Why Is Fahrenheit 451 Be Banned

The 1950s was a time of booming everything, from new technology, to never ending wars, the 50s had it all, and it was a time where man became more aware. However, in also be-coming more aware, the nation became a recluse towards one another, always being stuck up against a television screen, ignoring their family and not acknowledging the wars that were hap-pening around them, people started to become the same. The novel Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury, is about a dystopian society that has banned books, the novel follows around a firefighter, who burns books, named Guy Montag, who begins to ponder on the idea that books are not pointless but resourceful. The author Ray Bradbury uses the novel to depict a nation blinded by technology,

Ray Bradbury created the novel Fahrenheit 451 as a way to admonish future generations against social and economic trends that would emerge during the twentieth century.

Beatty disliked books. In the book Beatty says”Well, Montag, take my word for it, I’ve read a few in my time, to know what I was about, and books say nothing!” This proves he thinks they are worthless and meaningless. Beatty also says in the book,"What traitors books can be! You think they’re backing you up, and then they turn on you. Others can use them, too, and there you are, lost in the middle of the moor, in a great welter of nouns and verbs and adjectives."

Knowledge is power. Granger and Faber do not need authority to feel empowered, their knowledge is enough . Beatty on the other hand, seeks power in ways of authority. He is not willing to surrender power at any cost. Even when Montag points a gun at his face he says, “Go ahead now, you second-hand litterateur, pull the trigger.” (Bradbury 113). He shows no concern that he may or may not get shot within moments. All thinking is done for society. “Hard work” is foreign to them. Montag’s wife Mildred has one job; agree. The very last things she does every night is not kissing her husband, but falling asleep with seashells in her ears. There is no time to decompress, think about the day, or learn from mistakes made. Taking away that crucial time is hurting society enough, but completely eliminating books is absurd. Bradbury fears that American culture will no longer think for themselves and that their brains will never surpass a certain level of knowledge. There is no desire to learn, think out of the box, or create new ideas. In fact, anyone who attempts any of these actions is thought to be a glitch in the system. Beatty says, “Queer ones like her don’t happen often. We know how to nip them in the

Fahrenheit 451 is a book that uses a lot of imagery in order to convey its message written by Ray Bradbury an American author and screenwriter who let himself through his imagination. Theis novel book is set in a futuristice American society where people are not allowed to read books. The story revolves around the main character, Montag, a fireman whose job it is to burn books, and the people that he meets and experiences that challenges him to his societaly beliefs. Fire is one image that is used as something that represents distraction. Sad,unhappy and not adventurous are a way to describe Montag.

Finally, throughout the novel Bradbury presents a conflict between ignorance and understanding. The general society is being numbed into believing that knowledge makes people disagree with each other and unhappy. To prevent people from reading and gaining knowledge, the firemen burn all books. By committing these actions, they are promoting sameness and ignorance, to supposedly maintain happiness among society. Captain Beatty explains the history of firemen to Montag, speaking of their society’s view of equality. “We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal, as the constitution says, but everyone made equal . . . A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon. Breach man’s mind.” (Bradbury, page 58) Captain Beatty is hinting that books encourage people to question authority and think about why things are done the way they are

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel published in 1950. The novel takes place in the futuristic American society where technology dominates in people’s lives. This is an era of prosperous technological advances, but people’s life quality is bad. The people live their life without knowledge, wisdom, and self-awareness. People are not critical because all books are banned, and illegal. The people think the same thing and they look alike also. The government uses propaganda to manipulate the people. Fear is the effective method the government uses to control them.

Fahrenheit 451 was published in 1953 by Ray Bradbury in the US. His book is set in a dystopian society where books are illegal and and thinking is restricted. Instead of firemen putting out fires, they start them.. Bradbury’s famous book has been mainly challenged by middle schools and high schools. While Fahrenheit 451 maybe the most controversial novel in the 20th century, it holds the award as being one of the most notable banned books in history. No other book has been written like this so mysterious and real. The idea of how books are banned doesn’t really matter to most people. While Fahrenheit 451 might include some vulgar language and profanity, it shares ideas that can help young people.

