Fahrenheit 451 - Essay 3

Imagine a society where books are prohibited, where the basic rights made clear 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 incite arguments pertaining not only to the banning of books but to our government structure itself.   Age-old debates about Communism are stirred by the trials of characters in Bradbury’s unique world.   By studying the protagonist and main character, Guy Montag, and his personal challenges we can, in a sense, evaluate our own lives to insure that we don’t make similar mistakes.

Fahrenheit 451 was written during the fifties, a period of mass paranoia, war, and technological advancement. The paranoia in the fifties was due the fear of Communism at home. People were afraid that their best friends might be Communists. This is also portrayed in the book; you are not sure until the very end if some of the characters are friend or foe. Many inventions of the fifties have advanced mirrors in the book. One might think that the author was trying to express how those inventions would ultimately resulting in the dumbing down of society. The television was coming about in the fifties and the four screen TV\'s in the book hampered the thought process so people would not think.                                                                                          

While the book is definitely critiquing society and the government, readers are given many dominant themes to follow, and to find all of them requires several readings.   The main plot, following Montag, illustrates the importance of making mistakes in order to grow.   For example, at the very end of the book Granger (an outspoken rebel to the book-banning laws) compares mankind to a phoenix that burns itself up and...