The ignorant people in the society do not seek anything meaningful in their lives, which results in emptiness within their heart. Suppression of truth or knowledge makes life empty and when life is hollow and empty there is no point in living.
Guy Montag stood to the side of the burning house, watching thick, black smoke billow out from the windows and cracks of the house. He caught a glimpse of a stack of books burning and taking the knowledge contained within up in the flames. Guy did not know why he was commanded to burn the “forbidden” books, just that he mustn’t question those who told him to do so. Guy waited patiently until the fire burned down, and then proceeded to board his truck and leave the scene. He looked out his rear-view mirror at the remains of the blackened house, somewhere within there lie that stack of books, now nothing more than ashes.
Knowledge and Ignorance in Fahrenheit 451 Imagine a society where all books are banned from the public and if any are found they are burned into ashes. This is a reality in the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, which delves deep into problems a society becoming more and more dependant on technology may face. In Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury shows many problems which range from technology to violence, one important topic that is discussed is knowledge and the theme that a society cannot function without knowledge You can clearly see this idea starting to form within the first few pages of the novel, when the protagonist Guy Montag has an interaction with a girl named Clarisse. As they are talking Guy Montag says “You think too many things”(pg 9).
Bradbury displays ignorance vs. knowledge by revealing Beatty's true colors and having him describe how its better for the people to be happy and unknowing than unhappy and knowing. As the antagonist, Beatty, meets with Montag, he speaks about ignorance vs. knowledge to montag in a direct way. Beatty articulates about it in the following manner: “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” (Bradbury 60).
Is ignorance bliss, or do knowledge and learning provide true happiness? The book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury depicts a dystopian society, the main character in the novel Guy Montag is a fireman, in his society books have been banned by the government in fear of independent-thinking by their citizen. Montag starts to question the government and whether the government 's motives behind books are just. In the story Fahrenheit 451 the main character, Montag is constantly questioning his decisions, ideas, and what is wrong and what is right. In Fahrenheit 451 Montag 's encounters, the parlor walls, books, and people whom he meets reveal the idea that knowledge leads to happiness and that, with ignorance, you only wear a mask of happiness.
The Dark Side of Ignorance in Fahrenheit 451 The question, can a perfect world ever exist, arises innumerable times throughout Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451. Along with being a degree at which paper burns, the number 451 also represents the stripping away of freedom and the loss of individuality. Portrayed in a society in which everything is the opposite of what we believe today, the symbolic devices water, fire, and the phoenix, are used to represent a seemingly perfect society that is in fact imperfect. This Utopian society, dressed up as Utopia, relies on the ignorance of its citizens and their unwillingness to seek knowledge.
In the story, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, it states, “The woman's hand twitched on the single matchstick. The fumes of kerosene bloomed up [on] her. Montag felt the hidden book pound like a heart against his chest. " Go on," said the woman, and Montag felt himself back away and away out of the door, after Beatty, down the steps, across the lawn, where the path of kerosene lay like the track of some evil snail. On the front porch where she had come to weigh them quietly with her eyes, her quietness a condemnation, the woman stood motionless.
Bombs, guns, suicides, homicides, and murders won’t destroy a society, ignorance will. Guy Montag lives in a technology filled dystopian future where they burn books and knowledge. As one of the book burning fireman Montag starts to question his beliefs and how everyone act the same. He ends up stealing books and killing his old friend and runs away into the woods, just before his old world gets bombed. In the novel Fahrenheit 451 author Ray Bradbury exposes the idea that ignorance and lack of knowledge lead to violence and destruction; this becomes clear when burning of books start a war and end up destroying the civilization without the people even realizing.
“The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance,” -Socrates. In Fahrenheit 451, Montag enjoys to burn books, but after meeting a girl, Clarisse, who loves book, he begins to question whether burning books is the right thing to do. He learns more about his society is actually doing and decides to stop people from burning books. By exploring Montag’s obedience to society, questioning authority, and outward rebellion we can see how this demonstrates how Montag changes as a result of his conflict within his dystopian society as it connects to Knowledge vs. Ignorance.
How Powerful is Knowledge? As once said by Francis Bacon, “knowledge is power”. In Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, Montag finds out the power that comes with knowledge. Montag receives knowledge, which causes him to question everything he knows, from his happiness to everyone around him. He realizes that virtually the entire population is ignorant and just think that books are a kind of poison.
In Ray Bradbury's book he showed a world without proper education Dr. Gai mentions “education is the backbone of any nation.”(Gai Chol Paul) This means that because the United States in Fahrenheit 451 (Bradbury) did not have a proper education they were never able to understand the People need to learn so they can work to fix problems that have occurred. Ignorance leads people to fear differences. In the poem “Don't Go
The principles of reading has changed when a new time where there is no reading. repeats itself and no one is noticing or wondering why the world is the way it is the world where Guy Montag . History is an import thing to learn. Ignorance is the key to being able to control someone or something. Guy Montag starts to realize a problem.
Ignorance is bliss has always been a controversial statement. Ignorance not only stops an understanding of certain elements of life, but allows one to overlook the harsh realities of the world, allowing room for more happiness. Over time, ignorance can be replaced with understanding and knowledge and a noticeable change in mood can be observed. Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, depicts this change as Montag gains an understanding of the dystopian society and sees things his ignorance would have blocked, realizing he isn’t really happy. At the start of the book, Montag is like most others in his society, thinking he is happy when he does not understand how to truly be himself.
Wayne Dyer once said, “The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don 't know anything about.” In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, ignorance is a common theme portrayed throughout the novel. It sets the impression of how all of the characters feel due to a society that has outlawed books. Guy Montag is a firefighter, whose job is to burn the books. Yet, he often steals them without the chief firefighter, or anyone else knowing.
The Power Of Knowledge People can rely on literacy and social awareness to help them be better aware and more thoughtful. But when people have neither of these skills it can harm the view they have on their surroundings. Fahrenheit 451 is an example of what would happen if social awareness and literacy were looked down on. In the society where the story takes place in not many are socially aware or can read. This lack of awareness and literacy drives people to take great lengths for their beliefs and wants, this is a problem because they don't think about the consequences their actions will have.
