Fahrenheit 451 Should Be Banned In Schools

1002 Words5 Pages

In the 21st century, many books are challenged and banned for their content, some of these include The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Animal Farm, and Fahrenheit 451. Many of the reasons given for banning are the same. The reasons include violence, language, symbols, and religion. This makes it very difficult for educational professionals; which books should be taught and which ones should be banned, when does protection become unnecessary censorship? Although Fahrenheit 451 shows some dark themes such as banning books, disregard for human life, and suicide, it should be included in the school curriculum because it shows the dystopian future that awaits the world if the events in the book become a reality. The first point that needs to be addressed is the fact that the book makes people think. In the book firemen are the government censors and they burn any and all books. This makes the people in the story fear both books and opposing the government. As a result, …show more content…

This is a valid point, Ray Bradbury used 'hell' 16 times and 'damn' 37 times. It may appear that this book needs to be shielded from young eyes. However, these words are nothing new to the young audience. Stephen Wessler's "Sticks and Stones" addresses this in a efficient manner. He writes, "But all young people today hear hateful words, slurs, and words of violence every day as the background noise of their lives. They hear them at the movies, on television, from radio shock jocks, and on their CDs" (Wessler 29). Although there are some mild profanities in the book, this is not a sufficient reason to ban this influential piece of literature. This is because the vast majority of the students reading Fahrenheit 451 have already been exposed to these words. Therefore, it would be pointless to censor this book for profanity because students have already been exposed to similar or worse