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All about the book thief
Critical Analysis Of The Book Thief
Fahrenheit 451 knowledge vs ignorance theme
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Many different novels written in different times, can have very similar themes and ideas that have had an impact over the course of time. Knowledge can be defined by facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject (Oxford University, 2014). Throughout the novel Fahrenheit 451 written by Ray Bradbury and the novel The Book Thief written by Marcus Zusak the theme of forbidden knowledge exists. The theme of forbidden knowledge is symbolized through the burning of the books done by the firefighters and the Nazi soldiers, the penalties that come with trying to obtain knowledge such as going to prison, and the idea that knowledge comes with a cost which can be as severe as death. In both of the novels the main characters Liesel Meminger in The Book Thief, and Guy Montag in Fahrenheit 451, both characters quest for knowledge ends up in flames.
The act of book burning has been around since the 7th Century BC when Jehoiakim, King of Judah, burned part of the prophet Jeremiah's scroll (Jeremiah 36), and to the present day, the burning of books has a long history as a tool wielded by authorities in efforts to suppress anyone from accessing this forbidden knowledge and from posing a threat to the prevailing order. In the novel Fahrenheit 451 the firefighters now start fires rather than put them out. The firefighters say that they must burn all the books because it makes it easier for the government to control the populace. Just as the Nazis burn books to make it easier for the government to control the German people. Captain Beatty explains to Montag the reason that firefighters burn books when he says "A book is a loaded gun in the house next door....
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... is shown entirely. The theme of forbidden knowledge is symbolized through the value of literature which is shown through the symbolism of book burning, how with forbidden knowledge comes great penalties, and the idea that the cost for knowledge can be a great one. It is up to the reader to decide whether forbidden knowledge should remain forbidden.
Works Cited
Bradbury, Ray. Farenheit 451. New York: Ballantine Books, 1953. Print.
Zusak, Markus. The book thief. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. Print.
Oxford . "Definition of knowledge in English:." knowledge: definition of knowledge in Oxford dictionary (British & World English). Oxford University Press, 2014. Web. 10 May 2014.
"Jeremiah." The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testaments. Trenton: I. Collins, 1791. 36. Print.
Thomas Gray, a poet from the eighteenth century, coined the phrase “Ignorance is bliss” in his poem, Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College (1742), and three centuries later, this quote is commonly used to convey the message that sometimes, being ignorant of the truth can cause happiness, and knowledge can actually can be the source of pain or sadness. However, in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, this phrase is taken very literally, and knowledge is feared to the extent where books are considered illegal. Throughout The Hearth and the Salamander, Guy Montag, the main character, experiences a drastic change wherein he begins to realize that there is power in knowledge, and that this intelligence has the potential to be worth more than the so-called “bliss” that ignorance can bring.
In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by author Ray Bradbury we are taken into a place of the future where books have become outlawed, technology is at its prime, life is fast, and human interaction is scarce. The novel is seen through the eyes of middle aged man Guy Montag. A firefighter, Ray Bradbury portrays the common firefighter as a personal who creates the fire rather than extinguishing them in order to accomplish the complete annihilation of books. Throughout the book we get to understand that Montag is a fire hungry man that takes pleasure in the destruction of books. It’s not until interacting with three individuals that open Montag’s eyes helping him realize the errors of his ways. Leading Montag to change his opinion about books, and more over to a new direction in life with a mission to preserve and bring back the life once sought out in books. These three individual characters Clarisse McClellan, Faber, and Granger transformed Montag through the methods of questioning, revealing, and teaching.
In our society you are not able to burn things without permission unless it is on your property. Later in the book, the novel reveals that Montag, a fireman, was the one that said the previous quote, “Montag grinned the fierce grin of all men singed and driven back by flame. The banning of books didn’t prepare them for what was in them. They were deeply astonished, but on the outside, scared.
In the novel Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, the main struggle for power deals with the government. This overly oppressive, almost Orwellian style bureaucracy, tries to make sure there is no interaction with books at all. They believe that books permeate their society and corrupt the minds of the people. Unannounced searches of property by "firemen" are not at all uncommon. At the slightest inkling of this futuristic contraband, these firemen will rummage through all of one's property, at times, destroying everything in their path.
Imagine a world in which there are no books, and every piece of information you learn comes from a screen. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, this nightmare is a reality. In Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag is a fireman who instead of putting out fires burns books. He eventually meets Clarisse who changes his outlook on life and inspires him to read books (which are outlawed). This leads to Guy being forced on the run from the government. The culture, themes, and characters in Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 construct a dystopian future that is terrifying to readers.
