...“Robert Reilly claims that the novel is "a frightening picture of how the products of science can destroy persons and human values" (67), but this is an unfortunate simplification” (McGiveron). This quote brings up another overlaying theme in Fahrenheit 451 which is the dehumanization of the populace in the novel. The people in this book no longer care about anything whether it be their children, war, death, or the problems in the world around them. This is because the less they had to think the more they stopped to care and they gradually stopped caring about anything at all. Death, war, famine, and pain are all just words to them and mean nothing because they no longer understand the gravity of these concepts and it is all because...
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...Technology is a very valuable tool in education. The internet allows students and teachers to immediately access multiple sources of information related to any topic. In the past, students and teachers spent hours in libraries reading encyclopedias to find information that they can now find in just a matter of a minutes. While there is almost no doubt that technology is a wonderful tool for education, like all tools, it must be used responsibly. However, the benefits of the use of technology in education outweigh the negatives. In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury warns against technology taking over the lives of people. In the world portrayed in the story, books are illegal, and are burned when discovered. Technology has led to...
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...Censorship is the practice of officially examining books, movies, and suppressing unacceptable parts. In Fahrenheit 451 owning books is illegal. If books are found they are burned as well as he or she. For example in F451 an old lady was burned with her house full of books as she believed they were worth dying for, that is when Montag realized everything, meaning he started questioning his job, wife, and society in general. Bradbury does not give clear thoughts on censorship. Most people are afraid of change, but one can not stop it from happening luckily, when it does, it usually results with a silver lining. Interest outside of technology are viewed as strange and threats to the rest of the citizens. Fast cars, loud music,...
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...Aaron Burne 11th period Stiffler 5/7/09 In Ray Bradbury’s science fiction novel “Fahrenheit 451”, the protagonist, Guy Montag, experiences a big change in his perspective on life. In a society where books are banned, and intellectualism and deep thought are shunned, Montag begins to realize how empty life is and how little value life has anymore. He begins to read books and tries to talk about them, against the wishes of his wife and boss. Although his new habit gets him into deep trouble at the end, he defends his ideas and escapes the unnamed city where he resides. Going from being a close-minded conformist to a book-reading radical, Montag is a prime example of a dynamic character, a character that changes over the course of the story. In the beginning of the story, Guy Montag has the same mindset as everyone else, lacking emotion and understanding. His job is to burn books and the houses in which they hide, as books are illegal, which he enjoys doing. He is returning home from work one day when he meets Clarisse, a teenage girl who is extremely vivid and deep in thought. Montag, who is brainwashed not to think like Clarisse, is intrigued by her. When they arrive at her house, she explains the noise inside: “Oh, just my mother and father and uncle sitting around, talking.” (Bradbury 9), a habit Montag has never seen before in a family. He becomes jealous of her and her family for having everyday conversations that have much more meaning than any he has with his wife,...
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...Tyriq Coleman E2 Honors Begovich In Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, the use of archetypes contributes to the overall strength of the novel. During when the various times the “light vs dark” archetypes are utilized and when the archetypical death and rebirth occurs to convey the extent of which the novel is strengthened by archetypes. In Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 the light vs dark archetype helps show to what extent archetypes are used to strengthen the novel when Montag is conversing with Clarisse after Mildred began reading her script. The author states “He felt his body divide itself into a hotness and a coldness, a softness and a hardness, a trembling and a not trembling, the two halves grinding one upon another.”{Bradbury 21}. In this passage Bradbury is showing that inside Montag the light and dark are warring against each other. As light vs dark are opposites the author uses opposites to show the relationship between the two, for example the comparison between cold and hot, the cold represents the dark as darkness is inherently cold as light provides heat. The two parts grinding against each other show to the light and dark at war, as they at odds at one other. Since they cannot coexist the light and dark in this situation refer to the Montag, in that they are his struggle to free himself from the ignorance that is his societal beliefs. The author also states when Clarisse and Montag walk to her house, "When they reached her house all its lights were blazing" (Bradbury...
