Censorship In Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

963 Words4 Pages

Does censorship violate freedom of speech? Well, even though the First Amendment guarantees the right to free speech and press in America, there are a few exceptions. The government can control many aspects of our lives. One piece that they are able to control is censorship, which there are many different types of. In the book, Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury illustrates how censorship causes people to be controlled by the government and does not let individuals have their own opinions; many of his predictions have proven to be true in recent years. In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury shows that he does not support censorship and that there are many negative effects. In the book, Professor Faber, who is the main character’s friend and teacher, says to him, “‘So now do you see why books are hated and feared? They show the pores in the face of life. The comfortable people want only wax moon faces, poreless, hairless, expressionless’” (Bradbury 79). This quote explains why the government in this story censors topics …show more content…

Elizabeth Purdy researched the difference between protected and unprotected speech and found this quote from a former justice: “Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. offered the classic example of the line between protected and unprotected speech in Schenck when he observed that shouting “Fire!” in a theater where there is none is not protected speech. Categories of unprotected speech also include: libel and slander, “fighting words,” obscenity, and sedition” (Purdy). In this article, the author discusses different types of censorship. She also mentions that some types of speech are protected by the First Amendment, while other types are not. She got this information from Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., who lived in the late 1800s and early 1900s. He said that some speech is free speech, but other types of speech are not allowed to be freely talked about or