Prohibition of Knowledge and Propaganda
The film depicts a society in which sources of knowledge, especially books, are prohibited, not just censored. The government has banned all books, which has necessitated bibliophiles to occasionally run to the bush whenever they want to read. The government believes that if its citizens are allowed access to books, they are likely to become more knowledgeable and difficult to rule. As a result, it continuously feeds them lies and propaganda that discourage them from wanting to read. For instance, the government tells them that reading will make them think they are better than everyone else and thus become antisocial. This, however, is not entirely true. The reader knows that this is mainly propaganda by the government to make its citizens become complacent and easy to rule.
Mass Media
The very fact that Montag is alive at the end of the film reveals this theme. He watches, very much alive, as the media reports that he has been captured. This staged capture is created in order to keep the people at bay who may attempt to begin to read once more, and entertains those who already have bought into the forced what of thinking by the government.
Illiteracy
What happens when a people stop reading and writing literature? This is a major question this story creates. What is most poignant is the fact that the book people memorize a book in order to pass it along to others; the oral tradition of storytelling had to be reinstated in order to preserve the tales that educate, edify and make us think of our morality during our lives.
Oppression
The totalitarian government, through the Firemen, a cabal that is charged with forceful enforcement of government's orders, mainly destroying all materials pertaining to literature. The citizens virtually have no rights because the Firemen terrorize them at any time to search them or their places of residence without any warrant at a time of their choosing, confiscate, and burn any books they find. Surprisingly, the citizens have no say despite all the oppressive tendencies they are subjected to by their own government. Those who refuse to adhere to the government's repressive orders, such as Clarisse, are raided and tortured by Firemen. For them, the only way they can experience some freedom is when they hide in the forest where the government cannot see what they are doing. That the government commits every kind of atrocity on its citizens and does everything to ensure the citizens remain ignorant demonstrates how oppressive this system is.
