Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

Throughout history, oppressive regimes have sought to burn individual freedom to the ground by controlling information. Ray Bradbury’s ‘ relentless 451’ takes this reality to a terrifying extreme, where firemen ignite flames instead of extinguishing them, and the written word is considered a dangerous weapon. Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian speculative fiction novel following Guy Montag, a fireman and enforcer of the regime. The story follows Montag’s internal conflict as his interactions with several characters directly challenge his worldview and lead him to find the missing piece of his life in the books that he burns. I believe that the narrative uses Montag’s transformation to highlight the conflict between government control and individual

Throughout history, freedom has been restricted by governments by limiting knowledge and exercising control over the population. However, with authoritarian governments, there will also be individuals who will fight for their freedom by seeking knowledge. Two amazing examples of such people are Socrates and Galileo Galilei, with Socrates being sentenced to death by the government of Athens for promoting critical thinking and standing up to authority, and Galileo being persecuted by the Catholic Church for supporting heliocentrism, opposing the Catholic-endorsed geocentric view. Both were, by definition (see above), not free, and chose to seek knowledge and challenge authority to reclaim their freedom. The similarities between these figures and Montag show us the struggle between freedom and control, and how Montag’s story reflects it. In addition, the following quotes show the connection between control and knowledge: "Remember, the firemen are rarely necessary." The public itself stopped reading of its own accord." — (Faber, Page 100), "We have everything we need to be happy, but we aren’t happy." Something’s missing. I looked around and

Also, there are many real-life examples of people paralleling Montag in oppressive settings similar to Fahrenheit 451, showing a similar conflict of freedom vs. authority. Furthermore, Montag’s journey from a fireman to a seeker of knowledge who rebelled against the government highlights the stark contrast between government control and individual freedom. Firstly, Montag starts his transformation as a fireman, enforcer of the regime. “We must all be alike.” “A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it,” and “Who knows who might be the target of the well-read man?” - (Beatty to Montag after he starts questioning his role as a fireman, Page 73). The previous quotes effectively epitomize the belief system of firemen, society, and Montag at the time. However, the following quotes suggest Montag started not only questioning, but even opposing the ideology: "He wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run off across the lawn with the mask and there was no way of going to knock on her door and ask for it