Fahrenheit 451 Co-opted?

Submitted by ViolinistFamiliar187 t3_127vlg7 in books

On my walk today (SoCal Long Beach) I went through a free book bin next to a martial arts dojo…. Inside I was pleased to see Fahrenheit 451 and snatched it up cuz it’s been on my read list for awhile.

After walking a few blocks with it I noticed two pamphlets in the pages. Pulling them out I was shocked by their content. One is titled, “THE HOLOCAUST CONTROVERSY - The Case For Open Debate” and the other was for the right stuff radio channel which, after looking them up, is straight up neo-nazi radio started by one.

I’m aware of the plot of Fahrenheit 451 but could someone more literate elaborate on why this would be co-opted by the alt-right? I’m just confused.

ps fuck neo-nazis!!!

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Comments

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gort32 t1_jeg29ez wrote

Do not try to apply logical thought to this - none was used to get there.

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orincoro t1_jeg2ncr wrote

F-451 is not specifically anti-fascist (though it does take place in an authoritarian future world) and probably a lot like 1984, it is often cited by far right propagandists who would co-opt the message of anti-censorship and make the case that the post-literary future it presents is the product of some derivation of Marxism. There may be some further ammunition in the book for this take, given that the “firemen” of this future are, according to the legend they subscribe to, eliminating all non-mainstream culture as a means of explicitly of ending class-conflict. This may lead some unimaginative people to conclude that it’s really a tract against socialism, which it isn’t.

However, it’s worth noting that the form of censorship against which the book was implicitly reacting was McCarthyism, and it bears further noting that while the book is of course about censorship on its face, its more animating motivation is probably as a criticism of all mass consumer culture, particularly television and advertising.

I imagine somebody is co-opting it for the same reason anything is co-opted in this way. Young people are told this is an important book.

Fuck neo Nazis indeed sir.

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ViolinistFamiliar187 OP t1_jeg7ihw wrote

Thank you for contextualizing it with 50’s American culture, I’m going to be thinking of this while I make my way through the book. The grass roots work of neo-nazis put this book in my hands, which is ironic considering I’m Jewish

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orincoro t1_jeg8l9x wrote

The book is quite timeless, but like 1984, it came out of the post-war paranoia of the 50s. Unlike 1984, it definitely takes the view that mass media is the chosen instrument of imperialism, making legacy media an enemy of “progress.”

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Rhadamanthus2020 t1_jeg3r6r wrote

  1. They know books like Fahrenheit 451 appeal to the left.
  2. Their entire modus operandi is: "own the libs"
  3. They know a liberal finding real-life nazi flyers in such books will confuse, frustrate, or anger libs.
  4. They "win." It's as simple as that - making the libs cry. If, for some crazy reason, it recruits another nazi, then they're doubly successful.

<sigh>

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ViolinistFamiliar187 OP t1_jeg4weu wrote

Yea you’re probably right, I definitely felt strange walking through my neighborhood back to my house after seeing the pamphlets. Now they’re shredded in the trash but it’s a definite reminder for me that these morons are everywhere

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timtamsforbreakfast t1_jeh3nlq wrote

They probably put those pamphlets inside every book in the free book bin. Next time you are walking past you could do the world a favour and pick out all the pamphlets and throw them in the trash.

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Nodbot t1_jeg3qb9 wrote

The irony of the 1933 nazi book burnings must have been lost to them

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