North Korea and Fahrenheit 451
By: Justice Buford
Connections
Government - Dictatorship and Communist
This quote relates Fahrenheit 451 to North Korea because the government in both controls everything. In Fahrenheit 451, books are banned and in North Korea, citizens are not able to use the internet. Both governments are censoring the ability to gain knowledge and information.
Their Dictator Kim Jong Un
Picture of Their Government Building
Marching Troops
Society
"There must be something in books, things we can't imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don't stay for nothing." (Bradbury,6)
In Fahrenheit 451, the old lady was willing to die for her books. This showed readers that she did not think life was worth living without books. This relates to the situation in the North Korean society because there are people that are doing everything possible to escape to South Korea or China. These people put their lives in danger trying to escape and some end up committing suicide. These people also feel that life is not worth living if they have to stay in North Korea.
Control
In Fahrenheit 451, the government tries to justify it's control over the people and their book usage by saying that books are traitors. They try to make the people think that books are what is bad and their actions are only to protect them. This is very similar to the control that North Korea imposes on it's people. They try to convince the people that the control is actually to protect them from the bad things in other countries. In both cases, the government wants to keep the people ignorant and loyal.
Conformity
In Fahrenheit 451 information passed through TV walls blasted in everyones ears. People heard the message so many that it became imbedded in their brains and became a reality. In North Korea, the situation is the same. The government tells people what to do, how to act, and what to say. Just like in 451 the people hear the same thing so they believe it is true and that becomes their reality.
Female North Korean Military
Male North Korean Military
The People of North Kore
Propaganda
The government in Fahrenheit 451 uses propaganda when Montag is chased for killing Chief Beatty. When Montag escapes the city, the government uses the media and the television to show Montag being killed even though he is gone. The people have been programmed to have short attention spans and no curiosity so they don't suspect anything. The North Korean government does the same thing with it's people. Because they try to program the people to only believe the information they share, they use media and communication outlets to manipulate them into believing what they want them to believe. Both governments use propaganda to create a reality for its people.
Sources
YouTube. YouTube. YouTube, 16 Mar. 2009. Web. 03 Oct. 2013.