Fahrenheit 451 Censorship

A detailed Summary of Fahrenheit 451 Censorship

Censorship and Its Effects in Fahrenheit 451

Censorship and its effects are the heart of Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit 451. In the novel we learn of a future world that seems quite possible given the way the world is today. Author Bradbury shows how the banning of books, and thus free thought, can have dramatic and disastrous effects on society. He especially highlights how the government controls how people think and feel.

The books in Fahrenheit 451were banned for several reasons. First off, many books were banned because they weren't politically correct.

"Colored people don't like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White people don't feel good about Uncle Tom's Cabin. Burn it. Someone's written a book on tobacco and cancer of the lungs? The cigarette people are weeping? Burn the book. Serenity Montag. Peace Montag" (Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, 59).

If one group of people, no matter how small, didn't like a book, it would be banned. This is already starting to happen today. For example, many schools are banning the Harry Potter books because Christians don't like the "satanic" messages in them. Jack Zipes states that this contrasts Bradbury's views. He claims that Bradbury believes that the books are heroes and that

Schools in the future teach much less than they do today. There is no real education, and what does exist consists of things that will help turn the youth into another generation of brainless drones of the government (Bradbury 29-30).

Some people were like Faber. They knew what was going on but did little to stop it. They were too afraid to speak out. Faber does help Montag though. Jack Zipes states that Faber's name gives us an impression of a builder. He build's Montag's interest in books and intellectual freedom (Zipes 185).

A world that bans all books is not a very good one. The people are brainless and uncaring, people are killed in abundance, and there is no intellectual freedom. This is a society that is a possible future for our planet. Everett T. Moore claims that Ray Bradbury believes that we may still see our world turn out this way (Moore 403). It is a society that most people would not want to live in. It is a society where the government has god-like power, and the people are just pawns.

Very few future citizens were like Clarisse. They knew what was going on and spoke out about it. Zipes says that Clarisse's name also gives an image. Her name makes us think of light and clarity. She clarifies Montag's life and raises his curiosity in books (Zipes 185). They think that the non-intellectual world is a living death. They secretly hide books and read them. They often die, as Clarisse and the woman in the beginning of the novel were. Sisario says that the government considered Clarisse to be a time bomb, because she was an observant person who questioned society (Sisario 203). This clearly shows the reader that the society of the future not only disliked observant people, but also believed they were the cause of all problems.

The third main reason for the ban of books was because of equality. The people of Bradbury's world believe that well-read people have an advantage over those who do not read. According to the masses everyone should be equal (Bradbury 58). Zipes states that Bradbury wanted to show how "conformity is hell" (183). Most people would agree with this statement. The human abilities of expression and creation are what separate us from the animals. If a person cannot use his advanced mind to think and create, then he might as

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Approximate Word count = 1532
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English