There is a quote by Ray Bradbury that goes “You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.” (Bradbury). In the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury books are considered illegal and should not be preserved. In our world fireman are known to put out fires, but in the book fireman are known to start the fires because of books. Technology is put above books, and the main character Guy Montag starts to realize he does not like the world he lives in, and there needs to be a change. Bradbury conveys many messages throughout the book. He somehow warns us about our future. He shows that technology is taking over our lives, and censorship is limiting our freedom. Bradbury's message of society can destroy itself …show more content…
is present in the book by limiting freedoms, conforming the community, and ignoring the people’s beliefs. In the book Fahrenheit 451 you can blatantly see that the citizens of the community do not have the freedoms we have in our world. While we have the freedom to learn and express ourselves by choosing books, the people in Fahrenheit 451 do not. Books are illegal and by not devouring what they have to offer it impacts their society in many negative ways. Their freedom to become more knowledgeable is taken away from them when the books are, and they are not able to learn from their mistakes. We learn our country’s history from books, and without them we would only have stories. Stories are a problem however, because they can be altered throughout the years, and accurate information becomes less and less existent. There is a negative presence of a war going on in the book and I believe that with the company of books it could be stopped. Another way knowledge is being limited is in school. We at Sartell High School have countless options for classes, and many topics to learn from but the people of the book do not. After Montag asks Clarisse about school, she says, “But do you know, we never ask questions, or at least most don’t; they just run the answers at you, bing, bing, bing, and us sitting there for four more hours of film teacher.” (Bradbury 28). The kids in these schools are not learning anything. Teachers give them answers, which is going to hurt them negatively in the long run. As adults these children will have no problem solving skills, no ability to communicate with others, and they will simply not have the knowledge that should be provided to them in school. While the government is censoring the people of the book they are also limiting their personal freedom of being happy. Happiness to me is having the freedom to be an individual and while the government in the book conforms the community as a whole, they are unable to reach a maximum level of happiness. Clarisse asks Montag, “Are you happy?” to which he replies “Happy! Of all the nonsense.” (Bradbury 10). From this quote you can see that Montag refers to happiness as nonsense. This indicates to me that happiness is not an idea that is put on a pedestal in their society. They do not think about what makes them happy because the government has put in their heads that they will only be happy if they are conformed together. By limiting their freedoms the government is also limiting their ability to be happy and the ability to think for themselves. From the opposing view you could say that too much freedom could lead to hurting others through speech, violent protest, and crime. These could be looked at as consequences but I think that through consequences you will learn from your mistakes. Evidently one can see that the government of Fahrenheit 451 limits individuality, which in turn will ruin their society, if they do not learn from their mistakes. Society also destroys itself in Fahrenheit 451 by forcing conformity among its citizens. The people in the community go through their same mundane schedule everyday, and their lives overall are very bland and ordinary. The government wants the group as a whole to be the same. They do this through taking away books. Books give you a great source of individualism; they show you that it is okay to be different like the characters in them. They present ideas that the government does not want exposed to the community. The government fears books because they will give people the ability to act out and produce nonconformity. One could say that the leaders can control the population better if the population is not knowledgeable. When Montag talks to Beatty the chief of the fireman Beatty says, “We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal, as the constitution says, but everyone made equal.” (Bradbury 58). Montag starts to doubt that what his work consists of is actually destroying society instead of helping it. Beatty starts to realize Montag’s doubt and tries to sway his opinion. Beatty thinks that it suitable for the government to make the society equal. He thinks everybody should be alike which will cause negative rebellious acts from the community. Even in school all of the kids are alike. Nobody questions anything or wants to know how materials work. Kids sit in school and are taught by television, and when they are not in school they partake in life threatening activities. When talking to Montag Clarisse says, “I’m antisocial, they say. I don’t mix. It’s so strange. I’m very social indeed. It all depends on what you mean by social, doesn’t it?” (Bradbury 29). Clarisse is considered antisocial because she is different from everybody else. Clarisse is actually very social. She asks questions, and talks to Montag everyday, but because she is not like everybody else she is wrongly appointed the title of “anti-social.” Montag starts to see the world around him in a different way because of Clarisse, and he starts to comprehend that everybody is conformed to be alike. One could say that conforming the community could be a positive thing. If everybody is the same everybody would get along, there would be less crime, and you would not feel the need to compete with others. I think that you need competition to be creative and without competition we would not be able to cope with success and failure. Conformity is destroying the Fahrenheit 451 societies because everybody is an individual and they need the ability to express that. Society also destroys itself by ignoring people’s beliefs, opinions, and ideas.
