Today my Lit & Language 11 class finished the first chapter of 451.
This classic was published in 1950, and the present Bradbury envisioned has almost certainly passed (like Orwell’s 1984). So I often wonder how close we really are to the entertainment crazed, brainwashed society of 451.
Then one day when Kristie and I were heading to Grand Forks, we were listening to Y94. Their morning programming featured a 911 call from an obese woman trapped in her burning house. She simply was too large to get out. The DJs laughed and ridiculed her.
Then they cut to a commercial on some type of pro or semi-pro “Steel Cage Death Match” wrestling event coming to Fargo. Get your tickets now!
That was followed by a commercial explaining that though ephidrine has been banned in the past, it is now legal and back in diet pills. I can’t remember the type of pill being schlocked, but I do remember one of those great warning lines . . . “If you lose 10 pounds in five days, discontinue use!” Ha. What effective advertisement. Anyone desperate enough to take those pills would most certainly not discontinue use if they lost 10 pounds in a work week. In fact, they’d probably double their dose!
Then it hit me - maybe we aren’t that far away from the world of 451 after all.
2 comments:
No, we are not far from 451 - almost there maybe. What sort of adults will the children of today become? Scary, isn't it?
I am reading this text for the first time and teaching it as well. I cannot get over the similarity to modern day society. Using just the sale of all types of water and reality television, I see that Bradbury comprehended what humanity might be in for.
Best!
~C.
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