Manifestations of the Hyperreal in a Postmodern World : A Postmodern Reading of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451

The purpose of this essay is to analyze award-winning author Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 through the lens of postmodernism. The focus will be on identifying symbols and signs of the hyperreal when it comes to freedom of speech, censorship, and technology through Jean Baudrillard’s orders of simulacra from his book Simulacra and Simulation. The images of Ray Bradbury’s dystopian society in Fahrenheit 451 are analyzed, as well as the main characters and their relationship to technology, books, censorship, and freedom of speech. This essay also argues that the hyperreal is relevant today and has been throughout history if knowledge is suppressed or controlled by society as presented in Fahrenheit 451