“The books are to remind us what asses and fools we are”- so what happens when those books are taken away? In Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451, a wayward firefighter by the name of Guy Montag comes to realize the shallow, thrill-seeking nature of his own society, eventually choosing to overcome the pressure to fit in and rebelling in want of knowledge. Throughout the book, the struggle between the need to conform to society battles characters’ internal questioning reveals how pursuing only temporary pleasures leads to a meaningless, unhappy life, an inability to process the world around oneself, and ultimately strips away what makes one human- the ability to think and make decisions about oneself. Faber’s struggle between outward acceptance …show more content…
Faber said that he “did not speak and thus became guilty [himself]” when faced with the people’s issues (Bradbury 78). Because Faber, unlike most people, had the option of free will, his decision to remain inactive in the face of a moral issue made him more ‘guilty’ than those who did not have the option to choose. Faber’s literary knowledge gave him this option to choose, which in turn made him more human and less like the almost robotic, thoughtless remainder of society. When Montag tells Faber through the green bullet that there is no reason in changing himself if he is just “told what to do,” Faber praises him for being “wise already” (Bradbury 88, 89). As Montag starts to follow in Faber’s steps and question the world around him, he too comes to realize that the main reason for changing himself was in gaining the option of free will taken from him by society. Now that Montag had a taste of being able to choose his own path in life and saw Faber’s ability to choose how he handled the information he had- even if it was by choosing to conform- he did not want to return to his former life because he saw how empty it was. Faber’s final piece of advice to Montag on the value of books was that they granted “the right to carry out actions based on what we learn” from the quality of the information and time to absorb said information (Bradbury 81). In Faber’s opinion, books provide people with the knowledge they need to be properly informed in the decisions they make about their lives. Without this source of knowledge, free will becomes detrimental and less pleasant, and is eventually eliminated altogether. Without free will, humans may as well be robots, so in a sense, this knowledge is what makes one human. Faber’s silent conformity gave him time to discover that knowledge’s real value is found in the
Montag believes the answer to his misery is in the books he has been burning for years, this leads to unexpected courage and impulsive behavior. In this section, Montag also develops a desire to change and rebel against society and the norm. Seaking Faber and coordinating a plan to save books from burning serve as an example of Montag’s courage and curiosity. Speaking to Faber
(page 151). Kailen: I believe that this quote goes back to when Faber was describing to Montag about how books are people. Books are made of three things: quality information, leisure to digest it, and the freedom to act on what the reader learned. The book that Montag has to memorize is a mirror image of who he is inside since books are people and people are books.
The Burn About Society There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.-Joseph Brodsky. In Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury shows what society would look like if the population was controlled, books were considered dangerous and burned, and what people would do supposing that they had no freedom to think for themselve. Faber is one of those people.
Although when Montag visits Faber, Faber talks about how books aren’t important but the words inside them are: “It’s not the books you need, it’s some of the things that once were in books. The same things could be in the ‘parlor families’ today. The same infinite detail and awareness could be projected through the radios and televisions, but are not” (Bradbury 78). Although knowledge is important, it has become obsolete in the world of Fahrenheit 451. Faber though, being a past English professor, believes that knowledge is something that is necessary to the human brain and decides to share some with Montag.
As a result, Montag seeks and finds an older companion, Faber, who is “different” in society, as he believes books are for reading, not burning. Faber explicates to Montag that happiness does not come from physical books themselves, but “…in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us” (79). He relays to Montag that the happiness and uniqueness of society does not just have to complete with books, but
Montag’s plight in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, illustrates the human instinct to fight conformity in order to pursue knowledge when it is forbidden. The government’s attempt to ban literature from society proved only to incite the masses further. The effects of banning books lead to common suicides. In Fahrenheit 451, we learn that suicide is a common occurrence.
Ray Bradbury once said "You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them." In Fahrenheit 451's dystopian society, Bradbury perfectly shows how culture is non existent once books are banned. The people in the novel didn't have feelings for one another and were completely ignorant to their surroundings. Bradbury understood and conveyed how banning books is to ban individuality, intellectuality, and a culture as a whole.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” Some people choose to believe in fate while others choose to believe in free will. Fate is a power that is believed to control what happens in the future. Free will is the ability to choose the decisions in your life to be whatever you want them to be. One cannot live their life depending on luck or chance which is why free will depicts our future.
Montag has done a total reversal since when he met Clarisse. He started out as a man who burned books and destroyed ideas to a man who now not only wants to protect them, but bring back the freedom of thought. He seeks out a professor, Faber, who lost his job after his liberal arts school shut down because of lack of interest. During their first meeting, Faber is scared that Montag might arrest him or turn him in because of his position. Faber denies knowing anything about how many copies of different books are left.
“A time to keep silent and a time to speak,” (158) is a quote from the book Fahrenheit 451. This novel is all about how people conform to a society that burns books. They do so because they make people “think” thoughts that the government doesn’t want them to. Though there are some who are not conformed and read books to enlighten themselves to the ways of the past, that changes the way they see the present. Mildred, Faber, and Clarisse are characters that represent different aspects of conformity or nonconformity in the Fahrenheit 451 society.
The two of them decided to come up with a plan to show people that books are not worthless. c. Montag and Faber are living in a world where everyone believes that books have no value to them and should just be burned. However, these two characters think differently about them. Montag has been stealing books, and Faber has been teaching him about them. He learns that books reveal the bad parts of life, which is why many people hate them and decide not to read.
”(Bradbury 143). Beatty now says that knowledge is too powerful, so powerful that it drives people like Montag(who receive knowledge) mad. Knowledge is powerful, and some like Beatty believe that the population should have this power taken away. Bradbury uses Beatty to represent knowledge is power, and that getting rid of knowledge would make the world into a boring place without diversity, individuality, or
Neil Gaiman once wrote, “some books exist between covers that are perfectly people-shaped” (Gaiman xvi). The idea that books can be defined as the sharing of thoughts and information between people reveals a deeper meaning in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. In Fahrenheit 451, the protagonist faces a society in which books are censored and, thus, burned. This, according to his definition, means that if books become banned, certain connections between people will, too, be destroyed. Ray Bradbury reveals the theme (the importance of books) through the protagonist’s dynamic character, which comes as a result from his conflicts with society.
Montag makes Faber realize how important books and how he shouldn’t be afraid
Inclusion of the Bible in “Fahrenheit 451” Throughout much of Ray Bradbury’s novel “Fahrenheit 451,” we witness a society with a very prominent disdain of books or anything that provokes thoughts within individuals in that society. The people’s dislike for valuable thought eventually led to all books, philosophy, religion, and deep thinking being completely banned. Our main character in the book, Guy Montag, soon realizes how the way the world is organized is not the way he wants to be living. The night that Montag had answered a fire call while working at the fire station was the night that changed his perspective into realizing that the world lacks any knowledge of value.