The Dangers Of Humanity In Fahrenheit 451, By Ray Bradbury

It will be no surprise if one day, books become just another thing in the past as humanity begins to rely solely on technology for information, amusement, and communication. Although this scenario may seem far-fetched, in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the protagonist in the novel has to decide whether he wants to be an individual and make his own decisions by going against the “norm”, or if he will continue living under the power and rules of others.
Guy Montag is a firefighter who, ironically, instead of putting out fires and helping society, actually starts them. The reason for this is because the setting in this novel takes place in the future where books are illegal and anyone found guilty of hiding them in their home, are immediately reported to the police who notify the fire station. The firemen come into the criminal’s homes with flamethrowers and burn every last book that they own in order to try and keep everyone at the same intelligence level. According to Beatty (Guy’s fire chief); books are banned because groups of people began complaining about how some of the words and ideas in the novels offended them. Many authors took their unhappiness into consideration and decided that it would be best to implement guidelines in order to prevent people’s feeling from getting hurt. Soon, all books began to look the same, as writers tried to avoid offending individuals. This was not enough for the public. So, instead of telling people to not read material that upsets them, society as a whole decided to simply burn books rather than permit contradictory ideas.
Once Guy Montag meets Clarisse (his next door neighbor), his whole outlook on life and purpose changes. Clarisse helps him open his mind to the beauty in nature and the ou...

... middle of paper ...

...turn to the burnt down city in hopes of rebuilding it into an intellectual and hardworking society.
Ray Bradbury uses the power struggle between knowledge versus ignorance to enhance the meaning of the novel. By making the firefighters (people who are viewed as heroes in present day America) the characters who are promoting ignorance and diminishing the importance of acquiring information, the reader can begin to appreciate the importance of learning and being knowledgeable because the thought of such well respected men, acting as if uniformity and illiteracy have now become the “norm” in their society is frightening.
Guy Montag’s search for knowledge and self-empowerment puts an end to the ignorance he once collectively shared with approximately everyone in his community. Guy Montag begins to think for himself and starts to travel farther away from the status quo.