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...Theme of Fahrenheit 451 “Is it true, the world works hard to play ?” The theme of Fahrenheit 451 is that when people are forced to conform, they can’t show what they are capable of doing. Throughout the text, this theme can be showcased in many places. Starting off with the first quote, it can be found on page 82 saying, “We are living in a time when flowers are trying to live on flowers, instead of growing on good rain and black floam“. During this time, Faber was explaining to Montag on why he thinks books are so important, but also says what his take on books being burned was. So this quote talks about how people are living a caged, easy life of not breaking out to do what's different. They all basically have the same...
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...After reading Fahrenheit 451 and listening to Adam Ostrow’s speech, I agree more with Granger’s idea of leaving a legacy behind by making a physical and noticeable change in the world instead of Ostrow’s idea of making a virtual change using technology. In a world where books are burned instead of preserved, the people of Fahrenheit 451 live meaningless lives without knowledge. Granger, the leader of a homeless intellectual group, wants to make a difference in his society; therefore, he teaches the reader that in order to make a lasting impact on the world, one must touch and mold it into something different from the way it was first seen. He explains that something must be physically changed in order for anybody to leave a proper legacy behind....
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...In the second book of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Montag begins an attempt to change the world around him. In this attempt of retaliation against society, he tries to make people realize the beauty of books. However, in doing this, people view him as psychotic and it then proves to them that books are malevolent. While having a group meeting at his house with Mrs. Bowles and Mrs. Phelps along with Mildred, Montag makes an effort to read the ladies a book to show them the tranquility in poetry. When finished reading the poems, Mrs. Phelps’s excitement rapidly subsides and she starts to sob. Mrs. Bowles then yells “‘Now I’ve had it proved to me. You’re nasty, Mr. Montag, you’re nasty!’” (97). In the repetition of “You’re nasty,” Mrs. Phelps...
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...In the book Fahrenheit 451, by Ray bradbury, a 40 year old man by the name of guy montag is a fireman. The only problem with his job is that he’s not like our firmen today, no instead he’s the one who sets houses on fire. Strange you might ask yourself, and why you might ask. Well during the time that montag is in, books are illegal and when someone is caught with books they are arrested and their books and house are burned along with everything inside. In this essay i’ll be explaining about the style of this book. About how Bradbury uses tone, diction, and sentence structure in his popular novel. I’ll first talk about the tone in which Bradbury uses in his book, and his attitude on the subject in his book. His tone toward burning books in somewhat portrayed through montag and his adventure of finding out the true purpose of books. In the book montag takes a book home after burning down a house and begins to read it, to find out what hey say about books is actually entirely true. What he find changes his whole perspective about books and what they really do to people. Montag or in this case Bradbury makes books seem completely harmless and essential in everyday life. On page 82 montage exclaims “I just want someone to hear what I have to say,” this shows that he’s beginning to questions things, and how he wants to...
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...Theme Thesis The theme that FAHRENHEIT 451 is trying to express throughout the book is that the authoritarian government doesn’t want people having independent thoughts. I believe this is what Ray Bradbury was trying to express by how the Society acted towards books. Also By how the motif books go well with social control vs individualism since everyone is supposed to act the same and no one is allowed to think differently. With the quotes that I have found throughout the book, I will support that the authoritarian government doesn’t want independence thoughts. The following quotes from page eight and nine “ ‘Do you read any of the books you burn?’ He laughed.‘ That’s against the law!’” and “ ‘ I rarely watch the ‘parlor walls’ or go to races or Fun Parks. So I’ve lots of time for crazy thoughts… He suddenly...
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...Montag Changes in Fahrenheit 451 “It’s fine work. Monday burn Millay, Wednesday Whitman, Friday Faulkner, burn ‘em to ashes, then burn the ashes. That’s our official slogan.” said Montag. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury this quote shows what the book is about and how Montag thinks of books in the beginning. Montag changed a lot through the story he went from a routine life to being enlightened/ understanding books to rebelling in the end. In Fahrenheit 451 Montag was brought up believing books were worthless so he didn’t care if they burned or not. In the book Montag states “It was a pleasure to burn” (Bradbury 1). In the beginning Montag didn’t think twice about burning books he just did his job. An important person/ experience...
