"Fahrenheit 451"

Book Review # 111186

English > Analysis
Literature > American

"Fahrenheit 451"

An analysis of the significance of books in Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451".

1,081 words () | 0 sources | 2009 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how the author of "Fahrenheit 451", Ray Bradbury, creates a very funereal future for the protagonist Guy Montag to live in and how at first, Montag is like everybody else living in this world, ignorant of the joy that books contain. It looks at how throughout the story, there are many things that begin to spark his interest with books until he finally realizes that a man was behind every single one of these books and how more importantly, these books help tear down the chains against free thinking that the government has placed on the people they govern. It also examines how books in "Fahrenheit 451" remain an unwavering beacon of hope, a hope that freedom of thought will one day return to the world through the books.

From the Paper:

"The society that Montag resides in stresses the citizen's happiness over all else. If the citizens aren't happy, then something will be done to make them happy, no matter the repercussions. "If 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...Peace"(63). Burn the books. Burn all of the evil and dangerous books. In this society, the happiness of the citizen is stressed, no matter what kind of repercussions that will result. No matter what is suppressed. As long as the end result will ultimately be the happiness of the citizens. Now, after all of the evil blasphemous books have been taken away, and the government has censored all other forms of information to their liking, there are no ways that people can think for themselves. "