The government in the book is very keen on censorship. Everyone just follows the government and believes that if books are banned nothing good could possibly come from them, but some people, like Montag, begin to ask themselves what is so bad about books? What is funny to me is that in the book Bradbury conveys that people really don’t have many beliefs or value anything other than technology, but there are a select few like Montag that want to challenge that. Beatty says to Montag, “The important thing for you to remember, Montag, is we’re the Happiness Boys, the Dixie Duo, you and I and the others. We stand against the small tide of those who want to make everyone unhappy with conflicting theory and thought.” (BradBury 62). From the quote one can tell that Beatty is happy with everybody being alike. He thinks that he is actually doing good by saving the people who want to be different, which will cause rebellion in the long run The government thinks that those who have “conflicting” theories are making everybody unhappy. Another way the government limits the people is by limiting the idea and belief of knowledge. At the time Montag doubts why books are immoral material Beatty explains to him that the knowledge contained in books is considered a weapon. Beatty says, “The word intellectual of course, became the swear word it deserved to be. You always dread the unfamiliar.” (Bradbury 58). To have intellect and to challenge ideas is ignored and said to be unfamiliar, and these people are trained to “dread” the unfamiliar. By ignoring the ability to be knowledgeable society is being ruined. Some might say that by dreading the unfamiliar can lead to less confusion, but confusion is a good thing because it means you are trying to understand the problem. Evidently one can see that by ignoring people’s beliefs and ideas society will destroy
itself. One can clearly see in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury that by limiting citizen’s rights to have certain freedoms, forcing them to be alike, and ignoring their beliefs will lead to a destroyed society. By doing all of these things people will act out in rebellious ways such as wars, crimes, and protests. The government should let everyone be an individual because only then can you be truly happy. At the time the book was written communism was common and the government did a lot of limiting and censorship, but I think you can see some of this in today’s society as well. We have laws and we have rules made by the government but I think society is limiting, conforming, and ignoring each other. We are getting better but for a long time it wasn’t okay to be different and being an individual was frowned upon. We need Fahrenheit 451 to learn from our mistakes otherwise we will have the same consequences.
“It was a pleasure to burn,”(3) that was the idea Ray Bradbury was trying to get across in the novel Fahrenheit 451. This novel takes place in the future, where governments only law is to burn books. In this novel, you will see how Bradbury explains the life of Guy Montag, a fireman who burns houses for a living. However one day he burns a house with a woman in who is willing to die for her books, this made Montag have the urge to steal a book. The stealing of the book is what lead him to believe society is lead by censorship. In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury shows us a world in the future, in which free thought is controlled through censorship, which leads to an ignorant, insensitive, and non independent society.
First of all, Bradbury shows that when man represses intellectual endeavor, progress cannot be made. In this society, people are not allowed to be creative or make improvements as well as not being allowed to read. This is described by the protagonist Montag when he confronts the chief and explains how easy someone could change the programming of the hound. The chief tells Montag that he’s not being realistic because no one has enough knowledge to do so (Bradbury 27). This explains that people are viewed as normal or plain because no one believes that a person could think like that. Also, this is evident when Montag’s wife is watching television. Montag asks his wife “Why don’t you watch something useful for a change instead of these soaps? Because I don’t need to be useful” (Bradbury 51). This shows how most of the people rely on the government rather themselves. In addition, when the fire chief Beatty visits Montag they begin to talk about books. Beatty tells Montag “What do people see in books? They’re just paper and ink” (Bradbury 30). This shows Beatty’s view on books and how they are of no importance to anyone. Therefore, when man represses intellectual endeavor, progress cannot be made.