Before Captain Beatty was killed, he was taunting Montag while Montag was holding a flamethrower, but did not have anything to defend himself with. Beatty knew Montag would kill him if he kept taunting Montag, so he kept on until it finally happened. Throughout the novel, Beatty seemed to be the bad guy who represented the evil side of society, but this reveals otherwise. Montag was doing what Beatty could not by defying society’s law against books. When Montag burned his own house down, that seemed to put Captain Beatty over the edge and accept the fact that Beatty was a coward who executed actions that he did not agree with. An additional important character in the novel is Professor Faber. Faber serves as a mentor to Montag in the book. He does not agree with the established rules of society, yet never personally takes action throughout the book. He describes this lifestyle in a conversation with Montag: “I’m one of the innocents who could have spoken up and out when no one would listen to the ‘guilty,’ but I did not speak and thus became guilty myself” (Bradbury 78). Faber looks back with regret on his earlier life when the ban on books began. He did not want to take action due to the fear that persecution would fall upon himself. Those experiences are what make Faber a good mentor to Montag; Faber has learned from them and is glad that Montag is not scared to do what Faber could not.

“Are you crazy? Fahrenheit 451 should not be banned! This is an astonishing novel, written by the ingenious author, Ray Bradbury. He is the one who wrote the novel with so many beneficial, underlying messages, which happen to be true about our lives and even more so about our society. It offers so much more than what you think”, I disagreed as I interjected the outraged crowd of opinionated individuals, who protested outside of the Wheatfield Public Library. As most in this community can tell, the banning of Fahrenheit 451 has caused a tremendous outbreak within the people, and it has caused for everyone to either choose to encourage the banning of Fahrenheit 451 or to oppose it. As a definite result, I am against the banning of Fahrenheit 451, and it is not just for pity reasons. I am opposing the banning for so much more than that. My first reason to oppose the banning is that so many people think the theme of this book is about rebelling, which this is not the case. Instead, the theme is about having the courage to make a drastic change within yourself and society because you solely believe it is right no matter what the consequences are. Even from the quotes you find within the book, you can tell the progress that Montag makes towards change, and from those quotes are not signs of destruction. It is signs of self-assessment and coming to reality to admit he needs to make the transformation in his life for the better of him and those of his society. From this underlying

“‘What is there about fire that’s so lovely? No matter what age we are, what draws us to it?’ Beatty blew out the flame and lit it again’” (Bradbury 109). This shows why people are okay with book burning since they enjoy seeing the fire and cannot see it another time.

When Fahrenheit 451 was written it was warning American society about many different things one main thing it was warning us about is censorship. Fahrenheit 451 is a book based on how society tried to censor everything they did from having only specific TV programs to no books allowed, if you were to have a book then you were punished. Fahrenheit 451 can still be used today to help American society, it shows you the world with censorship and how it would be like with no books and how clueless people are without books.

"It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed" (Bradbury 1). The book introduces a world of censorship and technology and the dangers they present. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury was written originally as a short story titled, The Firemen and was published by Galaxy Science Fiction in 1950; he later expanded the story into a novel published in 1953. Ray Bradbury wrote the novel Fahrenheit 451 about censorship and conformity and is still important today because it shows what society is like in a world with little freedom which is illustrated by his choice to include a variety of literary techniques to help the reader grasp the novel's true meaning.

In 1953, American author and screenwriter, Ray Bradbury, in his novel, Fahrenheit 451, utilizes a dramatic and depressing tone alerting the effects of social issues in a dystopian society, such as order and identity in the world. During the 1950's new technological advances were being created that helped alter the world such as the first ever commercial computer or television. Bradbury's purpose in this novel was to prevent what was to come in the future with the minds of human minds be consumed by new toys and gadgets. With this book Bradbury wanted to change his audience's perspective on the way they perceive books and the social outcome it can have. He implements many Biblical allusions, paradoxes, and imagery to help develop his major themes that factor what is happening in society.

Captain Beatty explains to Montag about how books came to be banned. “It didn't come from the Government down. There was no dictum, no declaration, no censorship, to start with, no! Technology, mass exploitation, and minority pressure carried the trick, thank God. Today, thanks to them, you can stay happy all the time.” (Page 57) The government used the disinterest in books as an advantage, to control the country. If they want someone who is running for office, they play up the person; if not then they play him or her down. It is brainwashing, the people have no clue what happens to their money when they pay taxes or anything else about the world. They don’t care to know, and why should they? Everyone is perfectly happy. Happy is boring. We need to know what goes on in the world, and to document it and to fix it. That way we don’t make the same mistakes. He uses the theme censorship to warn that we’d forget and make the same mistakes over and over again and to show how the government can make you think whatever they want you to think by not being knowledgeable.