The Role Of Knowledge In Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

Knowledge is Important Could the world, as it is known today, still exist without knowledge? In Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451, the society that Montag lives in is shielded from knowledge. In Montag’s world reading books is illegal to read books because the people are afraid that the books might offend people. However, instead of helping the society, the absence of knowledge has made the people in their society ignorant and unaccepting of change. Knowledge is important because it provides power, educates ignorant people, and helps express individuality.

In Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, Guy Montag is a fireman. A fireman’s job is to burn books, not stop fires. If one was caught with books in their home, the firemen would burn the book owner’s house down. Nobody would expect Montag to read books and get other people to read books, but he does. Book reading starts an extensive line of events, including Montag murdering his boss.

Fahrenheit 451 is a futuristic book predicting that reading will be illegal and all books will be burned, people will be ignorant, and because knowledge is like power the government hides the books from them. Guy Montag, a fireman who is instructed to burn books by the government thinks he like doing it until he met a girl and realized, burning books didn't give him true happiness he was just being ignorant like everyone else. Why were books burned in this society? Books were burned in this society because the government believes knowledge is power, so keeping it hidden from society will be better for them. Instead of everyone talking to each other calmly, reading books, or enjoying nature they watch television the size of their wall, argue

“‘Who can stop me? I’m a fireman. I can burn you!’” (76). Ray Bradbury’s

Knowledge is power in the world and in the world of Fahrenheit 451. Ray Bradbury emphasises this theme, and in the interview he his theme is that the more you know the more powerful you will be. In the interview with Ray Bradbury he says “Teachers inspire, libraries teach. This shows he believes that a book can teach you, but only a person can make you want to learn. In the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury Beatty has a dream and in this dream Montag says “ Knowledge is power.

Throughout Fahrenheit 451 Guy Montag has undergone drastic changes. Through all the conflicts in his dystopian society, Montag evolved from a unemotional and careless fireman to one who will sacrifice for what he cares and believes in. One huge change Guy Montag has undergone is the change in his beliefs. On page 1 Montag states “It was a pleasure to burn” “ Montag was pleased by burning and fire” “It was a special pleasure to see things Eaten, to see things blackened and changed”. Montag was blinded by his role as a fireman that he couldn’t find his true emotion of burning.

At the beginning of Fahrenheit 451 Guy Montag was a mindless person who went along with society as everyone else around him, hating books. Montag enjoy his job as a fireman, to burn books after every job “he wanted above all, like the old joke, to shove a mushroom on a stick in the furnace, while the flapping pigeon-winged books died on the

“Knowledge is the key that unlocks all the doors. You can be green-skinned with yellow polka dots and come from Mars, but if you have knowledge that people need, instead of beating you, they'll beat a path to your door.” – Ben Carson. Even as a retired neurosurgeon, he still wants to know more; he is just like Guy Montag from Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Fahrenheit 451 is about a dystopian world where books are banned and burned where found.

In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury argues that knowledge is essential and can be censored easily if technology hypnotizes society. Beatty is talking to Montag explaining how their society came to be. He gives him this example, “Coloured people don’t like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White people don’t feel good about Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Bradbury displays ignorance vs. knowledge by revealing Beatty's true colors and having him describe how its better for the people to be happy and unknowing than unhappy and knowing. As the antagonist, Beatty, meets with Montag, he speaks about ignorance vs. knowledge to montag in a direct way. Beatty articulates about it in the following manner: “Cram them full of noncombustible data, chock them so damned full of 'facts' they feel stuffed, but absolutely 'brilliant' with information. Then they'll feel they're thinking, they'll get a sense of motion without moving. And they'll be happy, because facts of that sort don't change” (Bradbury 60).

In 1933 the nazis purged books or artworks that were considered “degenerate”. Degenerate means something that is not worth anything or useless. The reason the nazi’s purged the books because they viewed it as if they were not needed and hindered the society. Bradbury in Fahrenheit 451 conveys the image that books are looked down upon in the society just like they were in the nazi community. Books provide knowledge to individuals which allows opinions to be formed.

(AGG) Knowledge is one thing that drives humanity to keep evolving, the yearning to learn more is what separates us from other animals, but what happens when you take that away? (BS-1) The government knowingly creates a world that limits people’s knowledge in order to give themselves more control. (BS-2) This control has a negative effect on the humanity of the people, which is lost due to the lack of awareness and memories.

How Powerful is Knowledge? As once said by Francis Bacon, “knowledge is power”. In Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, Montag finds out the power that comes with knowledge. Montag receives knowledge, which causes him to question everything he knows, from his happiness to everyone around him. He realizes that virtually the entire population is ignorant and just think that books are a kind of poison.

Fahrenheit 451 Theme Analysis Sir Francis Bacon once said, “ipsa scientia potestas est” or “knowledge is power” and we often say this to encourage education amongst others. However, the power and knowledge struggle in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a prevalent theme in the book. For example, books and other forms of entertainment of similar substance are banned and even burned regularly because of this. Also, many people (because they don’t know) are unwilling to learn and even go as deep as to fear them. The public fears knowledge of this capacity because the government makes them afraid, but the government is no different- they also fear an educated public that have opinions and to a large extent, free will.

Guy Montag was fireman and his job was to destroy books. That’s why he states this, “It was a pleasure to burn” (Bradbury 3). This quote explains that he likes burning books; and he has been burning books for 20 years, and his Dad and Grandpa were also fireman. So it’s tradition to be a fireman. However Guy’s attitude changes when a woman burns herself to death because she loved her books.