Assess The Role Of Government Censorship In Fahrenheit 451

In the story Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag is ignorant and has been hypnotized by his government. His government censored his country’s past. Fahrenheit 451 is about a dystopian society where reading books or being in the possession of literature is illegal. In our society firemen put out fires and save people in danger. In the world of Fahrenheit 451 firemen burn the illegal books and leave people to burn if they possessed books. The main character, Guy Montag, is a fireman but he begins to wonder about the books and this leads him into trouble. In the novel Fahrenheit 451, author Ray Bradbury pinpoints the idea that the government’s censorship leads to the people's ignorance; this becomes clear to readers when Montag became interested in books

Clarisse asks Montag if he reads the books before he burns them: “ ‘Do you ever read any of the books you burn?’ He laughed. ‘That’s against the law,’ ”(8). Readers learn that all books are illegal in their society and they learn that at this point in the book Montag doesn’t read books either. Ray Bradbury is trying to foreshadow Montag's change of heart when it comes to reading/keeping books. He is trying to lead the readers to the conclusion of Montag getting influenced by Clarisse’s wonder. Later on in the novel, Montag and his crew is on their way to an old woman’s house. She has many books and the crew finds them.They douse them in kerosene, ready to light, yet the woman decides to stay in the house with her books “I want to stay here,” (39). This quote shows the lengths that the firemen would go to keep their world censored from their past. The old woman kept and read many books even though all are illegal so the crew was forced to burn her with the books. They gave her the choice but she didn’t take it. That didn’t stop the firemen from burning the books. Bradbury is trying to reveal that this is the moment that Montag is realizing what he has done and begins to wonder if it should be illegal to read books. The burning of the books was a efficient way of keeping the people ignorant of their

Clarisse asked Montag if “Is it true that long ago firemen put out fires instead of going to start them,” (8). Readers learn that Clarisse has questions, about the past for Montag, that he cannot answer truthfully. The author is trying to reveal the ignorance of the people in the dystopian society of Fahrenheit 451. Later on in the novel, jets flew over the firehouse while Montag and his crew were there, “The firehouse trembled as a great flight of jet planes whistled a single note across the black morning sky,” (33). Readers are taught that they are going to war and the characters don’t even realize it. The author is trying to reveal the fact that they are going to go to war and the people of this society are clueless. This novel really shows the characters ignorance and how important it is to have a well informed