Censorship In Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a dystopian novel depicting life on earth in which books are outlawed. In order to enforce this law, “firemen” are obliged to burn every book in existence. With startling resemblance to today’s society, Fahrenheit 451 develops a theme of censorship and suppression through the eyes of Guy Montag, a fireman who soon realizes the value of a single book.

Bradbury’s purpose of writing this novel is to raise awareness on society’s suppression and censorship of books. During the time this book was published, it was after WWII, and many pieces of literature were created containing sensitive topics that offended many people, especially minorities. According to Captain Beatty, a character who is for the outlaw of books,

He is introduced as a common man, going to work in the morning and coming home to his wife at night, repeating the process each day. When meeting Clarisse McClellan, a rebellious seventeen year old girl, he is friendly and engages in compassionate and innocent small talk. When at home he shows his love and care for his wife. When discovering her unconscious by an overdose of sleeping pills, Montag, assuming she was dead, felt like he was “cut in half” (Bradbury 13). The turning point of his kind character was during the burning of Mrs. Blake’s home. She refused to leave, and died in the fire. In the process of burning the books, Montag stole a book. He was a fireman and his duty was to burn books, but he took one instead. He was in such disbelief that he blamed his own hand which “had a brain of its own” (Bradbury 37). From this point, Montag was a different person. Instead of hating books and wanting to burn them, he wanted to read them. This was the major change Montag had throughout the whole book. His perspective of books changed which made him see the world differently. Montag became braver because of this. He was so traumatized by Mrs. Blake’s death in the fire yet he was able to kill Captain Beatty instantly with a flamethrower.When the hounds were running all over the city trying to find and kill him, Montag, no matter how weak he was or how scared he was, he was able to