Hunter Owens
Mrs. Hartlove
English 8
28 April, 2023
Fahrenheit 451 Essay Harry Truman once said, “Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.” Fahrenheit 451 is a thrilling dystopian novel written by Ray Bradbury. Protagonist, Guy Montag, is a devout fireman, burns books, in the midst of a raging war. He meets Clarisse McClellan, a rambunctious seventeen year-old, and she opens his eyes to society’s evils. Montag starts stealing books, and contacts Faber, a retired English professor, in hopes of printing more books, but is reported by his wife, Mildred. Montag saves his books, and burns Beatty, the fire chief, and memorable antagonist. Finally, the city is destroyed by the people of the war. Montag escapes the city and meets other bookkeepers, and they leave the destroyed city in pursuit of attempting to rebuild society. Censorship is a means of control. First and foremost, the government censors all books, and orders their destruction. According to the text, “It was a pleasure to burn.” (Bradbury 1). This
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According to the text, “Cram them full of noncombustible data, chock them so damned full of ‘facts’ they feel stuffed, but absolutely ‘brilliant’ with information. Then they’ll feel they’re thinking, they’ll get a sense of motion without moving. And they’ll be happy, because facts of that sort don’t change. Don’t give them any slippery stuff like philosophy or sociology to tie things up with.” (Bradbury) This explains how the government falsely convinced the citizens that they were “brilliant,” and limited how much they could actually know. In this society, it is shunned to be unique, and illegal to be