Fahrenheit 451 Essay

Imagine a world in which one is taught how and what to think. In this world no one is given the opportunity to form their own opinions. Books are illegal because they might generate ideas other than those which are taught. Knowledge is what allows a person to understand right from wrong, but if it is ingrained in a person to follow a set of rules without having an understanding for them, it’s most likely that the person will rebel. That is what occurs in Fahrenheit 451. Books are banned and, if found, are burned along with the house they are located in. This rule instilled fear and curiosity in the hearts of certain people within their society. Fear of getting their house burned and curiosity about the contents of these books people are sacrificing their houses and even some lives for. The answer is simple: knowledge. In Fahrenheit 451, the power and value of ideas allows one to see the world’s beauty clearly through their own eyes, comprehend and cognize the rules, and instigate conflict.

In the world of Fahrenheit 451, books are burned because they are “confusing”, schools teach students with meaningless facts, and people are forced to drive at high speeds so they can’t see what’s around them. We can see that people stopped pondering their surroundings in the world of the book. In schools, students are crammed with useless facts, and are not taught about the reasons behind it. By extracting the “meaning”, it limited types of expressions. Books were one of them. Knowledge changed to simply “knowing” facts, without the reasons. By manipulating the understanding of knowledge and inquiry, books were considered confusing and “not good”. In the end, it was the public that stopped reading books, as Beatty said.

“A book is a loaded gun in the house next door…. Who knows who might be the target of the next well readman?” This citation from the book describes how the power inside the books are very powerful. Consequently, it also shows that if the government in Fahrenheit 451 was hunting Montag down because of the books he was reading and what he was learning that reading the books can be a threat to the government. “The magic is only in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us.” This quote from the book explains that if people weren’t able to read, at that point some of our great inventors of our world might not have had the knowledge to even invent what they did. Therefore, our world would not have had the advancement that it has today with all of our modern technology. Fahrenheit 451 is a valuable piece of literature considering that it explains how the words in the seams of books can be genuinely powerful and can lead to positive and negative outcomes.

“The word intellectual of course became the swear word it deserved to be. You always dread the unfamiliar” (Bradbury 53). I think in the society of Fahrenheit 451 they weren’t allowed to have books because it’s easier to control a government if society doesn’t have knowledge. There are many differences between the societies of Fahrenheit 451 and our society. The major differences are; the role of a fireman, the purpose of books, and the relationship with the outside world.

The people in Fahrenheit 451 let the government and media control them like robots, they do not think on their own and are so focused on obeying what they are being told that they do not even question what is being communicated to them by the government. “The most important single thing we had to pound into ourselves is that we were not important….We’re nothing more than dust jackets for books, of no significance otherwise.” (Bradbury 153). This quote shows how the books are being coated in dust and not read or enjoyed for the knowledge they can provide. The books are banned from being read, therefore the people in this society are just “dust jackets”. These “dust jackets” lie on the books with “no significance

Although books may seem important to educate people about what kind of society they are living in, the government in Fahrenheit 451 controls the information of what the public views by destroying books in order to maintain their power.

The science fiction novel, Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, is about a futuristic dystopian society where everyone follows simple rules/norms: don't read books and spend time with their “families”. The families in the novel are also known as the TV’s. Whoever in the novel reads or owns books, gets put down by the hound. Montag, a protagonist in the novel, works as the fireman whom are very violent (like the rest of the society). No one in this society ever think, but when Montag (Protagonist) meets Clarisse McClellan, he becomes to question everything. Bradbury tries to portray that when people become emotionless, they don’t think about their actions which end up being violent. Bradbury’s hound (terrifying mechanical beast that kills who are unlawful) represents a type of police in the society that regulates everything and everyone. Thus Bradbury’s predictions are similar to today’s society in the police forces (which are controlled by the government).

