Telling The Truth In Fahrenheit 451

As I stretch my arms up towards the slate grey ceiling I hear cars zooming by.

I believe that the theme of the story is that you should fight for what’s right. Montag didn’t know anything about books but he burned them because that’s what he was told to do. Once he started reading them he knew what he was doing was wrong. He wouldn’t stop reading because that’s what he loved, even if it cost him his life. He escaped and ‘destroyed’ his life to read. On page 178 it says, “Some of us have had plastic surgery on our faces and fingerprints. Right now we have a horrible job; we’re waiting for the war to begin, and, as quickly, end.” The men who Montag met at the railroad tell him how much they have had to go through just to read, but in the end it is worth it.

The last way Ray Bradbury proved in that it is better to know the truth about your life than live in ignorance in Fahrenheit 451 is how after Montag got a purpose in his live it opened his eyes to a different world and showed him his old life was a lie. He actually started to be happy opposed to just thinking he was happy while living in ignorance. The first time you realize that Montag started off living in ignorance is after he is asked if he is happy he laughs and says “Happy! Of all the nonsense, He stopped laughing. (10)” This quote shows that Montag had thought he was happy but actually shows that he was just happy in ignorance. After Montag learns the truth about his life it opens his eyes to a new world of literature. Montag’s lack of knowledge about books is demonstrated when he is talking to Faber on page 85 and says “Are things like that in books? But it came off the top of my mind.” This is significant because it shows that Montag is

At first, Montag has a strong dislike for books and doesn’t mind destroying knowledge, but over the course of the book, his dislike changes into a love for knowledge and books. Later, he finds the true meaning of books and how important they are to our world. The quote sets

In the novel, Ray Bradbury illustrates the idea that censorship makes you eager to learn through facts. Montag realizes that “He was not happy. ”(13)This is because he was now knowledgeable of something that was hidden from him. He thought that he knew something, even the fact that he was happy, but the fact that he had no control over things that he knew, was hidden from him. Montag was hidden from the fact that, “our civilization is flinging itself to pieces.”

Oh, to scratch that itch, eh? Well, Montag, take my word for it, I’ve had to read a few in my time, to know what I was about, and the books say nothing! Nothing you can teach or believe. … You come away lost.’” (Bradbury 59) He explains that the words in books do not seem to be of any value, and that reading them gives the reader not a speck of insight into any aspect of life. In this society, his words ring true for almost everyone, except those who managed to learn before the schools shut down and those who yearned to understand what books say. Furthermore, Beatty’s attempts to force Montag into the mold of this society pushes the man to search for wisdom in the depths of literature.

Bradbury shares this message through Clarisse, a seventeen year old girl who does not surround herself with hypnotizing technology unlike the others. An observation, she makes during school is, “we never ask questions, or at least most don't; they just run the answers at you” (Bradbury, 27). Through her perspective, it is seen that not questioning is a value they instill from a young age. Her ability to question is crucial to the plot since it is one of the main reasons behind Montag’s change. As she shares observations with Montag, she slowly begins to broaden his perspective. If Montag did not question the workings of the government, he would have died along with the others in the explosion. It is by questioning the normalcy that Montag was able to

Have you ever felt that you’ve hurt someone by accident when you are having the time of your life? Bradbury gives us many examples of this in his book Fahrenheit 451. The meaning of the book is that too much entertainment is not good.

and it confuses him because "’There must be something in books… to make a woman stay in a burning house” for “you don't stay for nothing" (Bradbury 48). The fact that someone would die for their books baffles Montag, and this urges his curiosity to want an explanation for why. His “freedom” has always been to burn the books and never to read them, but if these people were free, they should be able to think. These people should be allowed to interpret things rather than be misguided by that fact that books hold nothing

And maybe if I talk long enough it'll make sense. And I want you to teach me to understand what I read. " This quote told us a lot about Montag and how he feel at this point in the book because he is very frustrated with himself because nobody cares and don’t even think about what he says. This quote greatly connects with the book because this is when he realizes that everyone is very ignorant, and don’t see everything in a different perspective. To conclude how knowledge was one of the main themes, the whole society is very ignorant to do anything, and do not understand why he is saying this to

They sit together for an hour, at the park when Montag sees Faber put something in his jacket. During his conversation with Montag he says, “I don't talk things, sir, said Faber. I talk the meaning of things. I sit here and know I’m alive” (Bradbury 70). This incident made such an impact on Montag because he is lonely and isolated in his world. He does not have a loving, warm relationship with his wife. Until Clarisse, Montag has no one with whom to share his thoughts and concerns with. Since Faber offered him that, he goes to Faber’s house when he is under so much stress about what to do with the books. Montag’s interactions with outside forces such as his job, his conversation with Clarisse, and his past encounter with Faber contribute to his change for the better and the worse and aid in developing the theme that uncensored knowledge is stronger than an oppressive

The author Bradbury puts a negative view on objects and techniques the book society uses to escape from their problems. In the society Bradbury creates a character Mildred who constantly watches tv to avoid thinking and refers “that’s my family” (Bradbury 46) to the tv. While escaping from one’s problem causes temporary relief from stress and worries Bradbury has it lead to big problems. That doesn’t seem like a huge problem referring objects, such as a television, to family but it means that one care most about that object and will spend her free time with one’s television. Throughout the book Mildred has no way of expressing emotions or feelings to her husband or friends. Mildred and the rest of the society goes through their lives like a robot. The society

A group of six rabid metal hounds ran with full speed straight towards Montag and his fellow hobos. One mechanical hound grabbed a hobo with its robust sharp teeth and flung him to the other side of the river.

Imagine that people in a society lead a life where they do not have to make any decisions; they are all made for them. Sounds pretty awful, right? The ability to make one’s own decisions in life is how people find happiness in their lives. In Ray Bradbury’s book Fahrenheit 451, the people living in this society are numb and do not have to make any big decisions. Knowledge is forbidden, since it is seen as a dangerous thing that may lead to too many questions from the people. There are three major components to happiness: having a loving and non-overbearing family, having the freedom to make big life decisions, and having the freedom to express oneself. The people living in Bradbury’s fantasy society are far from happiness.

The classic novel, Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury and the contemporary young adult novel, We Were Liars, by E. Lockhart are very different in genre, writing style, and publication date but share multiple themes of which I am going to focus on but three. But first: a summary of We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, because it's far less known then its counterpart.