Pessimism In Fahrenheit 451

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Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a novel that takes place in the future. In this futuristic novel, firemen burn down houses instead of saving them. Ray Bradbury also has some other attitudes about life that I think are a little absurd. Although, Ray Bradbury comes through in the end with some strong messages and life lessons, that develop throughout the novel. For example, my favorite message is never lose faith and resist the status quo, no matter what obstacles stand in the way. Despite Ray Bradbury's pessimism, he has a lot of life lessons to teach the readers. Ray Bradbury is pessimistic because in his novel, firemen burn down houses instead of saving them, a girl dies because of being different, and books are outlawed even with everything …show more content…

In the novel Fahrenheit 451, books are outlawed for being a threat to the government. The writers from the past who have written books, whether they are about the government or about a different subject are still a "threat". The government fears exposure of their secrets that a writer could potentially know. The writer could have worked for the government whether its up close or maybe just a guard who might not know much. Also, the writer could have been retired or maybe they got fired and now they seek revenge. In the novel, books are illegal because the government believes that all people should have the same intelligence level. Captain Beatty believes that "any man’s insane who thinks he can fool the government and us.” ( Bradbury 33). Books being outlawed is pessimistic because books teach life lessons to people, give advice to people and help people to further their education. By books being outlawed people now have one less resource to go to when they are in need of help or advice. The authors would be put out of business because they cannot sell books anymore. Hence, this is one final example of how Bradbury shows pessimism throughout the novel, where books are outlawed for being a threat by furthering people's knowledge. Ray Bradbury shows his pessimistic thoughts in Fahrenheit 451 because houses are burned