Ashes of Consciousness
Fahrenheit 451 (1951) and Freedom of Expression
By Elif Karslıoğlu, Fatma Nur Kuş and Süeda Sancaktar

Fahrenheit 451 is a futuristic dystopian fiction set in the 24th century and revolves around the intellectual awakening of the protagonist Guy Montag as he starts to question his job as a firefighter responsible for destroying books. Bradbury depicts a dystopic society where the obliteration of culture results in the obliteration of individuals’ authenticity. We take it for granted that books stand for culture and knowledge, and having access to them is crucial for the intellect and individual growth. The world of Fahrenheit 451 inspires us toward a renewed and energetic appreciation for books. In a society where books are burnt, there is no authenticity: the main character Guy Montag compares his impoverished mind to a “sieve” and the words of books to “sand”, illustrating the bluntness of his brain “burnt out” by the oppressive regime. His awakening starts with a simple question from Clarisse when she asks him “Are you happy?” Although he immediately throws a “yes” out of reflex, he starts to question the concept of happiness. The authority figure from the firemen’s office, a Mr. Beatty, tells him “Just keep them busy and happy, that’s what matters.”
This mentality reveals the damaging policy of the regime, numbing people until they forget to search for meaning; they never question the premise of their empty lives which they live in a state of complete and total blissful ignorance. Information begins to bother the dulled minds of people and “shows the pores in the face of life” to keep people away from taking a conscious stand against the causes of their unhappiness and injustice. The unseen dictators erase their consciousness by forbidding the pursuit of knowledge from any source. Culture is severely diminished in this regime where there is no free access to knowledge, sources of education and individual development.
The rulers and censors of Bradbury’s dystopia use fear to repress the freedom of consciousness. Their censorship is reminiscent of today’s world where people are frequently manipulated to believe certain news through the manipulation of technologies, and in today’s world, through social media, technologies which take advantage of their essentially escapist natures. As the manipulation of media obliterates culture and propagates the rule of blissful ignorance, one of the prior citizen rights is also emptied out, i.e. the right to vote. People do not vote consciously as they merely and obediently follow the manipulations of the machine. Instead of developing their intellect, many choose to live in an illusion of happiness being isolated from each other in virtual reality and hence incentivized to actual violations of citizen rights, abuse of power and lack of respect for human dignity.
The book ends on a hopeful note with intellectuals trying to create an educated society with human rights, justice, peace and freedom. Fahrenheit 451 is the perfect representation of what damages can be inflicted upon a society if freedom of expression, the rights to education and free access to knowledge are eliminated.