Fahrenheit 451 Essay

Nyonza Musinmguzi
August 12, 2014
American Lit.
English 11
Fahrenheit 451

Guy Montag is a firefighter who lives in a futuristic society where the government completely controls every aspect of life. There’s just one thing that the government is still trying to control and that is books. Guy’s job as a firefighter is too find books and set them on fire, till they are destroyed then put the fire out. Guy then meets his neighbor a bohemian seventeen year old that opens his eyes to the world. That is when Guy then begins his new life and takes everyone for the ride. Guy seems to become so rebellious after his meeting with his neighbor to what the government of his society says is right and what is wrong. Guy finds himself in many situations through out the story where he is breaking the law and knows he is. Guy reads passages from books out loud to people with no recollection of who they are. Books completely change Guys look on life and makes Guy do things he will be running from for the rest of his life in that society. Some ways the government keeps the population so ignorant and close minded about the way to live life is that they banned all books. This way people in the society cannot learn about other ways people live outside their “bubble”. Guy works with a crew of firefighter that destroy books. But throughout the story Guy finds a love for books and completely breaks the law. The government also keeps the population so occupied with mindless activities that by the time they are done with the day they are so tired there is no time to think about other things. After school the kids have a wonderful fun parks to keep busy on, adults have activities set up for them after work. There is no jobs of scientist, philosopher, or writers in the society because those all take a lot of knowledge and in the school they aren’t allowed to really think, all they do is watch videos made by the government that will not give the students a reason to share ideas. The main way the government controls the society is they keep them feared and intimidated. The government’s main instrument is the mechanical hound that would be able to detect any differences. The government is also very good at making people disappear with no questions asked. “Now lets take up the minorities in our civilization shall we? Bigger the population, the more minorities. Don’t step on the toes of the dog lovers, cat lovers, doctors, lawyers, merchants, chiefs, Mormons, Baptists, Unitarians, second generation Chinese, Swedes, Italians, Germans, Texans, Brooklynites, Irishmen, people from Oregon or people from Mexico.” If you live in this society the reason why the banned the books is because they didn’t want to have any controversies or anyone un happy with the writing of a opposite opinion side. The books were destroyed nothing else. But they found a way to let television stay by making all the media very bland and non telling. The government felt like they in the first place took away all that because books and media were not working to the critics so they felt they might as well take them completely away from the society. The government way of controlling society is in ways acceptable because there is only one way the people know in that society and its seems to be working so if they can maintain the society from not knowing anything else it will work. If the society does figure out about other ways of living, it will completely tear up the society. That’s why be the end of the book Guy is a runaway fugitive and murderer. I wouldn’t want to live in this society knowing what I know about today about making your own decisions and forming a opinion of your own. Books have a huge part today on passing information and creating knowledge for the readers. “Fahrenheit 451” is a dystopia that shows what happens in a society controlled by the government and when one person finds out about another way of living how it could completely ruin everything the society has been and became.