Literacy In Ray Bradbury's 'Fahrenheit 451'

During the early 1950’s, the United States was involved in the Cold War with the Soviet Union. As a result of the fear of communism, which was the main party in the Soviet Union, McCarthyism began to target screen writers, authors, and artists who were thought to be a part of the communist party. If they did not comply with the committee, these people were blacklisted, the committee censoring their work. Ray Bradbury saw what censoring did for the public. During his time he also saw the influence of technology to the literary world. People began leaning toward television and radio to fill their time. In his novel Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury uses the symbols of mirrors and the battle between technologies and nature to display the importance of literacy. Throughout his novel, Bradbury deals with the issues of self-expression and identity. In his society,
We are so distracted by technology. Many jokes are made of how youth do not know how to communicate without their cell phone. In Fahrenheit 451, Clarisse is told she needs to be more social, though she speaks a lot. Our society deems face to face interaction less desirable then a quick text, or snap chatting. Our ability to communicate has lessened. Neil Gaiman also shares the same sentiments as Bradbury towards literacy. In his lecture on why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming, he states “The drive to know what happens next, to want to turn the page, the need to keep going, even if it 's hard, because someone 's in trouble and you have to know how it 's all going to end … that 's a very real drive. And it forces you to learn new words, to think new thoughts, to keep going.” (Gaiman) He goes on to state why we need to promote reading. Literacy creates a more well-rounded society. Through Fahrenheit 451, we are shown how censorship can breakdown a society and how literacy promotes a better