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Role Of Rebellion In Fahrenheit 451

Decent Essays

Christina Martyniouk
Dr. C. Koulouris
Sophomore Accelerated English
4 December, 2015
When is rebellion a necessary response?
Rebellion can be an act of violence or resistance of formal rule. It is recognized through written letters, such as Martin Luther King Junior’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, or books like “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury. Rebellion is a necessary response when there are heinous acts being expound in a tyranny. People don’t conform to society when they refuse to go along with the status quo. Rebelling against their societies status quo means there may be social structural issues as well as political ones. Independence is a desired outcome when a form of rebellion occurs, which is why many people create a rebellious …show more content…

The tyranny of the majority is referring to the higher authority in this dystopian society. Books are not to be read or even talked about, this immutable regulation only leads to the populace feeling it be necessary to rebel. This is a cruel and oppressive rule created by their government, and it generates a lack of legitimacy. This action of burning books causes people of the society to rebel. They don’t understand why such cruel actions ensue. This train of thought leads to stealing, hiding, even dying for their precious books. 3Tyranny is as well mentioned in Martin Luther King Junior’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, "I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever." The ‘gauntlet’ King is referring to, is the intimidating and frightening action of segregation, the message conveys to the tyranny of the narcissistic …show more content…

Montag was tired of the status quo and chose to rebel, which was a necessary act in order to save himself. "'I feel alive for the first time in years,' said Faber. 'I feel I'm doing what I should've done a lifetime ago. For a little while I'm not afraid. Maybe it's because I'm doing the right thing at last (131).” In this chapter Montag finally prevails and escapes the city, he was tired of conforming to the society’s standards. He realized, reading books is not a bad thing, in fact the opposite. Status quo does not always have to be maintained or kept constant. If someone does not believe that a society should be run that way, then they may rebel.4In “Civil Disobedience and Deliberative Democracy”, William Smith says “At the same time, this duty of democratic decisions may be overridden by the good of expressing opposition to the status quo through civil disobedience (Civil Disobedience and Deliberative Democracy). When someone takes action about an opinionated structure, like a status quo, they are following an act of civil disobedience, by overcoming injustice

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