Dangers of a Dystopian Society in Fahrenheit 451 Essay Example

“Revealing the truth is like lighting a match. It can bring light, or it can set your world on fire.” - Anonymous. Within Fahrenheit 451, author Ray Bradbury presents a modernized Allegory of the Cave through the characters - Faber, Mildred, and Montag to warn people about the dangers of a dystopian society.  

Faber plays the role of an escaped prisoner that knows the truth. Soon after meeting Faber, the main character: Montag strikes a conversation with him and he responds, “’ I don’t talk things, sir,’ said Faber. ‘I talk the meaning of things. I sit here and know I’m alive” (40). In their society, many people do not question their lives, only knowing what not to do. As Faber says this, he becomes the person that enlightens others. The next problem occurs when Captain Beatty, who has been on the journey to truth becomes a willing prisoner to the majority, “But remember that the Captain belongs to the most dangerous enemy to truth and freedom, the solid unmoving cattle of the majority. Oh, God, the terrible tyranny of the Majority” (58). Same as Beatty, Faber also knows the truth but is suppressed by the government because they already have control of the citizens. In the Allegory of the Cave, the escaped prisoner tries to tell the other prisoners the truth about the shadows but is pushed back. In Fahrenheit 451, the parlor walls would be their reality. 

Second, Mildred, in the role of a prisoner. Mildred gets into a quarrel with Montag over books and states, "My ‘family’ is people. They tell me things; I laugh, they laugh: And the colors!” (34). The family she refers to were parlor walls created by the government. Saying that books do not matter and the only thing that does is something made to control her. As stated earlier, Montag seeks the truth about their society, but she is already a prisoner of dystopia and resists Montag. The firemen who burn the books track down Montag and burn Mildreds ‘family’ along with them, “Poor family, poor family, oh everything gone, everything, everything gone now...” (59). Saying that her family is her everything proves that the government had successfully imprisoned her because she believes in the false reality. After a few generations of dystopia, the problem becomes rooted in each individual and is nearly impossible to solve. Her role as a prisoner is also presented in the allegory when she tattles on Montag as he tells the prisoners their existence is fake. 

Finally, Montag, the protagonist of Fahrenheit 451, plays the role of an escaping prisoner. Montag follows his path of enlightenment, “And I thought about books. And for the first time, I realized that a man was behind each one of the books. A man had to think them up. A man had to take a long time to put them down on paper. And I'd never even thought about that before” (29). In their society, information and history are being controlled and uncovering the truth through books, Montag plans to destroy the prison that the government has created using books. On his expedition, he recognizes, “Nobody listens anymore. I can’t talk to the walls because they’re yelling at me. I can’t talk to my wife; she listens to the walls. I just want someone to listen to what I have to say. And maybe if I talk long enough, it’ll make sense” (44). Once the suppression of the citizens is successful, the authorities start controlling and contorting their reality, and as Faber said, the majority is absolute. The escaping prisoner is trying to bring light to the corrupted government but stated earlier, Montag is met with resistance.  

Altogether, Ray Bradbury uses Allegory of the Cave as a guide excellently, putting together the parts of the escaped prisoner, prisoner, and escaping prisoner to show the threats of a flourishing dystopia.