Banning Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

Books are not just simply words on pages. They hold entire worlds and universes inside of them. The lives of fictional characters they have can change the lives of real people who read their stories. Even if someone doesn’t like to read, there is always one book that person can deeply connect with. If that book is banned where they live, they won’t ever get to experience that life changing moment unless they leave their country or state. One of these books is Fahrenheit 451, an award-winning, classic dystopian novel, written by Ray Bradbury. This book has been banned, censored and expurgated in several schools throughout the United States. However, Fahrenheit 451 should not be banned because it shows just how important books are in the world.

In Fahrenheit 451, there is mention of being drunk, references to the Bible, using God’s name in vain, violence, smoking cigarettes, and use of a few swear words. Most of these things cause problems relating to religion. Some religious people, specifically people who believe in the Bible, that read this book believe that burning the Bible is offensive and anti-religious. It could also be offensive for people who don’t believe in the Bible, due to the citations from Ecclesiastes and Revelation. “What else? Something, something…. And on either side of the river was there a tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month; And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (Bradbury 158). The italicized part is Revelation 22:2 from the Bible. Because of this and other references to religion and the Bible, the book was banned. Another thing that causes people to be offended and wanting the book to be banned is the use of a few swear words, such as d*mn and h*ll. Most teenagers that read Fahrenheit 451 are not bothered by the content, but instead it’s the parents that don’t like the

They don’t like the language and some of the content. The parents, and even the government of some places, don’t want their children and future generations to read the book and think that rebelling against the society and triggering a war is okay. However, sheltering kids from these types of things are not good, and will usually have the opposite effect. They should be exposed to it so they can see how it usually ends, and can learn how to avoid things like the events in Fahrenheit 451. In addition, going back to the first paragraph, this book could change someone’s life. “‘There must be something in books, things we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing” (Bradbury 48). In the book, a woman is caught with books and her house gets burned down but she refuses to live on without her books. That shows that books can change lives and have very important and impactful messages in them. Even if someone isn’t extremely fond of books and reading, there is always a book or book series that the person can deeply connect with. Fahrenheit 451 could very easily be one of those books. It would be even easier for a person who’s already in love with books to connect with the book and with Montag. With Fahrenheit 451 being banned, that would possibly take away someone’s life changing