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Patrick Henry's Use Of Technology In Fahrenheit 451

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Rules exist to keep order. Rules exist to prevent chaos and evil from running rampant in society. Rules, however, can exist to limit the freedoms of the people that are meant to be protected instead. In these cases, do the people have the right to break these restrictions? Author Ray Bradbury, in his post-modern novel Fahrenheit 451, illustrates this idea in the form of a story of a fireman, Guy Montag, who takes a stand against the censorship and oppression of free thought present in the novel’s setting. Using dystopian elements, Bradbury brings to attention the mindless use of technology as well as the decline of meaningful thoughts. In comparison to Bradbury’s literary work, Patrick Henry’s historical speech titled “Speech to the Second …show more content…

The British government was heavily taxing and oppressing the colonists, who were protesting against this unjust practice. By embellishing his speech with allusions and appeals to emotions, Henry conveys his message that urges independence from Great Britain. At the start of the speech, Henry alludes to Greek mythology, asserting that the colonists “are apt to shut [their] eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms [them] into beasts” (Henry 2). The British government represents the sirens, who are mythical beasts that lure sailors into their demise using their enchanting songs. Henry is pushing the colonists to not be fooled by the lies, or the deceptive songs, of the British government that promises peace and cooperation. Yet after all of the previous calls for reform, Britain has ignored the voices of the colonists. If authority assures something previously rejected, one has the right to be skeptical. Henry further mentions a biblical allusion, the story of Judas, when he pleads, “Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed by a kiss” (Henry 3). Judas, one of Jesus’ disciples, kissed Jesus in order to identify who the Roman soldiers should arrest. An act of ultimate betrayal, this treachery leads to the crucifixion and death of Jesus. Like Judas, the British will put up an innocent front yet will be ready to backstab the colonists when they least expect it. Using both of these allusions, classical and biblical, Henry is able to assert his claim that the British government is actually deceiving the colonists and back up his stance on an inevitable revolution. In present-day society, the idea that people have an inalienable right to overthrow their government if the government doesn’t respect the inalienable rights of the people arises from the

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