The Theme Of Ignorance In Fahrenheit 451

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What Constitutes Ignorance?

Throughout history, humanity has chased knowledge mercilessly. Knowledge is generally defined as a lack of ignorance, but there are different interpretations of its exact meaning. Author Ray Bradbury writes about the distinction between ignorance and knowledge in his novel Fahrenheit 451, which is about a fireman named Montag in a future society. In this unnamed community, all the residents are ignorant of what is happening around them, therefore they simply go with the “status quo.” Many of them demonstrate they lack the capacity to think for themselves. Fahrenheit 451 reflects that true ignorance is the inability to form an opinion. Montag’s teenage friend Clarisse McClellan notices that many people in society …show more content…
At the time that Montag is home sick, Captain Beatty comes to his house to give him an oration on the importance of a fireman in a community. Beatty emphasizes the danger of a girl like Clarisse. He believes that people like Clarisse are a menace to society because they get people to start thinking. Instead, Beatty reasons, it’s better to tell them what to think. He says: “‘If you don’t want a house built, hide the nails and the wood. If you don’t want a man unhappy politically, don’t give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet, give him none” (61). This quote proves that those with the power in society find it far better to keep a man in the dark than expose him to the harsh light of reality because then there are no questions, and when there are no questions there are no problems. Moreover, the the people of the general public are not even given the option to formulate an opinion based on what they think. Thus, all they will ever need to know, think or say is exactly what is put in front of them. In this way, they are ignorant since they do not show they are capable of doing or saying anything original. The government merely tells them how to think. Nevertheless, some have slipped through the cracks and learned to think for themselves, but the majority of society blindly does what they’re told to do and believes …show more content…
They are not even given the option of thinking for themselves. Therefore, they are ignorant because they do not show what they can do, only that they can effectively perform what they’ve been told to do. Fahrenheit 451 proves that thinking without knowing what one is thinking about is not really thinking. It is simply memorizing what was put in front of you. The events of Fahrenheit 451 demonstrate the importance of thinking for oneself. True ignorance is to accept everything one is told without questioning it - which in other words, is to follow the opinion of others. An opinion is what makes one individual, for without it, there is nothing to show they are
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