Censorship In Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

In this world, society is prohibited to certain aspects. This prohibition limits many individuals views and knowledge about the living world around them. Similarly, in the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, individuals are forbidden to read or own books, resulting in their unsophisticated point of view of their general surroundings and lack of inventiveness in living their own personal lives. This censorship has extraordinarily influenced the characters, who are now confused with their societies ways and the knowledge being instructed to them, as they start to grow interests into what their society tried so hard to abolish. Despite the fact that the characters are manipulated into believing that books promote illogical nonsense, they have

For instance, Montag and other fireman are burning an old lady’s house when a book falls into Montag’s hand: “Montag had done nothing. His hand had done it all, his hand, with a brain of its own, with a conscience and a curiosity in each trembling finger, had turned thief” starting a new and dangerous life (35). With the knowledge that Montag’s hand had stolen the book, it shows how censorship held back or literally stole Montag’s full potential in life. These limitations were created to make peace throughout the society, but it is impossible to limit oneself, as not everyone will be happy, creating more problems than the ones they tried very hard to fix. Moreover, Montag’s hand symbolizes the voice inside of him that finally had a chance to speak out, which is inside everyone in the society, but most are just too afraid to let their true selves out, as they do not know any better, from being censored. Not only has Montag chosen a dangerous way of life, but as a result of this, he becomes suspicious to others in his motives. For example, Beatty has come over to Montag’s to lecture him about their ways of life: “ ‘ At least once in his career, every fireman gets an itch. What do the books say, he wonders. Oh, to scratch that itch, eh?’ ” that he knows that Montag is exploring a life not approved by authorities (59). By Beatty lecturing Montag, the reader can visualize and understand that when the characters become conflicted with their way of life, there is always someone trying to censor them back. In this case, Beatty is censoring Montag symbolizing his devotion to the society's way of life and to Montag as a friend. Montag understands that Beatty’s lecture is a warning, but chooses to ignore it for he knows that his days of wearing a mask of happiness are over. In a word, Montag’s desire to explore a new