Censorship is the supervision and control of the information and ideas circulated within a society. It can be extremely dangerous to a society and is highly controversial in today’s world. When the news is censored, it teaches readers and listeners what to think instead of how to think. It is important to society as a whole that all members can think for themselves. Censorship controls and influences people’s minds and forces them to believe what someone else wants them to believe. “There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches.” Censorship often begins slowly and goes unnoticed. In the novel Fahrenheit 451, censorship began when different minority groups were offended by certain works in literature. Eventually, laws changed and books were completely forbidden in this society. Everything became censored by the government. The government controlled every aspect of the citizens’ lives. Everyone lead meaningless lives and no one questioned anything. Of course, Fahrenheit 451 is an extreme. However, the Coda shows remarkable parallels to the novel even if not as extreme. Books are constantly edited and re-edited to ensure that readers of all ages can read them. Every story that might not be appropriate for middle school students is thrown away. Every word that might be even the slightest bit offensive gets replaced with a synonym. No one reads anything original anymore. Readers should get to choose what they want to read, not what the publishers and editors want them to read. Another short story that demonstrates the harmful effects of censorship is Harrison Bergeron. The government forces their people to be equal and will physically and mentally disable them if they show that they are above average. The government also controls their TVs and forces their people to abandon their own feelings in order to keep control. The government in this society will do anything to keep their power, even if it means disregarding their morals and their duty to the citizens.