Themes In Ray Bradbury's 'Fahrenheit 451'

“Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the one that asked why.” This quote, once spoken by Bernard Baruch, a famous American philanthropist, illustrates what can happen when people ask the important question of ‘why?’. Isaac Newton knew how the apple fell from the tree, but he wanted to find out why it fell, changing science and physics forever. He is not the only one to inquire about why certain things happen. This subject is also portrayed in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury along with three articles by Benny Hsu, Paul Hirschfield, and DevonJam, respectively. These resources came to the same conclusion. Although you need to know how to do something to do it, it is more important to know why you are doing it because you can do many things

Another common theme in is that the why can change people’s opinion on controversial topics. Throughout Fahrenheit 451, Montag’s stance on why books are important to their society shifts. Faber tells Montag, “Don 't ask for guarantees. And don 't look to be saved in any one thing, person, machine, or library. Do your own bit of saving, and if you drown, at least die knowing you were headed for shore.” (82). After his conversation with Faber, Montag’s mindset about books dramatically shift. Faber tells Montag to be self-reliant and not always look to other people to do everything for you. Not only is this theme portrayed in Fahrenheit 451, but also in an article for Newsela. Paul Hirschfield wrote, “Racism helps explain why African Americans and Native Americans are particularly vulnerable to police violence. Racism, along with a prevailing American ideology of individualism and limited government, helps explain why white citizens and legislators give so much support to controversial police shooters and aggressive police tactics and so little to criminal sand poor people.” (Hirschfield). Many Americans believe that police shootings are due to lack of the police officers knowledge and skill. Clearly, the shootings are due to a ongoing problem of racism in our country and not simply police skill. This could change people’s opinions around this topic because it provides the real reason why there so many shootings. Even though knowing why can change your opinion on certain topics, it can also change your perspective on