But another aspect of Fahrenheit 451 is equally interesting: The suppression and condemnation of imaginative literature (viewed earlier as synecdoche for popular literature) represent the development of an increasingly oppressive political organization that wishes to deny originality and idiosyncrasy. Fahrenheit 451 uses the science fiction motif of dystopia — a totalitarian, highly centralized, and, therefore, oppressive social organization that sacrifices individual expression for the sake of efficiency and social harmony, all of which are achieved through technocratic means. The reader may examine the episodes of Dandelion Wine — the book most contiguous with Fahrenheit 451 (disregarding The October Country) — originally published as "The Happiness Machine" and "The Trolley" (Good Housekeeping, Vol. 141 No. 1, July 1955.). The former story views technology as unable to provide for — and as even opposed to — human happiness; the latter story views technological innovation as solely efficient, as oppressive, and, perhaps, as even protofascist. In fact, one may find that Dandelion Wine, published after Bradbury became labeled as a formidable science fiction writer, views technology and technological innovation as inconsequential in solving basic human problems. This view is apparent in Fahrenheit 451. For example, note the marital problems between Montag and his wife — even though their home is full of technological contrivances specifically designed for domestic bliss — or explore the motivation for the development of the Mechanical Hound as a vehicle of social control via terrorist means.
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