The theme of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 can be viewed from several different angles. First and foremost, Bradbury's novel gives an anti-censorship message. Bradbury understood censorship to be a natural outcropping of an overly tolerant society. Once one group objects to something someone has written, that book is modified and censorship begins. Soon, another minority group objects to something else in the book, and it is again edited until eventually the book is banned altogether. In Bradbury's novel, society has evolved to such an extreme that all literature is illegal to possess. No longer can books be read, not only because they might offend someone, but because books raise questions that often lead to revolutions and even anarchy. The intellectual thinking that arises from reading books can often be dangerous, and the government doesn't want to put up with this danger. Yet this philosophy, according to Bradbury, completely ignores the benefits of knowledge. Yes, knowledge can cause disharmony, but in many ways, knowledge of the past, which is recorded in books, can prevent man from making similar mistakes in the present and future.
Yet, in our society books are important and a fireman would never set a fire purposely, in the novels society Clarisse questions “... how long’ve you worked at being a fireman?” “Since I was twenty, ten years ago.” “Do you ever read of the books you burn?” He laughed. “That’s against the law!”
Heinrich Heine’s article on the connection of the Holocaust to book burning presents multiple concepts on the idea of burning books. Throughout the text the author presents his overall purpose on the importance of the act of burning and reveals the possibility of burning burning being inherently sinister. Many of his comments relate to the novel Fahrenheit 451 in which book burning also takes place. Overall, Heinrich Heine opened up new ideas on book burning and its impact on societies over the years.
Fire is a simple human necessity that is capable of sustaining life, but if misused can easily destroy it. Guy Montag a firemen destine to burn books, meets a young girl named Clarisse who changes his view on everything. His character slowly starts to change as he realizes books are in fact pieces of art, doomed to the flames. Montag digs deeper and deeper, until eventually it may tear the society wide apart. In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the main character Montag’s view point of fire progresses from a weapon capable of destroying anything, eventually the fire disinfects Montags head, and in the end causes him to changes completely.
In the novel "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury, Guy Montag doesn't want to be ignorant. He wants to understand the reason why the society is unhappy and burns the books. As Montag struggles between his identity crisis of being a fireman and seeking change, he wants to be knowledgeable.
Often, dystopian novels are written by an author to convey a world that doesn’t exist, but criticizes aspects of the present that could lead to this future. Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 in 1951 but discusses issues that have only increased over time. The encompassing issue that leads to the dystopic nature of this novel is censorship of books. The government creates a world in which it is illegal to have any books. Firemen are enforcers of this law by being the ones to burn the books and burn the buildings where the books were found. By censoring the knowledge found in books, the government attempts to rid the society of corruption caused by “the lies” books are filled with in hopes the people will never question. In Fahrenheit 451, censorship is a paradox.
Fahrenheit 451 follows a controlling policy. The policy is, the citizens are controlled what to read or what not read. If this policy is broken, the firefighters’ responsibility is to remove the books that are not approved from the government, then burn them. In the book a firefighter named, Montag meets a little girl who changes his whole perspective about books. He later than steals books from the fires that were meant to be burned. The government makes these laws to form a happy society, so if people go against the government it would create a chaotic society.
What if there was a world where books are outlawed and are burned on site, but someone gets the chance to take one? It's been so long though to know the purpose of books were used for before? What significance do they have to be curious about them? Well, that is what Guy Montag, a fireman tasked to burn those books, will try to figure out. Ray Bradbury, the author of Fahrenheit 451, uses books to be symbolic of knowledge in an ignorant world, and that idea of books develops through the eyes of Montag. There are three main phases that the idea of books goes through in the story: books hold nothing, books hold the answers, and books hold a danger.
In the book Fahrenheit 451 the theme is a society/world that revolves around being basically brain washed or programmed because of the lack of people not thinking for themselves concerning the loss of knowledge, and imagination from books that don't exist to them. In such stories as the Kurt Vonnegut's "You have insulted me letter" also involving censorship to better society from vulgarity and from certain aspects of life that could be seen as disruptive to day to day society which leads to censorship of language and books. Both stories deal with censorship and by that society is destructed in a certain way by the loss of knowledge from books.
In 1950, three years prior to Barnes' article concerning "1984" trends another author, Ray Bradbury, set out a foreboding vision of the future in a short story titled, "The Fireman." Later, Bradbury's story would be renamed Fahrenheit 451 after the temperature at which paper burns. Fahrenheit 451 describes a horrific future in which millions of books are banned and firemen set fires instead of extinguishing them. In order to maintain a society of brainwashed, "happy" people, the firemen kick down doors and burn the hated volumes along with the homes that housed them.