Examples Of Censorship In Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451 follows a man called Guy Montag who discovers the value of intelligence in a world filled with ignorance. It illustrates the horrors of censorship and how material pleasures such as television can replace books. In addition, this novel
Guy Montag burns books as a “fireman” in a futuristic city. His society rejects nature, books, and any awareness or intelligence. He meets a girl named Clarisse, who begins to show him the true nature of his empty life. Over the next few days, several odd events happen. His wife tries to commit suicide, an old woman chooses to burn herself with her books, and a speeding car kills Clarisse. He tries to search for a solution for his empty life in a stash of illegal books he has stolen. The fire chief comes to Montag's house and tells him that he has 24 hours to look through his stolen books and then he must burn them. Montag goes to a retired professor named Faber, who tells him that books contain intelligence and awareness. They make a plan to destroy the

firemen, but it doesn’t work out. The firemen go to Montag’s home to burn his books. Nevertheless, Montag kills the chief and escapes into the woods. He meets a group of people who have memorized entire books and spend their time waiting for other countries to destroy the government. After some time, bombs drop on the city and most people die. Montag and the Book People go back to the city to rebuild civilization.
Fahrenheit 451 often alludes to the theme of censorship and how it affects society.

The most obvious example of censorship in this novel is when the firemen burn books. When Captain Beatty explains the history of the firemen and books to Montag, he says that, at first, books could say whatever the author wanted. After some time, some books offended minorities and people with differing opinions. Authors made their books less offensive to avoid controversy, which caused books to lose their popularity. Authors self-censored their own books before they could become controversial. The public also cried out to the government to censor offensive books. This led to the firemen burning books because the public disliked them so much. “A book is a loaded gun in the house next door…Who knows who might be the target of the well-read man?” In the world of Fahrenheit 451, the censorship of all books has caused people to become addicted to television and lose all their

awareness.
Fahrenheit 451 puts a great amount of emphasis on the theme of intelligence versus ignorance. In the future that this novel presents us with, most people choose ignorance and material pleasures as opposed to intelligence and learning. Montag chooses intelligence, as do the Book People. Montag believes that intelligence offers a fuller life, while the lives of other people have no meaning. They spend their time watching TV, listening to music, and doing the same things that everybody else does. This society shuns books and fears confusing opinions or awareness. Books have little value because they make people question society and think. As Captain Beatty says, “We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal, as the Constitution says, but everyone made equal. Each man the image of every other; then all are happy, for there are no mountains to make them cower, to judge themselves against.” People with opinions and awareness happen to be different from everyone else. According to the firemen, when everybody has varying degrees of intelligence, people become unhappy. Society in Fahrenheit 451 doesn't value books, and people have become mindless and unaware because that reduces conflict.
Censorship is one of the main themes in Fahrenheit 451, and censorship in the real world definitely inspired Ray Bradbury. The original idea for the story came from Nazi book burnings in 1933 - a horrific real-world example of censorship. All throughout Bradbury's life, his family valued literature, so the thought of burning books horrified him. The Red Scare most likely also helped inspire this book. America’s fear of communism caused the restriction of countless books. Joseph McCarthy and people like him censored some books during his “witch hunt”. Around this time, some people criticized books and promoted censorship, like Dr. Frederic Wertham (author of Seduction of the Innocent). This must have been especially disconcerting to Bradbury because books greatly influenced his life. This affected Bradbury to a great extent and helped inspire Fahrenheit 451. He had a definite opinion on censorship, often saying things like “There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches.” and “You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”
Fahrenheit 451 tells about how, sometimes, ignorance may prevail over intelligence. It says a lot about how censorship rarely benefits society. According to this book, awareness is more important than excitement and fun. This book details how people can become less aware by not reading books, and watching television instead. It also addresses the fact that people who just do the same thing as everybody else become less aware. In the world of Fahrenheit 451, society views books as evil. Books cause people to be different from everybody else and ask questions, which can cause conflict and make people unhappy.