Fahrenheit 451 Theme Analysis

Words: 2071
Pages: 9

By shedding light on a futuristic society in which books are burned upon discovery, media controls the masses, and the individual intellectual is not accepted, Bradbury illuminates several aspects cogent in his illustrating his views on censorship, the power of knowledge, and society’s desideratum for literature. In fact, one of the most recurring themes in Fahrenheit 451 is that human society can easily become oppressive and tyrannical, and it is up to our population to change tendencies towards censorship and individual rights; subsuming the wealth literature contains to assimilate past mistakes and rebuild better, more culturally aware foundations for future generations. To specify, in Montag’s futuristic society, owning and reading books …show more content…
By depicting and characterizing the conformity and ignorance that is created through the eradication and destroyal of books, Bradbury wishes to warn readers on the tendency of society to become oppressive and regimented, renouncing literature and developing the predilection to fast cars, loud music, and their television “families.” He illustrates the eerie similarity between our current modern day society and the world that it has become, alluding to days when firemen prevented fires instead of starting them, and emphasizes the importance of literature and the impact is has on people’s lives and their perception of the world. When Montag, the fireman outlaw, discusses the significance of books in his life, Faber, a retired English professor, reminds him of the constituent essence and components that gave books their power, and understands Guy’s source of discontentment almost immediately. Books and literature were able to quench Montag’s dissatisfaction, and he soon learns that it is not the information that books enclose, but the questions and thoughts they cause a reader to …show more content…
When Faber claims that we are living in a world where “flowers are trying to live on flowers,” he illustrates how people have settled for a life of mediocrity; they no longer aspire to better themselves and advance as a population - simply preferring to stay where they are. The “flowers” in this metaphor already know they can grow in whatever spot they are in, and instead of branching out and “growing on good rain,” they merely stay in that spot. With this statement, Faber encompasses several aspects of their society as a whole, illustrating how humans have developed a world that works, and instead of pursuing something better or more efficient, they reprieve the population and continue with what they already know. By eradicating literature, society is unable to progress and learn from its past, “completing the cycle back to reality,” as Faber