Fahrenheit 451 Knowledge Essay

What truths and knowledge does the government conceal and suppress from the world? Knowledge is portrayed as a sin and a crime in the novel Fahrenheit 451; however, our 21st century world values knowledge above all. The novel Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury, is a story following a firefighter named Guy Montag. He encounters numerous hardships as he slowly introduces himself and others to the concept of knowledge. Ray Bradbury depicts many perspectives of knowledge that can be seen through three major characters; Montag, who embraces knowledge and strives to understand it, Mildred, who rejects knowledge as she leaves her world behind–and Beatty, someone who simply cannot understand the truth due to his conformity to government ideologies.

Nearing the end of the story, during Montag’s escape for freedom, he is hunted and tackled down. “He felt his scrabble and seize his leg and stab the needle in for a moment before the fire snapped the Hound up in the air…” (Bradbury 114) Despite the incredible strength of the Hound, Montag was able to fight it off thanks to the flamethrower he had been given. Following this scene of the story, Montag manages to flee despite his now destroyed leg, as the Hound had injected or poisoned his leg. This depicts how determined and motivated Montag is to share and pursue his dreams. As he escapes, we can clearly see how clever he is as the story continues to progress. Arriving at Faber’s, Montag was able to converse and discuss his future plans with him. Before leaving, Montag says, “When I leave, burn the spread of this bed, that I touched… With any luck at all, we can kill the trail in here, anyway.” (129) This scene demonstrated not only how concerned Montag was for Faber’s safety, but also how determined he was to spread the gift of knowledge. He still remained injured as he ran to visit Faber, but he most likely knew that this visit would give him confirmation that he was still alive. After finishing, he made sure Faber destroyed everything that had his

As Montag talks to Faber, he mentions how things are going with Mildred at home. “‘Only the ‘family’ is ‘people.’’‘I beg your pardon?’ ‘My wife says books aren’t ‘real.’” (80) Disappointedly, Montag conveys how Mildred believes books aren’t real, and when she mentions ‘real,’ she means that books provide nothing useful nor liable. In all, Mildred’s words demonstrate how she’s succumbed to society’s standards and entirely rejects Montag’s offering of knowledge, only focusing on digital pleasure rather than the nature of the world. Later on after returning home, he is encountered by Mildred’s friends. Montag then begins to recite poems, in which Mildred strongly opposes, advising him to stop. Shortly after, “He searched the house and found the books where Mildred had stacked them. Some were missing and he knew that she had started on her own slow process of dispersing the dynamite in her house, stick by stick.” (Bradbury 98) This quote proves that Mildred had hidden Montag’s books without consent, most likely due to the fact that she wants nothing to do with books. He calls the books ‘dynamite’, which could refer to them being bombs that could possibly ruin his life. Mildred had mindlessly hidden these books in places that can be found by the fire department, the fire being the ignition. Mildred’s actions