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Fahreinheit 451. Imagine a culture where books are prohibited, where the
basic rights illustrated in the First Amendment hold no ...
Submitted by paintmonkey915 on May 5, 2008
Category: Book Reports
Words: 1041 | Pages: 5
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Imagine a culture where books are prohibited, where the basic rights illustrated in the First Amendment hold no weight and society is merely a brainwashed, mechanical population. According to Ray Bradbury, the author of Fahrenheit 451, this depiction is actually an exaggerated forecast for the American future – and in effect is happening around us every day. Simply reading his words can excite theories and arguments pertaining not only to the banning of books but to our government structure itself. Age-old debates about Communism and equality are stirred by the trials of characters in Bradbury’s unique world. By studying the protagonist, Guy Montag, and his personal challenges we can, in a sense, evaluate our own lives to see that we don't make similar mistakes.
Appropriately named, Guy is just a regular person who started out as a drone, following the dictations of his superficial leaders (his last name, Montag, is also ironic in that it is the name of a paper-manufacturing company). Eventually, however, he begins to realize that while reflecting the morals of equality in that no one was above the law, his society also takes away the power of an individual to make a difference. He starts out rash, inarticulate, self-obsessed, and too easily swayed. At times he is not even aware of why he does things, feeling that his hands are acting by themselves. These subconscious actions can be quite horrific, such as when he finds himself setting his supervisor on fire, but they also represent his deepest desires to rebel against the status quo and find a meaningful way to live. When he comes into contact with Professor Faber, a retired professor who still has retained a few precious books, the two devise a plan to outsmart the system and bring the Dark Age to an end. Faber readily admits that the current state of society is due to the cowardice of people like himself, who would not speak out against book burning when they still could have stopped it,...
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