this is just propaganda this is what many
people actually believed communism was. This view of communism is shown in this
passage being said by the protagonists wife Mildred adout how she wants a new TV:
How long you figure before we save up and get the fourth wall torn out and a fourth
wall-TV put in? It's only two thousand dollars." "That's one-third of my yearly pay.p9" It is
obvious that Ray Bradburys intention of this paragraph is to show how horrible a life full
of the same bad pay every day is horrible. Another part of the society in the book is
many people feel they are meaningless because they are all the same, so suicide is
common. Take this passage for an example. This passage is from when Beaty is talking
to Montag about their society, and why firemen exist: The boy in your own school class

who was exceptionally 'bright,' did most of the reciting and answering while the others
sat like so many leaden idols, hating him. And wasn't it this bright boy you selected for
beatings and tortures after hours? Of
course it was. We must all be
alike.p28 In this quote beatty explains
the main concept of communism as it
was thought of at the time. Everyone
is equal because one person owns
everything. After a deeper look, it is
clear that Fahrenheit 451 is mocking
Communism
When the first Russian atomic
bomb in was dropped in a test in
1949, the US fell into shock. Nobody
could believe the Russians had
gained this power so soon. This was
the start of the cold war. During this
time everyone was afraid any day the
US could plunge into nuclear war.
Everyone who could was buying
bomb shelters and most people were
living in constant fear of nuclear war. The US was so afraid that they started requiring
nuclear bombing drills in all states. An example of fear of nuclear weapons in Ray
Bradburys book is in this passage: "What's wrong, Montag?" Montag opened his eyes.
A radio hummed somewhere. . . . war may be declared any hour. This country stands
ready to defend its--" The firehouse trembled as a great flight of jet planes whistled a
single note across the black morning sky p15. In not only this passage but the whole
book Ray Bradbury shows the constant fears of his time, and what a world ravaged with
nuclear war could look like. Though now nuclear war doesn't seem ominous now, in the
year 1953 the year Fahrenheit 451 was published the first nuclear artillery shell was test

fired. This weapon had immense power, being able to detonate a nuclear explosion with
less radioactive material, and could be fired from any howitzer. Other nuclear weapons
operational at the time were the MGM-1 Matador cruise missile, SSM-N-8A Regulus,
SM-64 Navaho, and the USSR RDS-1. These are all weapons of mass destruction
capable of killing millions of people with one strike. Bradbury warns people about what
the future that may happen without in his book Fahrenheit 451.
In the late 1940s and early 50s during the Red Scare there were many
propaganda films about the cons of communism, but some of the films that came out that were
produced by private companies were pro Communist. The government's retaliation against this
is the House of un-American activities committee originally created to discover and

punish spies. They started to blacklist possible Communist supporters in Hollywood.

During the Red Scare some people supported communism but this party was very far
from the majority. About 10,000 people supported communism, but that was only
0.005813953% of the population.*2 These Communist supporters were considered a
threat to the American government, so many of their attempts to bring communism to
the US were immediately repressed. Many books and films were banned, burned, or
censored. This idea is shared with the society of Fahrenheit 451. This quote is from
Beatty explaining why firemen exist to Montag. There was no dictum, no declaration,
no censorship, to start with, no!... there was no longer need of firemen for the old
purposes. They were given the new job, as custodians of our peace of mind, the focus
of our understandable and rightful dread of being inferior; official censors p28 This
shows the reasons for burning books in the society in Fahrenheit 451, they are official
censors. I believe that all the censoring that was happening during Rays time
influenced him to write this book.
Fahrenheit 451 was not Bradburys first book nor his last but the book signals the
fears of an era. This may be why this book has sold over 10,000,000 copies. Ray
Bradbury wrote this book out of the fears of everyone around him, as a warning of what
the future could bring. I still believe communism, and the prejudice against it, the threat

of nuclear war, and extreme censorship in the U.S influenced Ray Bradbury to write
Fahrenheit 451.
http://www.designer-daily.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/anti-Communistcomic-book.jpg *
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Communist_party_(United_States).aspx *2