“While the books went up in sparkling whirls and blew away on a wind turned dark with burning” (Bradbury, Ray 3). Montag is a fireman that does not put out fires, he starts them. Montag lives in a dystopian society where books are illegal to have and read. Books make people think and question things which can give them opposite sides to choose from which can make people become unhappy and worried.
Throughout the novel, Bradbury shows us that books are powerful communicative tools that open the eyes of individuals to reality by deluding the society as shown through the characters of Faber, Montag and Mildred. Faber whom is a very intellectual professor, guides Montag in having the freedom to think, feel and believe differently. Faber toils to help Montag achieve the freedom to read books and acquire the knowledge he desires. Through the character of Faber, Bradbury demonstrates the censored society they live in as they are being deluded. This potently portrays the theme of censorship that is evident throughout the novel.
Montag doesn’t realize that burning books is bad because he is told that “The happiness boys” is the only element that keeps their world sane. The happiness boys are firefighters that burn, books so the books don’t cause any arguments in their society, so everyone can fill equal. The government is in charge of these firefighters in the same way as the government has power over literature we can and can’t read at
Ray Bradbury utilizes Montag as a character and his reluctance to conform internally to address issues in the society regarding ignorance; Montag does not conform internally by secretly pursuing knowledge and books. The burning of books is performed by firemen as an attempt to shield the people from the knowledge within the books and keep the government in control. By taking away the books, people begin to become ignorant and mindless. Montag conforms outwardly
Montag is a fireman who lives next to young Clarisse, he finds her ways pretty odd but fascinating. Clarisse likes to make Montag think about what is actually going on in society and makes him feel really uncomfortable doing so, but he keeps coming back for more conversation. Montag is in denial about the way the world ‘used’ to be before the burning of books. He sees no value at this point to any of the knowledge that can be gained by books.
Censorship The United States Government is finding new ways to censor citizen’s freedom. Are they taking it too far by removing online content and books that might be considered offensive to the general public. The government should not take away offensive reading content for three reasons. Firstly all citizens should not be limited to what books they are allowed to read considering we have been granted freedom from the government with the first Amendment. Secondly, books are people’s best teachers and provide real life knowledge for kids and adults who are trying to comprehend subjects that we not taught throughout the many years of education.
Throughout this story we watch Montag’s perception of fire mirror his development. We watch Montag evolve from a very ordinary man in his society to the complete opposite. Montag’s job as a fireman shows that he is obviously for book burning. In the beginning of the book Montag expresses his love for his job, he says “It was a great pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed”.
At the beginning of the book we see Montag's obsession of fire and its destruction of books. However, the first burning we are introduced to in the novel changes Montag's point of view. After the incident of the fire Montag questions the burning of books. As the story progresses he learns that fire isn’t always about destruction. That it can be used for many things such as a means of heat and warmth.
While I do believe that we as a people are becoming slaves to technology, we are not yet at the stage of censorship in the novel, Fahrenheit 451. On the other hand, it is possible to see that some in society are becoming less intelligent or less aware of certain events transpiring in the world. Unlike what Bradbury, stated in the video that, "Fahrenheit 451 is actually about the moronic influence of popular culture through local tv news. " That is a very bold statement, but it spans from a very innocent format such as the tv-show, Keeping Up With the Kardashians to a very detrimental piece of news broadcasting such as our very own President's Twitter account. Reality TV Shows, as the aforementioned show keeps the American public dumbed down,
In the beginning of the novel, Montag is a content member of society who follows the rules without question. On a day when Montag is burning books, he thinks to himself, "It's a pleasure to burn" (1). This shows that Montag is content with his job and sees burning books as a normal part of his routine, not questioning the government's reason for doing so.
Ray Bradbury does an excellent job of displaying the dangers of allowing censorship in a large population. The truth is, the world Ray Bradbury describes in Fahrenheit 451 is not to far off from reality, It may seem far fetched to think that society would voluntarily give up their rights and freedoms in pursuit of an “utopia”, but it has already happened. In Germany, during and around the time of the Holocaust, german citizen’s gave up their rights to political opinions and parental stances to make way for Adolf Hitler’s “great plan” to restore Germany to its former greatness and fix its economy. After giving up these rights, they were expected to send their children to “scouts”, organizations of children, founded on and taught the ideals of
These stories explain how disabling the rejection of an idea of such caliber, as books or parenting can be to the individual(s) involved. This is shown in,“Fahrenheit 451.” The world has illegalized the ownership of books. In the name of enforcing this decree, firemen have been repurposed. Now they burn books, and the homes they are stored in.
Firstly Montag’s role as a fireman, tasked to burn books, implies that fire is related to destruction and censorship metaphorically. However, as Montag’s perspective evolves, fire gains a new meaning. He begins to see it as a symbol of resurrection and renewal, This is supported in the novel by the group of individuals who memorized books and seek to preserve knowledge. Through the transformation of fire in this novel, Ray Bradbury shows us that enlightenment and the power of ideas ignite
Imagine what the world would be like with nobody knowing anything! Censorship is something many Americans don’t think about often but in other countries, like North Korea or China think about it everyday. In Fahrenheit 451 we are shown that censorship will lead to society knowing nothing about the world, lies coming from the government, and without voice in society everyone will drown your opinions with their own and no one will ever credit your opinion. While some may say censorship is good when you are trying to protect someone from information they are too immature to know or they don’t even want to know the facts, the value of having a voice is very great because censorship hides what you should know about the government, schools and our peoples jobs.
We all know the saying “children of today are the future of tomorrow”, and that is very true. If we want to keep our society growing in knowledge, technology, and humanity? The children of today are the key and it all starts with books. In the world today censorship is a big deal when it comes to children.