The story goes on to introduce the audience to a new perspective of a ‘ fireman’ in this blind, corrupted society. “ With his symbolic helmet numbered 451 on his stolid head, and his eyes all orange flame … he flicked the igniter and the house jumped up in a gorging fire that burned the evening sky red and yellow and black” ( Bradbury ) page 3. This quote shows that these fireman do not allow anything “bad” to get in the way of society. The firemen eradicate any trace of books to avoid the cost of having people feel conflicted while reading because of the natural necessity to think while reading. While it is quite possible to understand what one is trying to get across, in the end people will not have the knowledge they need to survive in life. This society has surprisingly advanced technology that is similar to that of today’s society that has similar negative effects on humanity. “Will you turn the parlor off?” he asked. “That’s my family”. ( Bradbury ) Page 48-49. The negative effect that this has among the citizens of this society is the sad replacement of family. It isn’t far off to call the television their family because the people are as equally dull and ignorant as that of the T.V characters. The last idea that does not benefit humanity is the removal of books, this is the most crucial factor to ruining the lives of many by censoring knowledge
The banning of books didn’t prepare them for what was in them. They were deeply astonished but on the outside scared. Book banning also led to ignoring important documents. Near the end of the book, Montag is talking to a man in the darkness and the man says, “So long as the vast population doesn't wander about quoting the Magna Carta and the Constitution” (147). Book banning also led to ignoring important documents. In our society, the Magna Carta and the Constitution are what specify the rules and laws of our society. Without this, there would be no peace which would lead to a completely different society than ours today. This dystopian society destroys books but many people in the dystopian society still don't see that. The banning of books causes many people to lose their minds and do what they're told which leads to violence. Banning books also brings sadness into the world because they don't know many things which will less prepare them for life. In this case, people in the dystopian society absolutely despise books but in reality, we need books. Their rule of no books completely changed the perspective of people in this dystopian society into an unstable society lacking
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.
Technology; the use of science in industry, engineering, etc., to invent useful things or to solve problems. It is amazing how technologies significantly affect human as well as other animal species' ability to control and adapt to their natural environments. It affected us so much we use technology for alternatives uses; Entertainment. However, can it improve the human conditions or worsen it? In the book, Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury describes the negative ways of how technology could ruin our lives in alternative ways. Technology could create a lifestyle with too much stimulation that no one would has time to think or concentrate. It can rule us and control our mind, but worse, it can replace humanity. Ray Bradbury overall message/opinion of Fahrenheit 451 is how technology is bad for alternatives ways for people.
Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 accurately portrays a world in which addictive technologies desensitize society and as a result, make them more prone towards inappropriate behaviors.
Imagine a world of uniformity. All people look the same, act the same, and love the same things. There are no original thoughts and no opposing viewpoints. This sort of world is not far from reality. Uniformity in modern day society is caused by the banning of books. The novel "Fahrenheit 451" illustrates a future in which the banning of books has risen to the extent that no books are allowed. The novel follows the social and moral implications of an over censored society. Even though the plot may seem far-fetched, themes from this book are still relevant today. Although some people believe that banning a book is necessary to defend their religion, the negative effects caused by censorship and the redaction of individual thought are reasons why books such as "Fahrenheit 451" should not be banned.
