Should Books Be Banned In Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

Similar to the recent news of multiple Roald Dahl novels being banned due to “offensive language,” Ray Bradbury’s hit novel, ‘Fahrenheit 451’ specifically outlines the reasons why all books should be banned for society to flourish. Beatty, the fire caption, is one of the largest influencers for the banning of books in the novel; he claims that the thinking books cause, due to the knowledge they obtain, will upset society because nobody likes to have to think. In his lecture with Montag, Beatty uses several types of persuasion to convince his audience that books should be banned. People are impatient, they desire to begin “real life” as soon as possible as everything leading up to that is deemed useless. Beatty explains that life is seen as productive once life is immediate and people are not worried about useless things such as books and thinking; “Life is immediate, the job counts, pleasure lies all about after work” (page number). In this society, knowledge is deemed

The government in ‘Fahrenheit 451’ brings happiness by simplifying daily life; no thinking, limited work, identical values, and similar lifestyles. The things that had mass were cut down until they were simple enough for someone to entertain themselves without having to think: books, politics, etc. Beatty claims that this is because of the evolving world, the population was increasing, and individual opinions were no longer easy to handle, “And because they had mass, they became simpler . . . Once, books appealed to a few people, here, there, everywhere. They could afford to be different. The world was roomy. But then the world got full of eyes and elbows and mouths. Double, triple, quadruple population. Films and radios, magazines, books leveled down to a sort of paste pudding norm…” (page number). Every book holds a different opinion on a certain topic, they’re controversial; they cause people to think, argue, and hold an individual