The Dangers Of Censorship In Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

”(cia.gov) Also, censorship helps protect people. During WWII, the government censored many different newspapers and news bulletins because they had appeals to the American people from Nazi leaders and Japanese leaders trying to manipulate the American people. The Government would restrict these news sources because they would decrease the American morale and make them want to end the war effort (Blankley). Censorship, in limited forms, is right and necessary

Censorship is a way of control. Censorship is used to control the social interaction of the public with the media. Such a censorship can be directed to various medias if the media is judged to be either immoral, blasphemous, obscene, unpatriotic, radical or seditious. In the novel, Fahrenheit 451, the government prohibited and burned books; the public is denied access to and the use of books the government deemed as objectionable or promoted individuality. The public is only authorized to access, keep and read rule books, trade journals and the three-dimensional comic books, any other books were subjected to burning.

If you had been told your entire life that books are evil, it would be hard to change your views without experiencing it for yourself. When Beatty talks to Montag, he tries to convince him that he should not be curious about books. Beatty tells him the truth about their society. By sharing this with Montag, Beatty makes Montag rethink everything that he thought that he knew about life. Beatty enabled Montag to see how terrible their society is and how unhappy he is; even though that had not been Beatty’s intention.

In this society, books are considered evil because they make people question and think hence why firemen are there to burn books. Another reason why books are banned is because minority groups were offended by certain types of literature. As days went on, more and more people were getting offended so more and more books were being taken off shelves. Eventually, someone decided to have all books banned since they would be left with none either way. One last reason why banning books were decided is because the lack of knowledge enhanced from books enables ignorance and ignorance creates people who are easier to control than people with knowledge.

Ironically, Fahrenheit 451 is one of the most banned books in American schools. The book was seen as evil for ideas like opposing the suppression of freedom by parties that presumed they had all the answers. Books such as Fahrenheit 451, 1984, Brave New World, The Giver, and The Hunger Games have been banned in schools, and they all explore the themes of suppressing freedom, information, and intellectual thinking. Prohibiting these books will only lead less thought; it will lead to the ultimate demise of society. If we do not learn from them, we will become them.

Books are outlawed because they allow a person to form their own ideas, which leads to chaos. “If you don’t want a man unhappy politically, don’t give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one” (Bradbury 58). Captain Beatty said this to Montag when he was explaining why the firemen do what they do. In the chase towards the end of the book the police arrest a man that is not Montag so the citizens are satisfied. If the chase continued for too long, people would become bored and uninterested.

How Captain Beatty of Fahrenheit 451 Illustrates “The Mindset of Those Who Censor” Persis Karim said in The New Assault on Libraries, "Obviously, the danger is not in the actual act of reading itself, but rather, the possibility that the texts children read will incite questions, introduce novel ideas, and provoke critical inquiry." Set in the 24th century, Ray Bradbury’s book, Fahrenheit 451, depicts a society in which books have been outlawed by a government fearing an independent-thinking public. Enforcing this law through incineration of book material, homes, and even book owners is the duty of firemen, such as the Chief Captain Beatty, whose insidious personality makes him the quintessence of an antagonist. However, his contradictions

The top three issues that Ray Bradbury had addressed in Fahrenheit 451 was ignorance versus knowledge, advancement of technology, and censorship. Bradbury had focused on ignorance versus knowledge because he feared that people are becoming ignorant. He was trying to draw attention to the fact that when societies do not read books they are becoming ignorant because books contain knowledge. He presents this in F451 by showing that when the firemen burn books they are depriving everyone of knowledge thinking they are promoting the society. In reality, though they are just being ignorant.

Concussions can affect people’s lives in many ways; one of them is mentally. Some examples are depression, anxiety, and mood swings. Depression involves, “…feeling sad or worthless, changes in sleep or appetite, difficulty concentrating, withdrawing from others, loss of interest or pleasure in life, lethargy (feeling tired and sluggish), or thoughts of death or suicide.” (Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center). Also used by the Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center; anxiety causes to feel nervousness or also to worry a lot.

In Ray Bradbury’s book Farenheit 451, it is illegal to own books, and society deems people who “think” and “question” unfit and those people are wanted by the government. In the novel, Bradbury ironically pictures firemen as a group of men who create fires, and the people who “think” and “question” are killed. In this book themes of conformity verses individuality, importance of remembering and understanding history, and freedom of speech and the consequences of losing it. These three thematic ideas are major factors that contributed to how the society’s everyday life is executed.

I found a censored quote on the ‘American Library Association’ . The quote stated “First Amendment freedoms are most in danger when the government seeks to control thought or to justify its laws for that impermissible end.” I believe this quote is stating that first amendment freedom is the most dangerous amendment when readers want and or don’t want the book to be public to all people. I also think the government making the decision is bad because its people deciding, not the government. They can 't just take our rights away from us and decide independently.

Montag’s search for justice is him looking for knowledge that the government is trying to destroy and replace with simpler forms of entertainment such as TV. "’ 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 (85).’ " People have gotten so politically correct that they would rather get rid of all different ideas than learn to understand and accept them.

Censorship of literature has always been a powerful means of manipulating society by limiting what the people are exposed to. This has been used as a way to suppress free thinking and new ideas, that could cause a shift in power in the society. The censorship of literature has been used by the powerful members of society forever, because of this societies fear the idea of their governments hiding information from the public. In Americus, a small town in Oklahoma is divided over a new teenager book series that some feel the series should be banned from the library. In contrast in Fahrenheit 451, a curious fireman indulges in a banded book, which enlightens him to a new outlook on life.

Faber is asking to get his house burnt to a crisp, but montag decide not to turn him into his higher ups. This society scares people that break the rules so much that they turn themselves in. This society makes people feel guilty for reading books. In the real world, society does something similar to this, just with opinions and not books. Society is so concerned about being politically correct , it silences people who have opposing opinions.

In a future where books are banned and destroyed by the government, Guy Montag, a fireman in charge of burning books, meets a schoolteacher who dares to read and a girl who tells him of a past when people did not live in fear. Fahrenheit 451 was a hard book to understand. Censorship played a big role in this. Fahrenheit 451 doesn’t provide a single, clear explanation of why books are banned in the future. Instead, it suggests that many different factors could combine to create this result.