Fahrenheit 451 themes
Uploaded by ktchang on Dec 11, 2012
“The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem.” Milton Friedman. This quote suggests that whenever there is a problem, the solution the government gives will not be better than the problem itself. It relates to the book Fahrenheit 451 because the solutions the government figured out is not reasonable. In the story, Bradbury tells the audience that censorship, conformity is a bad thing through the character Montag, whose job is to burn books, learns about his society that he is currently living in. He was inspired by a girl called Clarisse, who is a non-conformist in the book, and was taught more knowledge by Faber, an old man who keeps some books. Also in their society, there is Beatty, captain of the fire department, who tries to stop Montag from rebelling against the unfairness of the government. Furthermore, it suggests other minor characters that care only for themselves, like Mildred, Montag’s wife, cares only about getting a TV and having fun but ignores almost everything about Montag. Bradbury instills knowledge about how people should live their lives through the themes of censorship, conformity, and loss of humanity.
First of all, the editing of media is one way Bradbury teaches us how not to live lives. In the current world, censorship means the suppression of a published or broadcast material. The media is a powerful tool to manipulate public opinion; government will use this. Because people now watch a lot of movies, books, and other kinds of media, censorship may be used at times like this. According to Fahrenheit 451, the main thing that gets censored is books. Instead of just editing one part of the book to make it available for everyone to read, the people in their society burn the book. An example of censoring books is when “’colored people don’t like Little black Sambo. Burn it. [When] [w]hite people don’t feel good about Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Burn it…’” (59). The people do not face the problem; instead, they just destroy everything a majority amount of people dislike. Also in their society, the government controls everything because people rely on them. So when Montag the fugitive is on the streets, the government is afraid of losing control of their people so they get...