Preview

Burning Book Fahrenheit 451

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
739 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Burning Book Fahrenheit 451
Books provide one with knowledge, creativity, imagination, and awareness. Burning books eliminates all of these factors. The destruction of books will lead to chaos and ignorance. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury book burning is accepted in society. Citizens who have books hidden in their homes are faced with consequence of having their home burned down, and of course the books. One reads this and can not believe that something like this happens and is accepted, but fail to realize that events such as these have happened in the past. One of many examples of such an event took place in Germany. In Berlin, Germany Nazis began to burn books that were against their ideology. University students burned 25,000 volumes. This showed the start of censorship and the control of culture. The controlling dictatorship that Nazis had over the people is shown through this event. People begin to burn books that are against the beliefs of the Nazis. The power that the Nazis had over the people begins to show greatly when the match is lit.The book burning in Germany was on May 10, 1933. “Also among those works burned were the writings of beloved nineteenth-century German Jewish poet Heinrich Heine, who wrote in his 1820-1821 play Almansor the famous admonition, ‘Dort, wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt …show more content…
“There must be something in books, things we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing.” (Bradbury 51) Here the reader sees Guy breaking from the conformity. In this society, people believe that books are bad because they make one unhappy. Thinking and knowledge leads to no good. Guy begins to think that books may have some significance hidden in them. He may begin to feel that book burning is wrong. He is starting to realize the chaos that is surrounded by him, and that everyone else has ignorantly

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Quote: “We shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.” (1.40)…

    • 581 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The book, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, is about a futuristic United States where books that are made illegal are burned by fireman. The beginning of the book focuses on a firefighter named Guy Montag who questions his career as a fireman; but it seems clear that he finds no interest in literature and enjoys his job of burning books. There is a quote on the first page stating “The blood pounded in his head, and his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning to bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history”. (Page 3) This quote characterizes his pleasure of burning pages and pages of books and shows hatred towards…

    • 724 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury uses the life of a Guy named Montag, a fireman in a near future dystopia, to make an argument against mindless blissful ignorance. In Bradbury’s world, the firemen that Montag is a part of create fires to burn books instead of putting out fires. By burning books, the firemen eliminate anything that might make people want to be different or start any type of argument with anyone in the community. But this leads into people wanting to read the books so they keep them, like Montag but they end up being caught with the books. If you end up being caught you could possibly get killed or go to jail, but some people like Montag decide to run away from the community so they don’t get killed nor arrested.…

    • 474 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury tells us of a futuristic, or vision, of a law that banned books. No one is allowed to own, read, or basically even touch a book without reinforcement. Instead of putting out fires, Fahrenheit 451 introduces firefighters, or fire starters, that does the opposite of what we would expect today. And while everyone is knowledgeable of the law that bans any type or form of book, some people continue to read them. Some even risk their homes, possessions, and even lives for them. A fireman by the name of Montag aids in burning any books that can be found. He never stops to question why or how the law came to be until he meets a girl named Clarisse. Montag then looks deeper into the situation that had been surpassed and must…

    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the beginning, he was just an ordinary guy who worked as a fireman, he said "It was a pleasure to burn." (Bradbury, 3). The very first thing he states and feels about, he didn't know exactly why the books had to be burned. In his mind, books are automatically evil and bad. It was the…

    • 898 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “It’s not the books you need, it’s some of the things that once were in books” (78). Fahrenheit 451 , written by Ray Bradbury is a science fiction book that is set in the future. Guy Montag, a fireman, has never once questioned his job of destroying printed books, along with the houses, until he has to run for his life for having them. Destroying information, creating mechanical hounds, and killing people are three acts that occurred in Fahrenheit's society, that could also occur in ours.…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fahrenheit 451

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages

    With the use of symbolism, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 explains how a book burning and conformed society leads to soulless individuals who are obsessed with being dependent upon technology. After a reader of Fahrenheit 451 finishes the book, they either have a strong opinion about the comparison between Montag’s society, and today’s society, or they are simply a Mildred, having not a care in the world, and such. Ray Bradbury uses symbolism to create an outline for themes recurring throughout the story. One of the biggest themes, was the lack of thinking, no love for the important things, too much dependency. Starting in Chapter One, blood is a major symbol of the book, it really shows the reader, how horrible the society in Fahrenheit 451 really is. Blood represents a human being’s soul. And with Mildred’s poisoned replaceable blood, it signifies the empty lifelessness of Mildred and many like her. The ability to clean her blood out, and replace it, without worrying about types of blood is a bit concerning for their society, not to mention, the lack of doctors performing this blood replenishment..…

