Back in my Day; An argument on Fahrenheit 451 and the morality of extreme censorship in our daily lives
Is knowledge power? Is it such a problem that we need to censor our books and media? A good example of this ideology is a book named Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 is a book about censorship and the gatekeeping of knowledge, Bradbury develops a theme that knowledge shouldnt be kept from the people and should be accessible to all. Some might say that certain knowledge shouldnt be known by all and that some knowledge is dangerous, such as the creation of dangerous weapons or substances, and although certain knowledge can be dangerous or even lead to an imbalance of power, most knowledge should be spread and built upon so us as a species can learn from it and become better as a whole.
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A good example of this is how the government runs in Fahrenheit 451. In Fahrenheit 451 the government controls who knows what and refuses to allow people to gain any knowledge, they keep the citizens ignorant and busy, in Fahrenheit 451 Clarisse mentions how “They run us so ragged by the end of the day we can’t do anything but go to bed or head for a Fun Park to bully people around…” (Bradbury, 30) all of this entertainment and stimuli keeps them distracted so they are easier to control, and to keep them from thinking or reading of others ideas the make them fear books and having intelligence by threatening them with death and torture. The book shows us that when knowledge is hoarded and hidden from others, it can lead to many problems for future
There are plentiful problems that F451 by Ray Bradbury could think of when he was writing his book. He found many flaws in our future, for example the Rules and Order could rule the earth, Suicide Rates will go up because interactions aren’t a thing anymore to even as simple as a front porch not being a thing anymore because people don’t like to socialize anymore. The F451 by Ray Bradbury talks about many things throughout the 150 Page book written in only 9 days. Bradbury was desperate to get the word out to never stop reading because back then reading was the pastime but today its watching TV to sitting on the computer for a span of hours each day. Here are 3 topics that are addressed in F451.
Using Censorship as Control “‘A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon’” (Bradbury, 58). Ray Bradbury’s dystopian novel, Fahrenheit 451, depicts a controlling government that deprives society of knowledge and censors ideas that may cause rebellion.
Could you imagine just scrolling through your phone one day and finding a news article saying that musicals have been censored and banned? Or flip flops? It would be very bizarre to have to go through life after experencing something that was now censored. What is even more weird is the affect it could have on the world though. It is strange to think about how such a small, normal thing could be taken away and have a massive affect on how the world works.
Imagine Living in a world thats all a lie in a society where television screens, fast cars, and the complete banishement of books is seen as the perfect solution. In this Novel firemen arent the heroes the extinguishers of fires that get out of hand they turn out to be the source of the fires of any book they come across, Observing the flames as they burn every last peace of litature. This was a time where a government had all power over a population by using there so called deadliest wepon and their authoritative power to make their citizens oblivious. The author Ray Bradbury, does a good job of showing the readers how censorship can transform a society in a not so good way, and how a person can use the power of knowledge to start a revolution. In the novel the authors message he is trying to put across is
Nowadays, people face problems with governments or a higher power censoring key information. This can happen at times when entire societies do not know the censorship is occurring. For example, governments in some countries block websites from loading; They can take down websites only from filtering a censored phrase. Likewise, in Fahrenheit 451, a dystopian novel by Ray Bradbury, all information in books is burned. The books containing information being burned by firemen, ordered by government officials, have now been censored by a higher power.
In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury shows that he does not support censorship and that there are many negative effects. In the book, Professor Faber, who is the main character’s friend and teacher, says to him, “‘So now do you see why books are hated and feared? They show the pores in the face of life. The comfortable people want only wax moon faces, poreless, hairless, expressionless’”
You’ve been living your life being able to do as you please and learn whatever you want at your own will. Then one day, everything changes, everything’s censored and you no longer have the free will to do what you want. That’s the idea of censorship, we see this idea throughout Fahrenheit 451. This is the literal definition of censorship: the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security.
Every government has some degree of censorship. Censorship is necessary in order to keep citizens safe and have a successful society. However, too much censorship can have the opposite effect and lead to a lack of knowledge, freedom, and individualism among citizens. Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel that demonstrates this idea. The characters live in a world in which all books are banned in order for everyone to be “happy”.
Imagine working hard on a novel and then having it banned from student to read in school. It should be a basic right of anyone to write about the truth of any matter. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury firemen burn books and the media is censored to prevent individuals finding their truth in a matter. These designated firemen, such as the main character Montag, who set fire to books and papers. This prevents anyone from furthering their understanding of the world or receiving a proper education.
Why censorship is harmful Everyday a parent or teacher tries to get a book banned or control what is taught in schools. There is even a banned book week. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a novel about a society that practices this sort of censorship. “Censorship in schools” defines censorship as “the suppression of ideas and information that certain persons- individuals, groups or officials- find objectionable or dangerous”. Censorship is very harmful to society.
Over the years, technology, censorship, and conformity have all had negative effects on society, but censorship has the biggest negative impact. Censorship may be useful to block inappropriate concerns, but it can cause the spread of misinformation while also denying the full truth. Censorship has led to the downfall of human connection, especially in Ray Bradbury’s society in Fahrenheit 451, where everybody is being shown and agrees on the same information. In the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, censorship has the greatest negative impact on society causing similarities within the society and having people believe in their own biases. The form of censorship in Fahrenheit 451 is book removal because books are a source of knowledge and
Would you like a world where your voice was silenced, a world where you have limited options when it comes to entertainment, a world where you see the same thing hundreds and hundreds of times. If not, maybe you would like your government to limit how much you learn about your favorite topic. If not, you may be opposed to government censorship. In the book Fahrenheit 451 the author Ray Bradbury portrays a society where the government has complete control over what people read, see, think and feel. The government in this book uses censorship to maintain power and control the people.
In the book Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury, books and other forms of media are controlled by the government. If anyone is found to have books of any kind, firefighters are sent to not put out fires, but to start them. The firefighters will take away the person possessing books, send them to jail, and burn their house down to rid of any book that it contains. Although this book is fictional, it predicted many things including the censorship and banning of books in today’s society. In the world that we live in, children are often exposed to the hard facts of life.
Censorship is a very prevalent issue within today’s society. From entertainment outlets such as television, to informal outlets such as news articles, censorship seems to find its way into every aspect of our culture. Because of this, many people have expressed their displeasure of censorship by making various critiques, commentaries, or satires on the matter. A perfect example of one of these commentaries is the 1953 science-fiction novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.
Censorship can affect everyone in the world in many different ways. In the case of the book “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury, it has a negative effect on the city. The government banishing the books from society is taking away the power of knowledge from the people. Knowledge is a way of power and with that, the more knowledge one has the more power they will have. This is also the case in slavery in the U.S in the 18th century.