Consequences Of Laziness In Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

Imagine living in a world where you are not in control of your own thoughts. Imagine living in a world in which all the great thinkers of the past have been blurred from existence. Imagine living in a world where life no longer involves beauty, but instead a controlled system that the government is capable of manipulating. In Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, such a world is brought to the awareness of the reader through a description of the impacts of censorship and forced conformity on people living in a futuristic society. In this society, all works of literature have become a symbol of unnecessary controversy and are outlawed. Individuality and thought is outlawed. The human mind is

Societies influence on citizens affects their actions, not how they perceive the world. Beatty believes that the way of society is how it should be; citizens perceive him as an authority figure that is content in the way society functions. Beatty and Faber are similar in the sense that; they are both well read, perceive society in different ways and both teach Montag using different techniques. First, Beatty is proven to be well read because he quotes many authors, but also shares his opinion that books are contradictory; “What traitors books can be! you think they’re backing you up, and they turn on you.” (97). This quotation demonstrates Beatty’s opinion of books; he believes that what is written in books contradicts itself and leaves

(STEWE-1) Montag wants to be heard and no one cares to listen because they are so where else. “‘Nobody listens anymore. I can’t talk to the walls because they’re yelling at me. I can’t talk talk to my wife; she listens to the walls. I just want someone to hear what I have to say’”(Bradbury 78). Montag has emotions and wants someone to hear for what he has to say. People are being self-centered and don’t even pay attention to the real world. No one even notices that there is a war going on. (STEWE-2) “‘Maybe the books can get us out of the cave. They just might stop us from making rather same damn mistakes’”(Bradbury 70). No one in Montag’s society does not know much because they don’t care about the books, when really they should because books can give you the knowledge that you want. (SIP-B) By Mildred and everyone else in the society leaning more and more on technology, they have all gained selfishness, and they all run on instructions, and everyone is the same person. (STEWE-1) "The small crystal bottle of sleeping tablets which earlier today had been filled with thirty capsules and which now lay uncapped and empty in the light if the tiny flare"(Bradbury 11). People like Mildred keep forgetting that they are taking these pills and are not focusing about themselves and they could commit suicide. These people are overwhelmed with the technology and people are trying to kill themselves. Maybe everyone is doing the same thing. (STEWE-2). (CS) People like Montag and Clarisse who get away from technology, understand that there is more than technology in this world and they realize that there is a thing called

Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel written by Ray Bradbury that depicts a futuristic American society where books are banned and independent thought is persecuted. Bradbury uses his imagination to take a hard look at a world consumed by technology, and he presents predictions about pleasure, violence and anti-intellectualism that are alarmingly similar to the modern American society. Notably, in both societies people find pleasure in entertainment that is endlessly preoccupying. Second, people are violent and careless. Finally, anti-intellectualism and suppression of independent thought affect both societies, as firemen ban books in Fahrenheit 451 and, in the

In Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451, censorship plays a significant role in the dystopian society. The novel illustrates what it would be like if the government had full control of what society reads, watches, or communicates. According to Bradbury, this perpetuates ignorance because society blindly obeys the government. Most people in the novel are unaware of their unhappiness with society, including Mildred, Guy Montag’s wife, who almost commits suicide by mistakenly taking an entire bottle of sleeping pills. Censorship has a great effect on the personalities and knowledge of the people in the society. The society is essentially “trapped” in a toxic world filled with ignorance (Mogen 105). The government feels by controlling all forms of media, society should be cooperative and happy; however, once citizens become distracted by the consequences of owning and reading books, unhappiness and chaos occur. Reading books promotes knowledge, which encourages people to think, but because of censorship, the society has become ignorant.

_____ is shown when takes out the books he had previously hidden in an air vent. He does this in an attempt to explain to Mildred why they are important. She becomes upset and confused by the seemingly meaningless excerpts Montag reads, used to her idle distractions that required no in-depth thinking or interpretations. This is similar to when Montag brought out a book to read the poem “Dover Beach” to her friends. As to not worry the women, Mildred tried to play it off as a familiar occurrence by saying that once a year, firemen were allowed to bring home a book to show their family how silly it was, when in reality she had no idea what Montag was doing. Through his earpiece, Faber protested but Montag would not listen: “‘What good is this, what’ll you prove!’ ‘Scare hell out of them, that’s what, scare the living daylights out!’” (95). It is clear that Montag was not thinking straight because of his shouting at Faber, who he was supposed to keep secret. Montag desperately wanted to make the women understand why literature was important that he acted without thinking in trying to get them to cooperate. Montag believed that he could make them change their minds to realize the importance of literature with this small act, although he failed to take into consideration that when people are brought up thinking one way, it is very difficult to

Some people have not put into consideration of how knowledge can benefit one’s life. Instead, they overlook the value of knowledge and do not have the motivation to gain knowledge or put it to good use. Montag’s society reveals their reluctance and ignorance toward gaining the knowledge and information a book contains when Mrs. Bowles exclaims, “Silly awful hurting words…not enough hurt in the world, you got to tease people with stuff like that!” (101) when Montag was reading the poem, Dover Beach to Mildred’s friends. In modern day settings, people will find shortcuts when reading books instead of enjoying the pleasure of books. Some people are not interested in taking the time to read and gain the full knowledge and understanding, instead they will rely on the media. They are more interested with the newest technology than what knowledge has to offer one; they are not concerned with the important keys of