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury shares his message of the importance of books to society. The main character, Guy Montag, discovers his discontentment in life by reading books and realizing what he is missing in life. Montag is able to conquer his moral dilemmas: he is trained to do a job he begins to feel conflicting morals about. Bradbury evokes many different deep sentiments, such as ambivalence, apathy, and empathy. Montag’s turmoil and inner conflict about what is right for him and society is one that resonates with many readers. Ray Bradbury communicates that should society decide to burn and banish books, society would be on a downward spiral emotionally and spiritually.…

    • 690 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Fahrenheit 451

    • 302 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury teaches that in this society it promotes balance and restricts knowledge .Even though the voice of people can’t be confined there are still those who put the determination through danger or grave. Fire is one of the main symbols in this novel. When a fire breaks out people call the firemen, but Ray Bradbury changes the purpose of them to start fires, to destroy every book the fire department can find. The story is about the protagonist Guy Montag who is trying to find his calling who starts to understand the real purposes of literature. Ray Bradbury uses fire to represent knowledge, awareness, rebirth, construction, as well as destruction.…

    • 302 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In a reaction to the Nazi book burning, Helen Keller once wrote in a letter to the students of Germany saying, “History has taught you nothing if you think you can kill ideas. Tyrants have tried to do that often before, and the ideas have risen up in their might and destroyed them.” Right before World War II students from universities across Germany gathered to burn books. Book burning is lighting of fire to books or other written material, in a public area. It is usually done from a cultural, religious, or political perspective. Book burning was an important event in World War II, literature was the first target, and the Americans had many different responses.…

    • 462 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Fahrenheit 451, firemen burn books in people’s homes to rid the society of all individual beliefs,…

    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Imagine a society in which books are nonexistent, where it is impossible for someone to spend an evening losing himself, or herself, in an enticing novel. This situation is made real in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, where it is illegal to have and read books. In the society of Bradbury’s book, if a person is caught owning books, his or her house and belongings could be burned down by the likes of Guy Montag, a fireman in Bradbury’s novel. Due to the ban on books, the people in this society are distant in their emotions and thoughts. The absence of books in the society make people ignorant in their decision making and way of living. Books became illegal in Montag’s society because they made people different, which is viewed as dangerous to their wellbeings. Despite this reason, books should be kept in society and not be eradicated.…

    • 726 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed.” In Ray Bradbury’s thrilling novel, Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag is a fireman but firemen are different in this dystopia. He finds himself spending day after day burning houses and books to keep society conformed to the new laws. After meeting an eccentric girl named Clarisse McClellan she elucidates his myopic view on life. He becomes curious about books and then finds himself in a world of trouble. Montag figures out the theme of this novel, that being yourself is better than conforming.…

    • 764 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fire is used to suggest that destroying history makes people happy because it hides and uncomfortable past. “It was a pleasure to burn,” (3) this was the first sentence in the book Fahrenheit 451. In the story, Montag was a fireman. He started books on fire to burn away all the history. The history was hidden because it provoked new ideas and thoughts that made people unique. These people did not fit into the Government's perfect mold. When Montag the main character, met a young girl named Clarisse, she asked him, “Are you happy? He was not happy. Montag was stuck inside this fake world where everyone was brainwashed and told what to think. He wanted to…

    • 463 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The University of Arizona has a propaganda article from a German newspaper from 1933 with 12 “book burning slogans” from the German Students’ Association (“When Books Burn: Lists of Banned Books, 1933-1939”, 2002). The source is originally in German but was translated to English (“When Books Burn: Lists of Banned Books, 1933-1939”, 2002). The article is dated April 14, 1933, less than a month before the book burning (“When Books Burn: Lists of Banned Books, 1933-1939”, 2002). The article gives a real in-depth look at what Germany was looking for when it comes to the sense of “Un-German”. The article states:…

    • 889 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics