In his 1967 essay "The Death of the Author", French literary critic Roland Bathes gave name to a 20th century phenomenon. Separating the intent of the Author from the reader's experience and take away from the work. Though later the movement gained traction to discredit authors and simply focus on interpretation than intent, Bathes viewed both as important aspects of the creation process. Some literary works are more cut than dry than others in this aspect. Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird was intended to be a scathing dismissal of racism, and is mostly appreciated as such. The interpretations coming from character's intents or actions. Compare this to John Milton's Paradise Lost, where Milton spells out his intention in the first paragraph. He wishes to "justify the ways of God to man". Yet scholars for centuries have come up with several interpretations, some of them even stating that it's SATAN that is the true protagonist and winner. Him having succeeded in corrupting creation and ruling his own throne in Hell. Such a statement would have Milton's head in the 1600s where it was written. I bring this to mind as to me, there is no work in popular culture that exemplifies this concept in action than Ray Bradbury's 1953 novel, Fahrenheit 451.
Fahrenheit 451, the temperature at which book paper burns. Ray Bradbury's novel is often cited as a criticism of Fascism and censorship. Bradbury himself was vehemently against this idea. He reportedly walked out of a UCLA lecture about the novel when the students there insisted on this interpretation. Fahrenheit 451 is, in Bradbury's mind, a criticism and borderline satire of the modern age. Bradbury was a grumpy curmudgeon who despite being considered a sci-fi writer, loathed technology. The kind of the man who would write political comics about kids looking for the power button on a textbook. This raving technophobia shows up in a short story by him two years earlier, "The Pedestrian". This short story follows an author, deemed unemployed by the state (because no one reads get it?) walking through a town where everyone is glued to their tv screens. He is later apprehended by a robot police car (because of course it's a robot) that promptly arrests him for going against societal norms. This story is not the only example of Ray's fear of technology. You can find a criticism of the nuclear age in "There Will Come Soft Rains", "A Sound of Thunder" has the entire world thrown into chaos because of the hubris of the rich using a technology they barely understand, "Harrison Bergernon" has people made "equal" and oppressed by use of technology.
Fahrenheit 451 follows Guy Montag, a fireman in the near future. Firemen in this Universe have a new cause, they burn books as people's homes have basically become fireproof due to advancing technology. Books are seen a dangerous distractions from the placated populace. As the powers that be would rather keep their populace distracted with television, the arch enemy of Ray Bradbury. One day after burning a woman's house down, Guy keeps a book from the burning and takes it home. Later in the novel its made clear that Guy has been doing this for a good while. Interestingly, Guy Montag doesn't act like someone in this kind of dystopia would. He openly tries to get his wife Clarisse to get away from her wall to wall television and in ear headphones (which actually didn't exist when Bradbury wrote this, so props to him). He even starts to read poetry at a meeting with one of her friends, and it gets chalked up to a mental breakdown and he burns the book. It's not the government that is forcing this, it's the will of the people. They don't want to read because reading would make them think, and making them think would upset them. Citizens in this world would rather be calm and placated and THAT is Bradbury's main pitch.
Things do end up going south for Montag though eventually, as Mildred does report Montag to the firemen. Confronted by Beatty, his boss and foil, Montag is given the choice to surrender and burn his house down. Beatty is an interesting case in this world as Beatty does give the appearance of once being an avid reader before giving up on it due to the conflicting opinions and thoughts found there. Montag is goaded by Beatty to use his flamethrower, and Montag does, on Beatty. A search begins for Montag, who is able to escape to the house of Faber, an earlier ally and former English Professor. Faber urges him to to get to the countryside and escape with other book lovers that live there. The members of this group have each memorized a book in case society would ever need to be rebuilt. Montag realizes that he has memorized a book of the Bible. Staying with the exiles, they later watch as the city is obliterated by nuclear weapons, the leader of the exiles waxes poetic about the phoenix, and they go forth into the city to rebuild anew.
Despite Bradbury's insistence, Fahrenheit 451 does contain instances of censorship. You can't think of book burning without thinking of fascist empires like Nazi Germany. Even during the McCarthy era that this book was written in, books 'supporting' communism were banned and sometimes burned outright. Book burning continues today with ISIS militants in the Middle East. Book burning was and always shall be a movement to censor knowledge to crush a populace's ability or want to rise up and take power back for themselves. At a late point in the novel, the exiles note that a "Montag" will be captured and killed to restore the peace, and Montag and the exiles watch as an innocent man is killed in his place on a tv. Falsifying media is another big sign of a censorship heavy government.
Fahrenheit 451 is a masterpiece, even if I don't agree with the fear of technology Bradbury had, because despite it's old age it only gets more relevant as time goes on. Bradbury's media is condensed into easily digestible chunks which bring to mind things like Twitter and Instagram in our World. Even something as simple as people not reading books any more in favor of this entertainment, which was Bradbury's worst nightmare, has come true. Even now, our politics are run like bread and circus shows. Political opponents or threats to the government or erased or covered up. Recent to mind is the case of Jeffrey Epstein, who after being exposed to be running a pedophiliac sex ring committed suicide in his cell. It's widely believed that he was murdered so that he could not indict his followers. The following week there were two mass shootings to draw media attention away from the case. Ray Bradbury's world is a dark but approaching time, the biggest questions lies in what side you'll be on when the time comes.
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