October 24,2012
Period 7
Fahrenheit 451 Essay
In the novel Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury, the protagonist, Guy Montag, is a firemen. Firefighters usually put out fires, but in this story they start them. This book is about government censorship destroying and burning books and using technology to intimidate and hypnotize the citizens. The two themes, government censorship and the use of technology to control the citizens, interact with on another and drive the lot of Bradbury’s novel. One of the themes of this novel is “ Government Censorship can negatively affect private lives.” The government censorship in this novel is so extreme that it outlaws and burns all literature and the house that it is in. The burning of books and homes ruins families and breaks apart households. It can even lead to death. During a burning of one house a woman committed suicide. The woman would rather burn herself alive, than live with the awful government censorship of the society. This novel shows how government censorship is a very bad, disgusting thing and can negatively affect private lives of the populace. Another theme in this novel is “ Technology can be detrimental to individuals in an advanced society.” Just like government censorship, technology can break families apart and have a negative impact on whole societies. In this novel the government uses technology to intimidate and control the populace. They use technology to censor what people see and hear. Montag’s wife, Mildred, always is with her relatives, or parlor walls. Her relatives are really her televisions. There are three huge televisions on the parlor walls and Mildred wants a fourth. The size of the televisions consume the walls and the viewer and they play senseless shoes with useless information. When Millie is not with the relatives she has her sea shells in. Her seashells are ear buds, another example of technology. This ear buds allow Millie to block out the world and