Importance Of Knowledge In Fahrenheit 451

In the United States, everyone has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Three aspects to living a productive life. Ray Bradbury was an American fiction writer who lived August 22, 1920 through June 5, 2012. When he was twelve years old he began to visit the library pretty often. He wrote every single day of his life since then. When he turned fifteen, he learned how dangerous it was to have the right of reading books being taken away when Hitler began to burn books. You could not be a part of any civilization and you were not educated. Bradbury published the first version of Fahrenheit 451 in February 1951 and was living in Los Angeles with no money. Then, he visited UCLA and found a room with typewriters to rent at ten cents an

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.

Knowledge can be defined as the acquaintance with facts, truths, and awareness. Inquiry is the act of questioning. In the dystopian world of Fahrenheit 451, there is a prominent lack of both knowledge and inquiry. Meaning, society, happiness, media, and entertainment all infer the absence of thinking and questioning in the book.

Eventhough, the internet can be helpful with education, it can also be unreliable. However, “The Hive” by Marchall Poe, was the openness of Wikipedia. Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia that anyone can use it. This might work for some people specially that ones who attend school or college. This is very helpful for them because in Wikipedia you can search or find anything you would like. Since anyone can write, or delete or use information off of Wikipedia, it makes it less controversial because anyone can put their input into the website. If don’t agree with something, that’s alright because you can add your own opinion. Poe describes how authors of certain wiki pages write with a bias to support their facts. Facts become opinions when feelings and emotions of bias get involved. “Instead of relying on experts to

In fahrenheit 451 struggle revolves around the tension between knowledge and ignorance. Firemen destroy knowledge of all forms, books in perticlar. This doesn’t stop Montag though. He is given many struggles because he wants to learn. I feel like this is somewhat relevant to nowadays society. We faced with those who want to be knowledged but majority has turned to substance and have become consumed in it. Society in fahrenheit 451 is very similar to today’s society. The education system is at a falling point and ignorance is growing. What though should become more important substance or knowledge and growing to a person.

Conformity and ignorance go hand in hand. Fahrenheit 451, The Lego Movie, and The Twilight Zone’s ‘Obsolete Man’ are all prime examples of this statement. It is glaringly obvious in Fahrenheit 451, specifically when Clarisse is talking to Montag about how her uncle was arrested for driving slow. He was complying with all the rules and regulations of his society, yet he was still arrested. This is because he wouldn’t conform to what everyone else was doing. Mildred mentions in the book that when she needs to let out her anger she drives around fast and kills animals in the road. This is a stark contrast to Clarisse’s uncle, who wanted to drive slow in order to appreciate the beauty of life, not destroy it. This labels Clarisse’s uncle as a non-conformist, something so dangerous that you can be

A theme for Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is that knowledge can prepare us for the future. According to Fahrenheit 451 it states,”Montag had done nothing. His hand had done it all, his hand, with a brain of its own, with a conscience and a curiosity in each trembling finger, had turned thief.” This supports the theme because the only reason Guy Montag stole the books was because he wanted to know more about his job to see if his job isn’t helping his society which supports the claim since he taking resources from the scene of where the fire was and using the books to his advantage to see if he can stop the problem of his job. According to Fahrenheit 451 it states, “Do you ever read any of the books you burn?” He laughed. “That’s against the

In the book Fahrenheit 451 the theme was the conflict between one being knowledgeable or being ignorant. The themes definition following this book would be people who read even though banned would be the knowledgeable people and they live a true happy life but the ones that don't understand what books purpose really is and don't see how it makes humans lives happier they are are ignorant.I feel this is a main theme in this book because at first montag is considered one of the ignorant people but with different people changing his thoughts and montag realizing the firemen and the people who don't read are the ignorant ones and that books fulfill your life a lot more you just have to understand them because some bring emotions that the ignorant people think is bad. Also after this realization montag fights against ignorance the rest of the book. All throughout the book the

In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury shows the importance access of other people’s knowledge. We need the knowledge of others and of our past. We need this knowledge so we can learn from our mistakes and will not repeat the mistakes from our history. In Fahrenheit 451 the society has forgotten its past and is slowly dissolving into mayhem. This is a perfect example of the theme. The theme of Fahrenheit 451 is, we need the knowledge of others to survive.

“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives” ~ James Madison

In the world that we all live in, knowledge is the key to most things that people want- power, peace, wealth, all can be achieved with knowledge. That’s why knowledge is such a dangerous thing. Author Ray Bradbury, who wrote books such as Fahrenheit 541 and the Illustrated Man, was one such person who knew this to be true. He once said, in the afterword of the 1979 edition of his novel Fahrenheit 451, that “there is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches.”

In the modern society of America the people can read anything and knowledge of the world is as free flowing as the montana mountain springs. But in Fahrenheit 451 knowledge is limited to a point blank of stark fantasy of the parlors. Books are hunted like outlaws and those who own them are arrested or if they try to escape they are hunted and killed by the infamous metal Hound. Knowledge itself is power, "ipsa scientia potestas est". (Sir Francis Bacon).

Censorship occurs when information is forbidden; for example, in books, movies, newspapers, and the Internet. Books are banned when they contain objectionable language, sexual content, political content, and in the case of government censorship, knowledge. Some people argue that censorship is necessary to protect children from explicit language or sex scenes, and to preserve morals or religious values. Those against censorship argue that historical facts shouldn’t be censored, so that people can learn from history. Opponents also claim that censorship invalidates their intellectual freedom; which the United Nations proclaimed as a fundamental human right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Finally, censorship decreases the quality

Humanity often takes for granted the education we receive and don’t realize its effects on us. We fail to see that proper education reduces one’s gullibility, as those who receive training in critical thinking are less easily manipulated. In the novella Animal Farm by George Orwell, fascist rulers take advantage of the illiterate animals on the Manor Farm because they were oblivious to what was happening to them. Meanwhile, in the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, citizens of a dystopian society have their access to education withheld from them, leaving them unable to think for themselves or properly assess their lives. In both works of literature, the author sees the importance of education being that illiteracy will leave one vulnerable to being manipulated due to their inability to thoroughly interpret and analyze situations with proper insight. In other words, being apathetic towards one’s education will only set them up for doom.

Firemen today are around to put out fires, but in Fahrenheit 451, the temperature books burn, they are the ones that start the fires when they hear about a house that contains books. Anti-Intellectualism was used in the novel Fahrenheit 451 by the firemen burning books and the houses that contained them. Anti-Intellectualism is when a group or individual disagrees with given knowledge, for example burning books in Fahrenheit 451 because they disagreed with the knowledge contained within them. Firemen saw books as nothing but a waste, but still went through with harsh punishments to anyone in possession of a book because it was a law. Similar was done throughout history. Something like that was a huge world event showing that we can be punished for knowledge. Events like the Salem witch trials, nazi occupied germany, and isis all believed that information should be censored and heavily practiced anti-intellectualism. That similar illegalization and burning of books in Fahrenheit 451 leads to unhappiness, anti-intellectualism of citizens, and even death to the very people who believed it was better for the population.