Banned Books and Why are They Banned?
Books are written for the pleasures of people and came from the hard work and efforts of writers. A writer’s story is mostly based off of themselves and it is known that you will know a person much better once you have read their writings. So why are some books banned?
Censorship throughout time has been precisely depicted in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. The actions of the book arsons done by the “firemen” took away any way to gain knowledge, information and the right to think for yourself has been shown as an everlasting cycle inside the book. Examples of such restriction include banning, and the disposing of offending literature, and in some cases, violence, or the possibly of persecution to the authors of the violated pieces. In Fahrenheit 451, censorship consist of book arsons, unscrupulous parlor families, and the narrow-mindedness for those who try to be individuals.
During the 1950s, America was facing the competitions with Soviet Union. Cold War, fear of atomic warfare, and communism influences intensified the society’s instability. What’s more, many social problems attracted people’s focus: many writers “concerns about censorship and conformity during a period when free expression of ideas could lead to social and economic ostracization” (Telgen 138). Many essays and novels reflected this social background. However, one author, Ray Bradbury, became a preeminent writer in that era. His work not only pointed out that the people are becoming more and more apathy as well as the censorship problem, but also showed people’s fear about war.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a powerful novel that has transcended time. The novel was published in 1953. Bradbury’s piece continues to resonant with readers. Fahrenheit 451 is a futuristic piece that tells a story of a society in which books are banned, firefighters are not used for putting out fires but rather starting them when banned books are found, and anyone who talks about the time when books were not shunned is considered an outcast. The novel’s protagonist, Montag, is a fireman who discovers the lies and develops an interest in the books he has been ordered to burn. Ray Bradbury’s intent for the novel, might have been to express his concerns about television taking over but the theme is censorship.
The first words of Bradbury’s novel state, “it was a pleasure to burn” (Bradbury 3). These words sum up the beginning character of Montag; he enjoys burning, and his job is to “answer alarms not to put out fires, but to start them (Moore 103). Guy Montag is a fireman, a man who is trained to spray kerosene on books, and light them in a spectacular show. He has never questioned his job or the reasoning behind burning books. He takes pride in his position, even shines his “beetle-colored helmet” as he hangs it on its hook (Bradbury 4). With fire Montag “bring[s] down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history”, and he revels in the power of destruction that fire holds (Bradbury 3). His only view of fire is a product of his job as a fireman; he sees fire as a machine, which simply burns and devours the freedom of the people. In this period of his life, Montag feels comfortable with machine, especially the machines that produce fire. He sees nothing wrong when his wife lip-reads his words instead of listening to him speak. When Montag first meets his young neighbor, Clarisse, he thinks of her in a mechanical mindset (Johnson 111). He sees them walking, as if “fixed to a sliding walk, letting the motion of the wind and the leaves carry [them] forward” (Bradbury 5). Hence, Montag feels comfortable around the soulless technology of his society; he loves to burn and to destroy, and he cannot think about the morals that surround his job and his culture.
A World Without Books – Too Good To Be True
Maria Periabras
Mrs. Patel
TA 04 Rosseel
ENG 3U1
Section 04
Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel written by Ray Bradbury in which the members of Bradbury’s futuristic society do nothing but destroy books and neglect knowledge, as well as watch television. Due to the government’s censorship practices, books are illegal and if caught with one, firemen set the book and the place it was found in on fire. One of those firemen, Guy Montag, was just as mindless as everyone else until he learns the joy of knowledge and escapes this world. In the much censored world of Fahrenheit 451, the people did not have a choice to read books, much less the luxury to own them, and this resulted in quite an unstable society. Bradbury’s novel is an anti-censorship piece, warning society of the dangers that come with censorship.
The Book I read was called Fahrenheit 451. Written by Ray Bradbury. Fahrenheit 451 took place in the 24th century. It was about a society that frowned on curiosity and outlawed books. The story focuses around a man named Guy Montage, A man who burns books for a living. The book talks about Guy and his enlightenment towards books and how he discovers himself in the process.
In schools around the nation, many books have been banned from the teaching curriculum. Some of them deserve to be banned due to the explicit content only suited for adults. Some books like the Harry Potter series, The Catcher in the Rye, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Hunger Games. Granted, there are language issues in Catcher and Huckleberry Finn, but that language exists everywhere. The censorship should not be as strict as it is because many great books are being banned that students should be reading in order to gain an understanding on who some great writers were. Some of the banned books should be reconsidered on whether they should be censored or not.
I do not like censorship for literature, even though some books have content that is for a more mature audience. I believe that literature is a way for people to express themselves that can also give the author's views on certain topic, so their work shouldn't be banned or censored just because of the content. In the United States, we have a right to freedom of speech, so I would think that literature fits under that right. Banning and censoring books is almost like taking the author's right of freedom of speech away. Even banning books in schools isn't good, because even though the content is mature, if the teacher thinks the students in that grade can handle it, then they probably can. It is understandable how parents worry about what their child is reading, but books can be a great way for kids to learn about serious issues and topics.
A variety of books are challenged and banned simply because it's just unsuited for certain age groups. But, no matter what age, shouldn't people be allowed to read whatever they desire? We has human beings have that individual right. On the other hand, if a parent does not want their kid reading a book they have a right as their guardian to tell them what books are and are not suitable for their age. It's not really fair for someone irrelevant in a child's life to tell them they can't read a book that may be appealing to them.