What Is The Importance Of Knowledge In Fahrenheit 451

The people in Fahrenheit 451 have knowledge kept from them so they will all be kept in control of the government. Most information and knowledge given by the government isn’t the complete truth or is not true at all.In the Firemen rule book, when talking about the origins of firemen it says “Established, 1790, to burn English-influenced in the Colonies. First Fireman: Benjamin Franklin" (32.) This is not the complete truth but the government says this so people will think their jobs have always been around and that everything in their world is normal and okay. Montag has also been lied to about houses being fireproof. He has always been told that houses are fireproof so he doesn’t believe that anything else could be true.When Clarisse mentions

After she says this Montag laughs because the idea of something besides what he had been told being true is too outrageous to even consider it true. He rejects the idea of the people in power being wrong before he can fully process what is being said. This helps the government keep the people from questioning anything which keeps them in their control. After Montag’s first encounter with Clarisse, he thinks “He was not happy. He said the words to himself. He recognized this as the true state of affairs. He wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run off across the lawn with the mask” (9). After even the smallest encounter with knowledge that is not commonly known or told to people, leaves Montag feeling confused and causes him to realize that he is not happy. When he just blindly follows what he is told and is surrounded by people who do the same, Montag cannot realize that he is unhappy. If people do not realize that they are unhappy, then they cannot bring it up with the government and they do not try to change anything because they do not know that there is anything to change. Knowledge is kept from the people so they will continue blindly following the government and believing that everything is okay and nothing needs to be