Theme of Censorship in Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451

"Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press (U.S. Constitution)." Throughout the ages, censorship has shown up in various forms ranging from printed works to television and the Internet. It can have the positive effect of protecting children from things they are too immature to view, but it can also have negative effects. Censorship may even suppress new and different ideas, keeping them from being made public. It may also set limitations, which stifle the creativity of authors and prevent them from thoroughly expressing their ideas. However it states the government should not censor the people of this country. In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury the people in the town of Phoenix were censored.

A censor is an official or government entity that removes or restricts books, plays, the news media, etc. in order to hold back information or ideas that go against moral, political, religious, military, or other grounds that are considered objectionable. According to the censors they are only trying to protect three basic institutions: "the family, the church, and the state (Sherrow 13)." A type of censorship is called "closet censorship." This censorship is done quietly, individuals would write formal complaints to the school officials or quietly ask a librarian to remove a book. These complaints are normally looked into because officials are afraid of lawsuits (Sherrow15). However when parents complain officials then restrict a book and this book then becomes banned.

There are many books that have been put on a list for many years that has been banned or is banned from people or more likely children under the age of 17. These books were banned because one of the many officials, pare...

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...own no one questions their job. Where firemen use to put out fires and save people instead they are starting fires and harming people (Bradbury 8). The author of the book takes the issue we face, censorship, and shows how it would affect a town, the government and a nation.

Guy Montag is a fireman in charge of burning books. In the town he lives in the people are forbidden to read books. Whenever a person was caught with books that made them question anything the books were burned and sometimes even the people. A young girl named Clarisse McClellan opened his eyes to the emptiness of his life with her innocently penetrating questions. She makes him start to think about the things he used to do such as his job (Bradbury 12). When he continues to talk to her, he begins to change.

Works Cited

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Ballantine, 1991. Print.