Fahrenheit 451 Essay Example

Ray Bradbury raises some very important concerns in his book, Fahrenheit 451. Even though it was written over half a century ago, the issues portrayed in Fahrenheit 451are as clear today as they were 50 years ago. Ray Bradbury uses a wide variety of analogies and imagery to heighten the emphasis on the story’s main themes and issues. Perhaps one of the greatest themes in this book is the ignorance of society. The first way that Ray Bradbury develops this theme is through technology. Technology provided a more realistic and controlling way to portray information to the society. The T.V. parlors, for example, were very interactive. One could actually speak with the people in the walls and they would reply. The T.V. parlors were flashy and attractive; it didn’t require a person to actually think. A book on the other hand, wasn’t as appealing. A person actually had to read and process the information that they were reading. “‘You can shut them [books]’, say ‘Hold on a moment.’ You play God to it. But who has ever torn himself from the claw that encloses you when you drop a seed in a T.V. parlor? It grows you any shape it wishes! It is an environment as real as the world”(Bradbury 84). With technology making entertainment more available, the society’s desire to learn gradually diminished altogether. Thus, the society became one of ignorance. The next way that Bradbury portrays ignorance is through the firemen. In real life, firemen are supposed to help prevent and to put out fires. However, in Fahrenheit 451, the firemen do just the opposite. A law passed in the society stated that it was illegal to have any books in your possession. If a person was found to have books, the firemen would go and burn the house down with all the books in it. A specific example of this is when Guy Montag goes with the firemen to burn the house of an elderly lady. “’You can’t ever have my books,’ she said. ‘You know the law,’ said Beatty. ‘Where’s your common sense?’”(38) The law and the