The Importance Of Power In Fahrenheit 451

623 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The importance of literacy to individuals and society

Knowledge and Power go hand in hand. People cannot obtain power without being knowledgeable. A society’s way of gaining knowledge can vary from learning in school, to reading books and watching television, but when one of those vital things is taken away they quickly become reliant on only what the government shows to the public. A population easily becomes oblivious to the rest of the world’s problems given that their only source of knowledge is government controlled. Only a few minds venture out in to the unknown of books, those people out-casted and punished. When Guy Montag, a fire-starting fireman ventures out into the unknown he is faced with many difficulties. Does he stay with what he knows or fight against society for what he now believes to be right? …show more content…

1. …show more content…

“Do you know why books such as this are so important? And what does the word quality mean? To me it means texture. This book has pores.” (79) Faber explains to Montag what he believes to be the real importance or meaning of books. This quote connects the text to the part two title “The Sieve in the Sand”. The sieve has pores as well as books. The real meaning of books or the overall moral message leaves one’s mind as soon as it enters it. This greatly impacts Guy Montag, who has never experienced “filling up” one’s mind with new knowledge from written literature. Not only Montag, but all of society becomes a sieve, not truly realizing the meaning of life around them.
2. “We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and made equal like the constitution says, but everyone made equal. A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon. Breach the man’s mind.”

Show More
Related

  • Theme Of Government Control In Fahrenheit 451

    555 Words  | 2 Pages

    Books are outlawed and burned. People are being taken away for owning them. The government has made these laws. THis is the society that Montag lives in. He has figured it out and wants to fix his society, but first he has to eliminate the biggest problem. That problem is the government control.

    Read More

  • Fahrenheit 451 Dichotomy

    524 Words  | 2 Pages

    The novel "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury correlates with the 2002 film "Minority Report" because of the similarities between characters, setting and imagery, and thematic detail.

    Read More

  • Struggle For Power In Fahrenheit 451, Invisible Man, Lord of the Flies and Julius Caesar

    1150 Words  | 3 Pages

    On the opposite side of that spectrum, there is a struggle for power by the

    Read More

  • Comparing the Struggle for Power in 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Invisible Man and Julius

    1168 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Struggle for Power in 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Invisible Man, Julius Caesar, and Lord Of The Flies

    Read More

  • Theme Of Corruption In Fahrenheit 451

    937 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the book Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, the main character, Guy Montag, lives in a city where there is no knowledge, emotions, nor anything else. The citizens of this city also have to live their lives be watched by machines. All these rules setup by the government are in place in order to keep citizens from overthrowing the government. They, the government, keep these rules so that the government can manipulate and corrupt citizens, overall making a corrupt city.

    Read More

  • Dehumanization In Fahrenheit 451

    1260 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Comparing Lois Lowry’s The Giver and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451

    2199 Words  | 5 Pages

    His job is to start houses on fire that contain books. Guy loved his job until he came across a professor who told him of a future where people could think. Suddenly, he realizes there is something he needs to do. Both Jonas and Montag live in highly disciplined societies that depend on an effective means of enforcing rules by acts of punishment. The conflict between the power of the individual and the power structures of the communities suggests that radical, yet positive social change may be possible through courageous acts of resistance.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Anthem And Fahrenheit 451

    1037 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the novella Anthem, Equality demonstrates a desire to learn, and although his teachers reprimand this action, he declares, “We wish to know...We asked so many questions that the Teachers forbade it” (Rand 23). Furthermore, Equality wonders, “what— even if we have to burn for it…what is the Unspeakable Word?”, epitomizing his determination to unveil society’s secret regardless of the consequences (Rand 51). His statements establish conflict within himself as he yearns for clandestine knowledge, but recognizes that society forbids his ardor. Similarly, in Fahrenheit 451, Montag begins to doubt the government’s views on literature, proved when he states, “There must be something in those books, things we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house” (Bradbury 51). Montag’s proclamations introduce a battle within himself because he must now decide whether to conform to society’s ban on literary works or transgress by exploring a book’s contents. Because the government in both Anthem and Fahrenheit 451 restrict certain knowledge from its citizens, Equality and Montag face the internal conflicts of deciding whether to comply with society’s dictums or to contravene laws in order to find this

    Read More

  • Fahrenheit 451 Essay

    1147 Words  | 3 Pages

    People nowadays have lost interest in books because they see it as a waste of time and useless effort, and they are losing their critical thinking, understanding of things around them, and knowledge. Brown says that Bradbury suggests that a world without books is a world without imagination and its ability to find happiness. The people in Fahrenheit 451 are afraid to read books because of the emotions that they will receive by reading them and claim them as dangerous. Bradbury hopes to reinstate the importance of books to the people so that they can regain their “vital organ of thinking.” In Fahrenheit 451, Montag steals a book when his hands act of their own accord in the burning house, regaining his ability to read and think on his own (Bradbury 34-35; Brown 2-4; Lee 3; Patai 1, 3).

