Fahrenheit 451 Literary Analysis
Amy Collett
In the book Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury creates a futuristic society to exhibit his messages concerning censorship, technology, ignorance and knowledge. Bradbury shows faults in his society that bring out today’s reality, showing relevance to today’s readers.
One of Bradbury’s main messages comes across as censorship. In Fahrenheit 451, society is prohibited to read any books. To enforce this, firefighters burn books as a way to supervise and control the ideas and information that are circulated within the people. In our society today we are blessed with freedom of speech and the ability to have our own thoughts and opinions. We have the ability to determine right from wrong on our own, unlike Bradbury’s society who is told right from wrong. We often take for granted our abilities in today’s society because we don’t always recognize them. Others could argue that Bradbury’s society is too far off from ours making it irrelevant. We do not live in a world with fire fighters who burn books. “You can’t ever have my books,” (38) A women is burnt alive in her own home because she refuses to obey a law she doesn’t believe in. Consequently, fire fighters cannot save the women because their job is to obey the law. In our society today this is completely opposite. It is a fire fighter’s job to save lives and we instead encourage reading as a learning device to help better our knowledge and enable our own thoughts and ideas. Because the society in Fahrenheit 451 is so opposite from ours, it seems irrelevant. However, Bradbury helps recognize how lucky we are to live with our own thoughts and opinions, in a society with freedom of speech, in a society without censorship.
Technology continues to grow in our society today. In Fahrenheit 451 technology ranges from “parlor walls”, mechanical hounds, beetles, and “seashells”.
This technology is used as a tool to help control the amount of ideas and information provided. “It is an environment as real as the
In the book Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury creates a futuristic society to exhibit his messages concerning censorship, technology, ignorance and knowledge. Bradbury shows faults in his society that bring out today’s reality, showing relevance to today’s readers.
One of Bradbury’s main messages comes across as censorship. In Fahrenheit 451, society is prohibited to read any books. To enforce this, firefighters burn books as a way to supervise and control the ideas and information that are circulated within the people. In our society today we are blessed with freedom of speech and the ability to have our own thoughts and opinions. We have the ability to determine right from wrong on our own, unlike Bradbury’s society who is told right from wrong. We often take for granted our abilities in today’s society because we don’t always recognize them. Others could argue that Bradbury’s society is too far off from ours making it irrelevant. We do not live in a world with fire fighters who burn books. “You can’t ever have my books,” (38) A women is burnt alive in her own home because she refuses to obey a law she doesn’t believe in. Consequently, fire fighters cannot save the women because their job is to obey the law. In our society today this is completely opposite. It is a fire fighter’s job to save lives and we instead encourage reading as a learning device to help better our knowledge and enable our own thoughts and ideas. Because the society in Fahrenheit 451 is so opposite from ours, it seems irrelevant. However, Bradbury helps recognize how lucky we are to live with our own thoughts and opinions, in a society with freedom of speech, in a society without censorship.
Technology continues to grow in our society today. In Fahrenheit 451 technology ranges from “parlor walls”, mechanical hounds, beetles, and “seashells”.
This technology is used as a tool to help control the amount of ideas and information provided. “It is an environment as real as the