Fahrenheit 451 Censorship Essay

544 Words3 Pages

In Montag’s society, books are burned. The government just wants the citizens to be happy. Censorship was introduced to end controversy, tension, and rebellion, which is ironic since all three of these things happen towards the end of the book. Clarisse asks Montag an eye-opening question through the use of irony. The irony is that firemen are supposed to extinguish the fire, but in Montag’s society they start them. This supports the fact that censorship in a society creates tension because Clarisse is asking a question Montag does not know the answer to which bothers Montag. He even mentions it to his boss, Beatty, to comprehend censorship, but gets shut down. Censorship is causing Montag to feel suspicious about his society. The symbolism is within the sand and the sieve. When Montag was a child, he was challenged to fill a sieve, which has holes at the bottom, with sand. Naturally, it was impossible because the sand would just flow out the bottom of it quickly. Montag has this flashback because he relates to the feeling of not being able to do the impossible. He is trying to read the Bible while an ad for Denham's Dentifrice is on repeat which causes difficulties because the jingle is trying to make Montag stop reading. The idea of having censorship causes tension because Montag is feeling stress of not being able to finish reading. …show more content…

According to the legend, Hercules was trying to get apples, when he had to challenge Antaeus to a wrestling match. Hercules kept hurting Antaeus, which was only making Antaeus stronger. Then, Hercules used his knowledge and lifted Antaeus off the ground where his power drained away. Censorship causes Montag to feel confined because he wants to learn and have knowledge like Hercules had, but