Ray Bradbury's novel, Fahrenheit 451, is based in a futuristic time where technology rules our everyday lives and books are viewed as a bad thing because it brews free thought. Although today’s technological advances haven’t caught up with Bradbury’s F451, there is a very real danger that society might end up relying on technology at the price of intellectual development. Fahrenheit 451 is based in a futuristic time period and takes place in a large American City on the Eastern Coast. The futuristic world in which Bradbury describes is chilling, a future where all known books are burned by so called "firemen." Our main character in Fahrenheit 451 is a fireman known as Guy Montag, he has the visual characteristics of the average fireman, he is tall and dark-haired, but there is one thing which separates him from the rest of his colleagues. He secretly loves books.
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 the 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.
The knowledge in Fahrenheit 451 can teach everyone a lesson. Ray Bradbury's writing has some accurate and some not accurate predictions about the future. Fahrenheit 451 had many futuristic ideas of mechanical dogs working for the firemen. The firemen work not to stop fires, but start them to burn books. Montag, a fireman, has had a change in morality of his job. His actions cause him to be in trouble with Beaty, the head fireman, which then Montag kills. Many of Bradbury's warnings are true or coming true. While, Bradbury's predictions about technology taking over and the society dying by war come true. But, some kids still work hard and talk to family.
The Majority of people today believe that the society in Fahrenheit 451 is far-fetched and could never actually happen, little do they know that it is a reflection of the society we currently live in. In Ray Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit 451 books are burnt due to people's lack of interest in them and the fire is started by firemen. Social interactions is at an all time low and most time is spent in front of the television being brainwashed by advertisements. In an attempt to make us all aware of our faults, Bradbury imagines a society that is a parallel to the world we live in today by emphasizing the decline in literature, loss of ethics in advertisement, and negative effects of materialism.
When Beatty explains to Montag why books are being burned, he describes the method used when teaching students: “Cram them full of noncombustible data, chock them so damned full of ‘facts’ they feel stuffed, but absolutely ‘brilliant’ with information...And they’ll be happy” (Bradbury 58). Later, on the train, an advertisement blares, “Denham’s Dentifrice” while Montag struggles to read “the shape of the individual letters” (Bradbury 75). Montag’s society is convinced that education means mindlessly memorizing facts. However, a large amount of information and facts is not a proper substitute for deep, critical thought. When information is just given and not analyzed, it prevents questioning why facts are true and inhibits the development of basic thinking skills, such as when Montag struggles to understand the book he is reading. Additionally, with so much information and entertainment circulated in Montag’s society, significant ideas that promote questioning and changing life cannot be developed. Without thoughts that allow people to question their ways and change themselves, people believe they are perfect, cannot realize their faults, and are unable to change the way they are. When Montag consults Faber for some insight on books, Faber states that books have been abandoned because “they show the pores in the face of life” and, because of this, their society is “living in a time when flowers are trying to live on flowers, instead of growing on good rain and black loam” (Bradbury 79). Instead of taking the time to think and develop thoughts, the citizens of Montag’s city take the easy way in life, by avoiding any deep thought and personal opinion altogether. It is much easier for the citizens to enjoy mindless entertainment than to think about the issues in the world and their solutions. However, this can create problems within
In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury uses "artificial stimulus", such as television and radio, to provide the reader with a feeling of how isolated the public is and how their minds are being controlled by this conformist government in the twenty-first century. He uses technology, like the Mechanical Hound and also drugs, to show the oppressiveness of the government in his novel. Ray Bradbury chooses to write this book after seeing many of his fellow writers and other entertainers being "blacklisted" by Senator Joseph McCarthy in the early 1950's. While he couldn't just openly oppose this behavior, for he would surely be censored, Bradbury writes about an exaggerated version of his own government in which books are burned along with the houses that harbors them. This is to demonstrate to the readers how letting the government censor their art could lead to more drastic measures. Such as editing one line in a book; then a page; then the whole book is condemned and burned along side the many other books and ideas that do not agree with the government. This then leads to the eventual condemnation of all books and forms of entertainment, which is not "politically correct" and/or agreeable to the government's ideas.
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.