Censorship In Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451

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Do you conform to society? One of the most difficult challenges in life is trying to be different in a world that is trying to make everyone conform to society. Being an individual means you are different. We were not made to be exactly alike and if we were, we would live in a black and white world. Fahrenheit 451 helps prove the idea that censorship is more harmful to a society because it deprives people of diversity, curiosity, and intelligence. One trait that censorship would deprive people of is diversity. In Fahrenheit 451, Clarisse told Montag, “I think it’s so strange you’re a fireman, it just doesn’t seem right for you, somehow.” “He felt his body divide itself into a hotness and a coldness, a softness and a hardness,” (Bradbury 21). Clarisse is explaining to Montag that he is different than society makes him, and he feels torn between a new life and his old life. Society makes us feel inferior, so we try …show more content…
Beatty tells Montag, “With school turning out more runners, jumpers, racers, tinkerers, grabbers, snatchers, fliers, and swimmers instead of examiners, critics, knowers, and imaginative creators, the word ‘intellectual,’ of course, became the swear word it deserved to be,” (Bradbury 55). Beatty is explaining how intelligence is a minority. Intellect’s main foundation is books. We receive most of our intelligence from books that people have written so information can be passed through generations. Censorship would deprive us of our learning capabilities. Censorship would create a world without a structural foundation of diversity, curiosity, and intelligence. We cannot advance our knowledge or technology if issues are being concealed from us. Fahrenheit 451 is in the futuristic time frame. Censorship could become a serious issue in the future, but we can prevent it by being individuals. Being different is classified as wrong in society, but it is what keeps our society functioning