Book-burning is the first thing that is explained about this future based society of Fahrenheit 451. Burning books is the obliteration of the single thought on paper or in one word- censorship. Books are considered evil because they make people question and think. All intellectual curiosity and thirst for knowledge must be quelled for the good of the state — for the good of conformity. Without ideas, everyone conforms, and as a result, everyone should be happy. When books and new ideas are available to people, conflict and unhappiness occur. Some of the many different motifs in the novel Fahrenheit 451 are conveyed through the use of various sardonic lines and connotations planted throughout the book. On the matter of technology and modernization it explains how TV reigns supreme in the future because of the "happiness" it offers. People are content when they don’t have to think, or so the story goes. TV aside, technology is the government’s means of oppression, but also provides the renegade’s opportunity to subvert. Rules and order is another popular topic written into the book. It is stated that “All books can be beaten down with reason.” This was said by Captain Betty, a quote ironically coming from a book itself. Much of the restrictions on the general populous are self-enforced. The government has taken away the citizens’ ability to dissent and marred all dissatisfaction with a cheap version of "happiness," a.k.a. TV. This means

First, the novel expresses the consequences of free will. Kristi Hiner says, "Through Clarisse, the unidentified woman, Millie, and Beatty, you are shown the consequences of what happens when humans aren't allowed to fully express their individuality and choice" (Hiner 1). This shows us how a world without freedom may end up. Next, Bradbury also provides an example of society without books. Hiner goes on to say, "Television, for the majority of individuals in Fahrenheit 451, does not create conflicting sentiments or cause people to think, so why would they welcome challenge?" (Hiner 1). This example helps to paint a picture of the world without books. Finally, the novel illustrates a future without socialization. Paul Brians says, "Socialization has been reduced to group television viewings, and creativity narrowed into brief moments in shows when the audience is prompted to respond to the virtual events they are witnessing, and which absorb them far more than the real world around them" (Brians 1).

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.

“Then, moaning, she ran forward, seized a book and ran toward the kitchen incinerator. He caught her, shrieking. He held her and she tried to fight away from him scratching,” (63). In the novel Fahrenheit 451 follows the protagonist, Guy Montag, and his interactions with society discouraging and encouraging his discovery of the illegal books. Along the way he understands who are the poisonous people in his dystopian world and who are not; changing his perspective to lose trust in his wife Mildred, from previous quote, and finding safety with Faber, a retired professor he came by one day in a park. In the novel Fahrenheit 451 the author demonstrates the idea that when there is censorship in the world, ignorance will follow because when a subject is hidden from one anything they do regarding it is under the impression of their lack of knowledge surrounding the topic, this becomes more relevant when Ray Bradbury acknowledges the emotions of people who have read books and whom haven't and their general opinions of them.

When Montag and Faber were talking Faber said,” This book has pores. It has features. The more pores, the more truthfully recorded details of life per square inch you can get on paper the more literary you are.”(pg.79) The people in this society don't want their citizens to be intellectual they want them to be simple minded because they know power comes from people who take time to analyze what's around them. When you stand out in Fahrenheit 451 they know that you must have read a book because no one who lives there has the ability to learn and actually comprehend what's going on because they're mentally dying. When you use technology all day you don’t just lose brain cells but also,” research shows that sitting in front of our computers all day can also negatively affect your

In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, we can see a lot of things wrong with the society, things that most people think could happen to us, but is it really that unrealistic? Ray Bradbury didn't think so when he wrote it because he was writing about his own time period, shortly after WWII, but the themes he wrote about are still present today. In the novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury criticizes illusion of happiness, oppression, and loss of self, not only his fictitious society, but our society in real life, too.

One way FAHRENHEIT 451 shows literature is important is by showing that people can't comprehend things correctly or be educated properly. It shows that people are not educated properly because when they are  reading a book,  they understand things better and learn as they read. On page 81, the book says

Now at first glance anyone may look at the book and wonder what does Fahrenheit 451 mean? Well Fahrenheit 451 is the temperature at which paper catches on fire. This is our first glimpse into Ray Bradbury’s dystopian world in Fahrenheit 451. So, this book was originally published in 1953 during World War II and starting the Cold War, which plays a huge role in what this book symbolizes. The author of Fahrenheit 451 is Ray Bradbury.