The Importance Of Censorship In 'Ray Bradbury'

Another factor in Montag’s life used to warn people is his relationship with his wife Mildred. The realization Montag makes about what censoring books results with, distances his relationship with his wife, who is consumed in technology and sees no problem with the government’s decision to ban books. From the beginning of the novel, it is evident that Mildred has a different mindset than Guy. While Mildred says she’s happy with the things she has Guy says “We have everything we need to be happy, but we aren 't happy. Something 's missing. I looked around. The only thing I positively knew was gone was the books I 'd burned in ten or twelve years. So I thought books might help”(Bradbury 82). This illustrates how censorship can create barriers

A polarization used to help reader’s understand the spectrum of individuality versus conformity. Mildred is consumed by technology. She is happy with her television and seashell earbuds. She relies on them for happiness and wants no part in Montag’s pursuit to read. The technologies aid in blinding her to the fading of marriage and lessened sense of her surroundings (Mitchell 226). Mildred also seems to always be involved with some technological activity. Right after Montag and Clarisse’s first conversation, the description of Mildred sitting in her bed “like a body displayed on the lid of a tomb”(Bradbury 10) illustrates the major difference. The comparison of Mildred on her bed to a dead person on a tomb says Mildred’s life is lived as if she is already dead. By sitting in her bed allowing technology she conforms to what the government wants, no individualized thinking and conforming to enjoying the technology without questioning banned books. The contrasting personality of Clarisse is what creates such a strong sense of paradox amongst characters. Montag’s skepticism of Mildred’s sanity increases as he begins to observe and people watch as Clarisse had repeatedly talked about. There is a point where Montag tries to communicate with Mildred but she is only consumed with the relationship with the people on the TV rather than the actual person standing in front of her. She has received a part in a play, she is only concerned with

Bradbury had several short stories that became first drafts of Fahrenheit 451. They included this main idea of burning books as more than just ridding the world of these words but “to burn the book is to burn the author, and to burn the author is to deny our own humanity”(Eller 168). While much of the novel seems to be focused around the actual stories being lost by the burnings, the authors’ individual experiences are portrayed through the pages as well. In Where Ignorant Armies Clash by Night “the book turned and fought...it seemed very much to want to live” is another depiction of books having life, another way of symbolizing this central idea. The burnings can also be considered “the death of living words”(Eller 169). The censorship not only takes away the matter of the books but also the history brought only able to be offered by these people, and killing