H. L. Mencken's Analysis

Censorship amounts prohibition of expression of someone’s ideas, thoughts which may be detrimental and prejudicial to a particular class of people. The book Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, revolves around the idea of censorship as a bane to the society and culture. The book touches on various consequences of censorship like social isolation and infringement of thoughts. Bradbury has given an accurate representation of the society leading to an end as censorship proceeds to prohibit literature. Literature is power and censorship is suppressing it. Suppressing

As Lord Acton, a renowned libertarian of the 19th century, once said ”Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” In this quote, Sir Acton highlights the dangers of complete power. Moreover, he notes that the acquisition of power tends to stain a person’s morality. This observation is true, as power numbs a person’s ability to feel empathy. Therefore, the destructive nature of power is that it represses those without it. This idea is explored thoroughly in the short story, ”The Last of her Sons,” by Alden Nowlan. In the story, Ethel and Judd are a working class couple with five sons, the youngest being Skipper, a creative and imaginative child. Ethel is upset with Judd, her abusive and tyrannical husband, because of his

Power can have the persuasive action in undoing the moral ethics of one’s character. This can be seen throughout history, such as World War II and proven by the actions of Napoleon in the allegory, Animal Farm, by George Orwell. As Lord Acton said “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” In history what was viewed as a villain or wrong doer is never the same as the perception. A leader does not begin wanting to do wrong, they start with the best intentions, but power is a tricky thing, showcased in Animal Farm as Utopian ideals but with failed practices.

“There must be something in books, something we can imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing.”(Pg. 51) Main character Guy Montag is a servant to a society that is controlled by censorship and the fear of knowledge; Montag has spent his life burning books, to prevent the spread knowledge. But a series of events cause Montag's mind to change, and result in him breaking free from his society. The internal struggle of dynamic character Guy Montag, as to whether he should go on believing the lies his society has told him, or risk his life for something as simple as words on a page, brings readers into the corrupt society of Fahrenheit 451. In the novel Fahrenheit 451 author Ray

In this world what people often forget about that a human can do is cause mass destruction, things one should remember can be forgotten easily and just as fast as it came it leave, this can be seen in the books around us. Authors share their opinion through the words they write talking about society and how if we keep going the direction we are going we will find ourselves in deep trouble, the messages authors are trying to send can be seen through social commentary, many books have powerful messages behind them; especially in dystopian novels and movies. They show these messages through diction,syntax, imagery, and character development; for examples the books and movies; Fahrenheit 451, Incarceron, Wall-E, and Hunger games. The authors Ray Bradbury, Catherine Fisher, Andrew Stanton, and Suzanne Collins all convey a message through their works through syntax, diction, camera angles, and imagery; emphasizing their warnings of what they fear may happen.

Paine begins his pamphlet with a strong use of rhetorical appeals to explain the necessity, though minor evil, of a government, leaving room to the reader’s common sense to realize it as a democratic system. Paine’s structured logos of the first two paragraphs provides a logical and convincing evidence for the need of structure in a society to provide safety and concludes: “Wherefore, security being the true design and end of government, it unanswerably follows that whatever for thereof appears most likely to ensure it to us, with the least expense and greatest benefit, is preferable to all others” (par. 2). The pathos of the text is instead increased by dire diction and schemes like juxtaposition and parallel structure. Paine’s powerful juxtapositions points on the contrast between right and wrong, society and government (identified as British Crown). Through the fear, Paine manipulates the public’s thoughts convincing it of the danger that Britain constitutes when saying “Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher” (par.1). The effect of highlighting this difference is that audience is voluntarily forced to choose the society as benefic and to condemn the government, which now, also because of the dire diction, appears to them as a threat. Paine’s ethos is instead built thanks to the authoritative and self-assured tone: the author’s confidence emerges particularly in

“The first thing you must realise is that power is collective. The individual only has power in so far as he ceases to be an individual.” (Orwell).

The temptation of power corrupts man, which results in the inevitable destruction of liberty, law and right for power can not co-exist with the former.

First, society grows; a government becomes needed, and in turn laws. Next, because of growth and the inability to gather the people all together, elections become needed. He describes these simple concepts as “the best balance between government and society” (Paine, n.pag.). After clearly explaining to the people his ideas, he uses his concepts to discredit the “monarchial and aristocratic tyranny” (Paine, n.pag.) in the English Constitution. He further examines the lack of appropriate checks and balances, and charges it as unable to “be the gift of a wise people” (Paine, n.pag.). In this section, Paine successfully illustrates an expectation of appropriate government, in a basic construction that puts organization to the public’s desires.

“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.

Power, whether assumed or delegated is significant in the achievement of productive functionality in societies. As prevalent through history and culture, it becomes the vice of oppression and tyranny through the abuse of power by those who hold it. The freedom of the vulnerable become slaves of inequality in unjust societies. George Orwell’s allegorical novella, Animal Farm and Langston Hughes’ provocative poem “Let America be America Again” effectively explore equality and freedom as nothing but a fallacy due to the narcissism and avarice in societies.

Alice Walker, an American novelist, once stated that “the most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” In current society, power is everywhere, and everyone has at least has some control, no matter how ineffective they might feel. In the novella “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck, the concept of power is represented on a ranch in the 1930’s. On the ranch, there is a group of outsiders- people who do not fit in- that consists of Crooks, a black stable buck, Curley’s wife, who is married to the powerful Curley, Lennie, a worker with a mental disability, and Candy, and old swamper. These outsiders are isolated and feel powerless compared to the rest of society. However, within this group of outsiders, power structures still exist and everyone has power in one way or another. Steinbeck, through the story of Crooks and Curley’s wife, teaches that no matter how powerless someone seems, they may still wield power over others.

Power and happiness go hand in hand. When one abuses power it reveal their limitations and perhaps inability to maintain power to help the greater good. One of these may be the differences in laws for those in a position in power and those who are not, and abuse occurs through moral differences in such society. "Everything belonged to him--but that was a trifle. The thing to know was what he belonged to, how many powers of

The reality is depicted in a litany of powerful, clever men, who misuse their abilities for their own personal ends - which are chiefly, the acquisition and maintenance of power. Their goal is public acclaim, cynically acquired through a popularity based on the

We have to contend, in the exercise of our personal power, with the influences of such power-channels in our environments and how they add to, limit or distort our exercise of power - e.g. hierarchies, coalitions,