Bradbury included characters to act ignorant in order to enhance his theme of knowledge versus ignorance. The government controls everyone, keeping people locked in their illiteracy by precise manipulation from advanced technology. For instance, every night, Mildred listens to her seashell radio. Mildred becomes unaware, and one night she takes an overdose of pills and does not remember doing so. Moreover, Mildred watches the TVs in the living room and finds the programs fascinating, even though she learns nothing. This is what the government wants, as everyone in society becomes distracted by technology, they will not have time to read or write. Further, at the beginning of the novel, Montag is ignorant of the fact that his actions have consequences. For example, he states, “It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed” (Bradbury 1). At this time, Montag enjoys watching books burn, and he especially enjoys burning the books himself. Nevertheless, Montag only enjoyed burning books because he did not realize how they actually contain worthwhile information. Hence, this shows how the government is able to hide the information in books from everyone in society. The advanced technology not only results in unawareness, but also in behavioral changes.

Throughout the decades, certain restrictions have been shown in various forms from newspapers to television to social media. In America today, it serves as a positive outcome due to it protecting children from watching certain shows that they are too young to see. However, there are negative effects of censorship still prevalent in some parts of the world today. Censorship can block new and varied beliefs and ideas, which hides information from the public. Consequently, this is seen in the book Fahrenheit 451 written by Ray Bradbury. In the dystopian society, many of the citizens daily routine consists of the act of burning books, watching manipulative “parlor families” on television, and not being accepted for doing things out of the norm. The residents in the story are limited to only juvenile thinking and actions which makes the society less diverse and knowledgeable. Even though restrictions can be effective at times, the author expresses the sense of censorship and how it is a bad influence by revealing certain characters that are affected by the restrictive society.

Montag is sick, physically and emotionally. Realizing his wife would rather watch TV than care for him; that the world is an empty, cruel place; and that there are things out there which are worth dying for makes him even more so. Technology starts to become a main influence on the actions of the people in society. Montag’s wife, Mildred, is said to have “lost herself in technology”. She confines herself in the living room of the couple’s house to three life-sized television screen walls. These walls speak to her and hold conversations with her more than actual people do. Mildred yells at Montag for turning off her “family”. Montag is her husband, but Mildred relates fictional programmed characters to her only family. The issue of technology technically brainwashes the people of this science fiction society. People believe that if technology gets more advanced it would end society because people would probably forget about everything. Bradbury thinks that with technology surrounding us, people will stop reading books. If people stop reading books they will forget about things that are extremely important, which include history, how and why people act in different ways, how life began, and other things that are important today but with technology they are going to fade away. Another thing that could happen if

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is a display of how humans are relying more and more on technology for entertainment at the price of their ability for intellectual development. It is a novel about technological dystopia, often compared to other novels such as, George Orwell’s 1984 and Asimov Ender’s Game. Although today’s technology has not quite caught up with Bradbury’s expectations, the threat of having his vision of a dystrophic society is very realistic. He sees a futuristic society in which this submission of thought is highly valued. In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury displays a futuristic utopian society where "the people did not read books, enjoy nature, spend time by themselves, think independently, or have meaningful conversations" (Mogen, Pg. 111).

In the book Fahrenheit 451 the theme is a society/world that revolves around being basically brain washed or programmed because of the lack of people not thinking for themselves concerning the loss of knowledge, and imagination from books that don't exist to them. In such stories as the Kurt Vonnegut's "You have insulted me letter" also involving censorship to better society from vulgarity and from certain aspects of life that could be seen as disruptive to day to day society which leads to censorship of language and books. Both stories deal with censorship and by that society is destructed in a certain way by the loss of knowledge from books.

The First Amendment grants the freedom of speech for all United States citizens. Envision not possessing this right, but also not being able to think freely. If a future filled with no individual expression and everyone and everything looking the same came to mind, you were close, but not quite there. Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is about a war ridden society that restricts the freedom of thought through the practice of banning and burning books. An analysis of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 displays change is needed because it opens one’s eyes which is illustrated by his use of character interaction, detailed events, and revealing the character’s thoughts.

“That’s awful! ...Why should I read? What for?”(Bradbury, 73) Mildred hates the fact that her house and her ‘family’ would burn down if Beatty and the other firemen found out about Montag and his books. Mildred doesn’t understand why Montag wants to reason with her and what he finds so special in books. Mildred is a selfish woman who cares only about herself and her friends. As long as nothing happened to her ‘family’, she’d be fine.

In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, irony is used to convey information and it contributes to the overall theme of the novel. Written during the era of McCarthyism, Fahrenheit 451 is about a society where books are illegal. This society believes that being intellectual is bad and that a lot of things that are easily accessible today should be censored. The overall message of the book is that censorship is not beneficial to society, and that it could cause great harm to one’s intelligence and social abilities. An analysis of irony in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury shows that this literary technique is effective in contributing to the overall theme of the novel because it gives more than one perspective on how censorship can negatively affect