Fahrenheit 451 Censorship Quotes

Censoring Knowledge Censorship, in a crumbling world, does not act as glue; but rather, as a hammer. All throughout Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451, examples of censorship are seen. In his made-up dystopian society the “more powerful” characters use censorship to cover up anything that is seen as risky or “inappropriate”. In this novel the largest group of censored objects are the books. Books could change one’s view entirely. So, to stop rebellion in a controlled world, get rid of those risky objects, right? Does this not encourage rebellion, though? Censorship is destructive, not resourceful in a society like this one. A child, who is given a key, put in front of a locked door, and told not to enter will almost always open the door.

Don't step on the toes of the dog lovers, the cat lovers, doctors, lawyers, merchants, chiefs, Mormons, Baptists, Unitarians, second-generation Chinese, Swedes, Italians, Germans, Texans, Brooklynites, Irishmen, people from Oregon or Mexico. The people in this book, this play, this TV serial are not meant to represent any actual painters, cartographers, mechanics anywhere. The bigger your market, Montag, the less you handle controversy, remember that!”(57) Captain Beatty is expressing his views on censorship. He claims that censoring these books is what keeps everyone happy and unoffended. The travelers in the woods were offended by censorship, though, so there is really no way to prevent anger or hurt from happening it is simply a part of life. This censorship is hurting everyone because no one can talk about anything. It is more important to talk about why or what something is, over just talking about something. This way one can improve and grow instead of steadily go. Bradbury states that, “Is it because we’re having so much fun at home we’ve forgotten the world? Is it because we’re so rich and the rest of the world is so poor and we just don’t care if they are? I’ve heard rumors; the world is starving but we’re well fed,” (132). Bradbury’s purpose in this statement is to show what censorship does to people. The citizens don’t even realize what is going on outside of their little community.