Society Exposed In Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

The Burn About Society There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.-Joseph Brodsky. In Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury shows what society would look like if the population was controlled, books were considered dangerous and burned, and what people would do supposing that they had no freedom to think for themselve. Faber is one of those people.

Guy Montag promotes satire through his action in burning books to keep the public from asking questions and to ensure everyone’s happiness. To ensure happiness the government has firefighters burn books so the public doesn’t have any other ideas other than portrayed by the government and what is shown on TV. By government rule fireman have been told to burn every book the public has including the house they are found in “it was a pleasure to burn” (Liukkonen). Montag enjoyed burning books as his job until his perspective changed. This example shows how brain washed the public has become because of the ban on books.

Beatty is a fire captain and a strong believer in the oppressive reign of the government and its policy of saying that books are bad, which is nothing but the suppression of knowledge and prevents people from questioning things that happen around them. He is confident in what he does and is also appealing to others, using his wit to control those around him by making them believe whatever he says to them. He is dedicated to his job of burning books and is loyal to the government by supporting its policy of illegalizing books. When Beatty said, “I've had to read a few in my time to know what I was about, and the books say nothing!

Books, which are one of the items that the firemen are burning, can contain some of the most interesting and vital information to the society and its people. “It’s not the books you need, it’s some of the things that were in the books.” (Bradbury 149) Books were one of the first tools to keep all the information in the world in on some of the most useful information to the world, now computer have consumed those roles but books are still in play becasue they are original information . Books are depleting but still have a great effect on history and the world today.

This lead to the society becoming an oppressive, unsympathetic, non-functioning society. Montag had learned the importance of books throughout the story and as he learns this fact, he grows as a character. Bradbury’s theme on technology is the reliance on technology blinds those who rely on it. This theme also develops through the characters, setting, and conflict. The characters of Montag and Mildred with their conflict of their ideas.

The job that is responsible for burning books belongs to the firemen. This happened when houses became fireproof. This book has a handful of characters that blindly follow the rules. Those characters live in ignorance and in lies. Life is all about choices and the choice to follow the rules or take a stand when rules are unjust is

Though dystopian societies are fictional, they can hold similar views found in American government. However, these views are different because the time, place, and current events taking place in the dystopian societies. A meaningful quote found in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, fireman Beatty says; “What do we want in this country, above all? People want to be happy, isn't that right?” (Bradbury 31).

Throughout history, people have been willing to die in protest against authorities for their ideas and their freedom of thought. The British tried to silence Gandhi when he fought to end imperialism in India and lead his homeland to independence. Some authoritative figures tried to silence Martian Luther King Jr when he fought against the accepted discrimination of the day and led the Civil Rights Movement. These two, and many more, believed that freedom of thought and their ability to express those thoughts despite was something worth dying for. The book Fahrenheit 451 emphasizes the importance of standing up for your ideas and freedom of thought.

The novel, Fahrenheit 451, conforms to two conventions; manipulation of history, and individuality and dissent are bad. Through the manipulation of history the government of this society holds a tight rein of the firemen, for example. In the beginning of the novel Montag meet a girl named Clarisse, who asked a thought provoking ‘question’ from him, “Is it true that long ago firemen put fires out instead of starting them?” (Bradbury 5), in reply he said, “No. Houses have ALWAYS been fireproof, take my word for it”

In Montag’s society, books are burned. The government just wants the citizens to be happy. Censorship was introduced to end controversy, tension, and rebellion, which is ironic since all three of these things happen towards the end of the book. Clarisse asks Montag an eye-opening question through the use of irony. The irony is that firemen are supposed to extinguish the fire, but in Montag’s society they start them.

Part 1: The Hearth and the Salamander “The Hearth and the Salamander” represents Montag’s job as a fireman and his home lifestyle. The hearth, or fireplace, is a symbol often used to represent a home or comfort place. The salamander the symbol on Montag’s work helmet and represents his work life. The firemen call their trucks salamanders. Both of these symbols have to do with fire: the hearth - heats a home (Montag’s home life) and - the salamander because of the common belief that salamanders live in fire and are unharmed.

“I only raised my hand once.” were the words that Mr. Berger-White said to the class. He explained how he raised his hand once during a class and his teacher did not approve his comment. Besides the fact that his teacher did not like his answer, he took a risk to raise his hand and speak. This was the first time that the idea of taking risks was really implanted in my mind.

Guy Montag’s gradual metamorphosis from a rule abiding fireman to a

“Books leveled down to a sort of past pudding norm”. The people in the book believe that books are pointless and just take up space. And what do you do when you have something that takes up space... you get rid of it. And that's exactly what firemen do in the book.

Secondly, Montag is influenced by Faber because he helped him learn the real meaning of books and why it is illegal in their community. " 'Do you know why books such as this are so important? Because they have quality. And what does the word quality mean? To me it means texture.