Fahrenheit 451 is a widely known and well-acclaimed book with a cloudy history. The book has been the center of much controversy over the years, which is ironic given that the subject of the book involves a dystopian world where certain books are banned and those that read them have their possessions destroyed. Fahrenheit 451 is a cautionary tale constructed to warn humans of what could potentially happen if we allow governments to have too much power over what we are allowed to know. Despite being heavily censored in the late 1960s, the book remains a staple of literature today. The most notable incidents involving Fahrenheit 451 include incidents in 1987, 1992, and 2006. In 1987 a school board in Florida reduced the book to third-tier …show more content…
Those who defend Fahrenheit 451 are thinking about the issue rather than just acting on quick judgements, and this is obvious by the higher level of intelligence displayed in their arguments. The opinion that the book should be banned because of its references to drunkenness and use of profane language are extremely weak. What are the chances that a middle schooler hasn’t heard someone say “hell” or “damn” before? It is unreasonable to expect authors to clean up their perception of the world just so that we can pretend that our children’s ears remain unsullied by the profane language that is all too common in today’s society . The other main argument, that Bradbury portrays Christians in a negative light and advocates the burning of Bibles, is equally laughable. If the people making these claims had actually read the book and realized the message Bradbury was trying to convey, they would realize not only how ironic their demands were, but also that they were grounded in nothing but their own prejudiced beliefs. Nowhere in the book does Bradbury advocate burning Bibles (LA Weekly), on the contrary, he shows that he is against the burning of any books, regardless of whether or not they are
Imagine a world where you could not read or own any books. How would you feel if you had someone burn your house because you have books hidden within the walls? One of the most prevalent themes in Ray Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit 451 is the idea of censorship. In Bradbury's fictional world, owning books is illegal. A fireman's job is not putting out fires like one may assume. In Fahrenheit 451, a fireman has the job of starting fires. Firefighters start fires in homes containing books. If this were reality, there would be no homes to live in. Books have become an integral part of American life. However, the theme of censorship is still relevant in American life.
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.
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 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.
All around the world, books have been hated, attacked, and boycotted by groups, schools and individuals because of the messages it suggests. This poses the question, why do people feel threatened by certain books? Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury intimidates various readers due to the mirror effect on our world today in terms of the issues it’s filled with. Novels being banned eliminates the chance of people learning from the messages within them. Bradbury connects the book to readers by using minor characters and specific language to suggest solutions to present day issues, such as false happiness due to technology and therefore should be defended.
The book Fahrenheit 451 is placed in a dystopian world within the future of our country. The government within this setting ban the freedom of thought through
Fahrenheit 451’s relevance to today can be very detailed and prophetic when we take a deep look into our American society. Although we are not living in a communist setting with extreme war waging on, we have gained technologies similar to the ones Bradbury spoke of in Fahrenheit 451 and a stubborn civilization that holds an absence on the little things we should enjoy. Bradbury sees the future of America as a dystopia, yet we still hold problematic issues without the title of disaster, as it is well hidden under our Democracy today. Fahrenheit 451 is much like our world today which includes television, the loss of free speech, and the loss of the education and use of books.
As it is inevitable that children will grow up to be exposed to the world's evils, which are shown in novels like Fahrenheit 451, teaching the context and meaning of those evils in a learning environment allows for more of a educated understanding and a fuller grasp on the issues within. By reading controversial novels in schools, students in middle and high school will benefit tremendously by being exposed to them in a learning environment. Although teachers and parents have control as to what the students are exposed to at a young age, Fahrenheit 451 should not be banned from middle and high schools as it depicts the effects of censorship on a dystopian society through use of controversial material which doubles as
e a world where books were banned and all words were censored. Freedom of speech has always been considered to be the most fundamental of the human rights. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury emphasizes the importance of freedom of speech by giving readers a glimpse of how the world would be if written works were prohibited. The novel is considered to be a classic because it can usually be linked to society. The novel’s relevance is connected to its themes and its overall message. The themes of loneliness, alienation, conformity, and paranoia play a crucial role in the novel by showing how censorship can transform society negatively.
We live in a time of laziness and choosing an uneducated TV show over a book containing precious knowledge. In Ray Bradbury's book Fahrenheit 451, we witness a world where books are banned and people are encouraged to sit all day and watch television. The smart ones that read books live in a life of fear since firemen in this world are commanded to burn the houses of anyone that owns a book. Our society isn't at that point yet but a large group of our society are showing strong similarities toward the people in Fahrenheit 451 that sat around all day. This is also encouraged by everyone wanting to be “In the know” so they decide to watch TV all day. The book Fahrenheit 451 is a warning to our society that if we do not stay educated we will ultimately
The purpose of the book is to prevent an unfavorable future where society is all conformed and everyone is the same. To prevent the destruction of individuality is the purpose of Fahrenheit 451. In Bradbury’s words “I wasn’t trying to predict the future” and he adds on “I was trying to prevent it.” (Qtd. In Miller). His words showing what he intended for this book to do. When the book was published there were a lot of technology advancements and Bradbury was trying to give his opinion on these changes and it is possible he was fearful of change (Historical Context: Fahrenheit 451). This is evident in the book itself. He did this with his word choice and language (Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaption). The setting of the book is a society in the future where books are outlawed and everyone is relatively the same. Bradbury is making a commentary on the way society is and how it is progressing. He is using this strategy to prevent society to go to the extreme like is presented in his work. Bradbury uses this stressed setting in his book to show how bad things can get and overwhelm his reader into realizing how awful this future would be. With concepts such as the multiple views of fire and its meanings in this novel showing how Bradbury stressed this future.
Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 leads from an average beginning by introducing a new world for readers to become enveloped in, followed by the protagonist’s descent into not conforming to society’s rules, then the story spirals out of control and leaves readers speechless by the actions taken by the main character and the government of this society. This structure reinforces the author’s main point of how knowledge is a powerful entity that would force anyone to break censorship on a society.
“Revealing the truth is like lighting a match. It can bring light or it can set your world on fire” (Sydney Rogers). In other words revealing the truth hurts and it can either solve things or it can make them much worse. This quote relates to Fahrenheit 451 because Montag was hiding a huge book stash, and once he revealed it to his wife, Mildred everything went downhill. Our relationships are complete opposites. There are many differences between Fahrenheit 451 and our society, they just have a different way of seeing life.
You take advantage of your life every day. Have you ever wondered why? You never really think about how much independence you have and how some of us treat books like they’re useless. What you don’t realize is that both of those things are the reason that we live in such a free society. If we didn’t have books and independence, we would treat death and many other important things as if it were no big deal. That is the whole point of Ray Bradbury writing this book.
Fahrenheit 451 is a book with a variety of themes including mass media, censorship, conformity vs. individuality, distraction vs. happiness, action vs. inaction, and knowledge vs. ignorance. These themes are expressed through events, quotes, and characters in Fahrenheit. The themes are also expressed in the real world in many things.