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...Within the book Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury, the characters, along with their individual conflicts and developments, help paint the big picture of the story; censorship. A word that many associate with blackout of profanity on TV, or even obscene scenes within movies that are aired on TV, however, by definition, censorship means: the practice of officially examining books, movies, etc., and suppressing unacceptable parts. Take careful note of the word unacceptable “parts”. While within this particular story line the government does suppress many knowledge-based objects and actions, the various characters show different depths of censorship, or their lack of, and how it shapes, affects them as people. Through the eyes of Guy Montag, a fireman that takes great pleasure in his job, readers witness the depth of censorship lying within. The “firemen” that are depicted in Bradbury’s novel start the fires. Men like Montag are issued flamethrowers to consume entire libraries in a gulf of flames, clearly displaying how thoroughly books are censored, up to the point of burning every single one of them. Not only do firemen represent the willingness of mindlessly censoring objects they have not a clue about, but Montag is representative of the percentage within this group (society as a whole) that enjoys the act...
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...Reading The Bible results in jail for life. This is what life is like for people in Fahrenheit 451. Fahrenheit 451 is book set in the future in an unknown country. The government has censored material so much that most of society conform and become oblivious to what the government has done. Although there is a presence of individuality in Fahrenheit 451, the presence of conformity is more prevalent. Conformity is when a person complies with rules, regulations, and social normalities. Individuality is a quality or character that makes a person different from others. Through the use of individuals, such as Clarisse and Mildred; the government; and media and technology Fahrenheit 451 highlights the key elements of both individuality and conformity....
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...Kevin Kim Mr.Cimetta ENG 4U 13 May 2015 Fahrenheit 451 Essay The society of Fahrenheit 451 is filled with corruption and betrayal. Governments use technology to control over their people but as the novel shows, it is almost impossible to keep everyone in control. Through Montag’s meeting with Clarisse, Montag’s betrayal against the government, and government’s use of technology thoroughly showed the corrupted society created by the government in the novel, Fahrenheit 451. The protagonist, Guy Montag, also spent his entire life in the corrupted society created by Bradbury. He worked for the government since he was twenty years old for ten years as a fireman. In the novel’s society, fireman’s job was to burn down books. Montag says, “Books make people unhappy, they make them anti-social”. This quote shows how Montag is also part of the corrupted society. “As they walk home together, Clarisse asks Montag about being a fireman. At first, he laughs at her questions, like when she asks why has never read a book. “That’s against the law!” he laughs” (Bradbury 5). This scene shows how books are forbidden from the society. As mentioned above, Montag worked for the government as a fireman since he was twenty years old for ten years. He never questioned or thought about why books were...
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... In the novel, conformity and obedience are expected out of every individual. However, individuality is illegal and people are arrested simply for looking different. Instead of reading books, the public is encouraged to watch television with programming directly aimed at promoting conformity. Montag describes the television’s impact on society, stating that it, “tells you what to think and blasts it in. It must be, right. It seems so right. It rushes you on so quickly to its own conclusions your mind hasn't time to protest”(Bradbury). Much like in modern society, Montag’s society is being brainwashed by the selective programming sent to them on their televisions. Before reading books and learning of his government’s corruption, Montag thinks nothing of the television just like everyone else. Society is blind to the methods being used to manipulate them because of the lack of information they are receiving. In many developing nations, there are dictatorships that control what every media outlet broadcasts to the public. In these nations, “citizens have no access to information from outside their country and are forbidden to criticize the government. Many people in these censored countries live isolated, sheltered lives, ignorant of alternative ways of life and thinking”(Smith). Because they are unable to access outside information, they are unlikely to question the things they are told. By selectively distributing information a government is able to control the masses. Politically...
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