Examples Of Censorship In Fahrenheit 451
Censorship Will Burn You
According to Ray Bradbury in 2053 all the firefighters will be used to censor people from books. The author of Fahrenheit 451 shows situational irony in his writing of censorship in the future. The readers go into the book thinking that the main protagonist will be causing problems for the fire department when really the main character Guy Montag and his colleagues are the firefighters. Bradbury uses firefighters to destroy books, burn down the houses and arrest anyone who is caught with them. More irony is seen with Montag’s friend Clarisse McCellean when she asks Montag “Is it true that long ago firemen put fire out instead of going to start them” (8). “A major feature of dystopian novels is their didactic tone; they are written to warn readers against the contemporary cultural element that the author is criticizing” (Reid 40-41) …show more content…
In Fahrenheit 451 not all reading material is banned. In that society the public it is only illegal to read books, and even then only real literature was banned. Remaining was comic books, play books and magazines. Real literature was claimed to be banned because it offended different people. “Colored people don’t like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White people don’t like Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Burn it. Someone’s written a book on tobacco and cancer of the lungs? The cigarette people are weeping? Burn the book” (Bradbury 59). This part of the book makes the reader wonder if Captain Beatty knows that Montag stole one of the books at the fire the night before. It also makes the reader think did Beatty know that Montag has been collecting books from the houses the Firemen were called to. “I don’t think he knows which book I stole. But how do I chose a substitute? Do I turn in Mr. Jefferson? Mr. Thoreau? Which is least valuable? If I pick a substitute and Beatty does know which I stole, he’ll guess we’ve an entire library here”
According to Ray Bradbury in 2053 all the firefighters will be used to censor people from books. The author of Fahrenheit 451 shows situational irony in his writing of censorship in the future. The readers go into the book thinking that the main protagonist will be causing problems for the fire department when really the main character Guy Montag and his colleagues are the firefighters. Bradbury uses firefighters to destroy books, burn down the houses and arrest anyone who is caught with them. More irony is seen with Montag’s friend Clarisse McCellean when she asks Montag “Is it true that long ago firemen put fire out instead of going to start them” (8). “A major feature of dystopian novels is their didactic tone; they are written to warn readers against the contemporary cultural element that the author is criticizing” (Reid 40-41) …show more content…
In Fahrenheit 451 not all reading material is banned. In that society the public it is only illegal to read books, and even then only real literature was banned. Remaining was comic books, play books and magazines. Real literature was claimed to be banned because it offended different people. “Colored people don’t like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White people don’t like Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Burn it. Someone’s written a book on tobacco and cancer of the lungs? The cigarette people are weeping? Burn the book” (Bradbury 59). This part of the book makes the reader wonder if Captain Beatty knows that Montag stole one of the books at the fire the night before. It also makes the reader think did Beatty know that Montag has been collecting books from the houses the Firemen were called to. “I don’t think he knows which book I stole. But how do I chose a substitute? Do I turn in Mr. Jefferson? Mr. Thoreau? Which is least valuable? If I pick a substitute and Beatty does know which I stole, he’ll guess we’ve an entire library here”