Post by mizukey on Dec 10, 2008 20:10:43 GMT -8
Book Analysis: Fahrenheit 451
When the book Fahrenheit 451 is mentioned in conversation, its most often discussed quality is the stand it takes against censorship. This book may have been published more than fifty years ago, its lessons still hold true. Even though the censorship is the novel’s most often discussed theme, it also has underlying themes about the amount of control that a government has on a people and how that affects the world people live in.
The story line of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is not overly complicated. The story opens with the main character, a ‘fireman’ that burns books and the houses where they are found, goes by the name of Guy Montag. As he does his job of burning houses and books, a seed of doubt enters his mind by way of a teenaged girl with ‘revolutionary’ ideas and he finally starts to question why the government wants the books to be burned. Everything in his life seems to be going wrong and he starts to go a little bit crazy, including pulling out a large stash of books that he has hidden in the house and showing them to his wife, who is oblivious to the world because of her addiction to the interactive television.
The captain of the firemen catches on to what is going on and, after persuading Guy to reveal himself, burns Guy’s house to the ground. Guy escapes with a few books, but they are lost as he runs to the home of an old professor of literature. At the man’s home, Guy gets new clothes and devises a plan to escape the group of people that are coming after him, which he does with help from the old man. He runs farther, before dousing himself in alcohol and throwing on new clothes right before he jumps into a river outside of town, rendering the government’s equipment unable to find him. As he floats down the river, Guy finds a group of outcasts who are themselves ‘living books’. They live in the forests and wander from place to place, but they are unique because they have each memorized a book and are waiting for the time when they will be able to write them down again.
One of the themes that is being followed in class that relates to this book is the ever changing government. The United States started out as a pretty free country. Even today, we are still freer than lots of other people in other countries, but the gap is closing rapidly from both ends. Our government has grown more restrictive over the years and this book serves as a warning at what might happen should we move too far in that direction. There is a very delicate balance between keeping the nation a safe and productive place for the good of the people and restricting people’s rights. Bradbury is trying to show us what happens when the government takes complete control over a people, much like Big Brother is George Orwell’s famous novel 1984.
Fahrenheit 451 is a very intriguing novel that warns the people of today about what could happen if they are not careful about monitoring the actions of their governments. Bradbury presents his ideas through a story that is very easy to understand, yet it contains so many warnings about censorship, government policies, and other ways of life.
When the book Fahrenheit 451 is mentioned in conversation, its most often discussed quality is the stand it takes against censorship. This book may have been published more than fifty years ago, its lessons still hold true. Even though the censorship is the novel’s most often discussed theme, it also has underlying themes about the amount of control that a government has on a people and how that affects the world people live in.
The story line of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is not overly complicated. The story opens with the main character, a ‘fireman’ that burns books and the houses where they are found, goes by the name of Guy Montag. As he does his job of burning houses and books, a seed of doubt enters his mind by way of a teenaged girl with ‘revolutionary’ ideas and he finally starts to question why the government wants the books to be burned. Everything in his life seems to be going wrong and he starts to go a little bit crazy, including pulling out a large stash of books that he has hidden in the house and showing them to his wife, who is oblivious to the world because of her addiction to the interactive television.
The captain of the firemen catches on to what is going on and, after persuading Guy to reveal himself, burns Guy’s house to the ground. Guy escapes with a few books, but they are lost as he runs to the home of an old professor of literature. At the man’s home, Guy gets new clothes and devises a plan to escape the group of people that are coming after him, which he does with help from the old man. He runs farther, before dousing himself in alcohol and throwing on new clothes right before he jumps into a river outside of town, rendering the government’s equipment unable to find him. As he floats down the river, Guy finds a group of outcasts who are themselves ‘living books’. They live in the forests and wander from place to place, but they are unique because they have each memorized a book and are waiting for the time when they will be able to write them down again.
One of the themes that is being followed in class that relates to this book is the ever changing government. The United States started out as a pretty free country. Even today, we are still freer than lots of other people in other countries, but the gap is closing rapidly from both ends. Our government has grown more restrictive over the years and this book serves as a warning at what might happen should we move too far in that direction. There is a very delicate balance between keeping the nation a safe and productive place for the good of the people and restricting people’s rights. Bradbury is trying to show us what happens when the government takes complete control over a people, much like Big Brother is George Orwell’s famous novel 1984.
Fahrenheit 451 is a very intriguing novel that warns the people of today about what could happen if they are not careful about monitoring the actions of their governments. Bradbury presents his ideas through a story that is very easy to understand, yet it contains so many warnings about censorship, government policies, and other ways of life.