    Read More

  • Fahrenheit 451 Dialectical Journal Questions And Answers

    330 Words  | 1 Pages

    I think this section is called “ the sieve and the sand ” because Guy montag life is like the sand and the sieve is what his life is slipping through fast . “ You’ve got to hand it back tonight, don’t you? ”c aptain Beatty knows you got it, doesn’t he?” “ I don’t think he knows which book i stole . but how do i choose a substitute? Montag is going against the law by having a book, stealing a book ,and framing someone else for having a book . the sieve and the sand is a cause and the effect plot because montag stole books his life is changing dramatically. A sieve is a utensil consisting of a wire or plastic mesh held in a frame, used for straining solids from liquids ,for separating coarser from finer particles or for reducing soft solids to a

    Read More

  • Fahrenheit 451 Critical Analysis

    735 Words  | 2 Pages

    The North Korean government is known as authoritarian socialist; one-man dictatorship. North Korea could be considered a start of a dystopia. Dystopia is a community or society where people are unhappy and usually not treated fairly. This relates how Ray Bradbury's 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451 shows the readers how a lost of connections with people and think for themselves can lead to a corrupt and violent society known as a dystopia.

    Read More

  • Fahrenheit 451 essay

    783 Words  | 2 Pages

    Are you really happy? Or are you sad about something? Sad about life or money, or your job? Any of these things you can be sad of. Most likely you feel discontentment a few times a day and you still call yourself happy. These are the questions that Guy Montag asks himself in the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. In this book people are thinking they are happy with their lives. This is only because life is going so fast that they think they are but really there is things to be sad about. Montag has finally met Clarisse, the one person in his society that stops to smell the roses still. She is the one that gets him thinking about how his life really is sad and he was just moving too fast to see it. He realizes that he is sad about pretty much everything in his life and that the government tries to trick the people by listening to the parlor and the seashells. This is just to distract people from actual emotions. People are always in a hurry. They have 200 foot billboards for people driving because they are driving so fast that they need more time to see the advertisement. Now I am going to show you who are happy and not happy in the book and how our society today is also unhappy.

    Read More

  • Fahrenheit 451 Ignorance Vs Knowledge Essay

    673 Words  | 2 Pages

    Some characters like Montag did not succumb to the ignorance of society. Unlike Mildred characters like Montag believed in the power books and knowledge. Montag was once like Mildred until he met Clarisse; his neighbor. Clarisse was different from anyone Montag had ever met. She made him question his career, his happiness and even his marriage. After talking to Clarisse, Montag realizes he’s been ignorant for his whole life and begins a dangerous search for knowledge. After eventually stealing a book and reading it Montag realized that knowledge is really important. Books symbol knowledge because they provide their readers with information they did not know prior to opening the book. Montag no longer believed that ignorance was bliss “”. Through Montag’s fight for knowledge Bradbury is able to help the readers to understand that people are afraid of knowledge because they fear making mistakes. “You’re afraid of making mistakes. Don’t be. Mistakes can be profited by” says Faber (Bradbury 104). Knowledge is gained from experience. The best and worst sides of Montag were revealed during his journey because he made mistakes and learned from them. At the end of the novel Montag like readers comes to the realization that knowledge and experiences is the true meaning of life.

    Read More

  • Fahrenheit 451 and Cautions for Society

    864 Words  | 2 Pages

    Much of what the future holds are consequences of the events that have already taken place. Ray Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit 451 is a story about a lifestyle in the future that has evolved from our present, but in a seemingly different world. There is no flow of ideas, and the main purpose in a person's life in those days was to relax, not think, and be happy. Despite the seemingly unreality of the world in the future, the author is using it as a cautionary tale of what may become of our society. Bradbury stresses his views on how best to keep our society's system of government checks and balances, technological advances, and its fluidity of ideas.

    Read More

  • Educational Equity

    1191 Words  | 3 Pages

    “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…” (Declaration of Independence,1776)

    Read More

More about The Importance Of Power In Fahrenheit 451

Open Document