Fahrenheit 451 By Bradbury And Censorship

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By definition, censorship is the suppression of images, ideas, and words that could be seen as offensive, as well as the control of the circulation of information and ideas in society (Herman). Censorship doesn't have to occur in an entire society as well, sometimes it can be as small as a classroom. Even though books should not be banned in schools for content that anyone minority might take offense to, they are. Famous author Ray Bradbury, in particular, had many opinions and concerns on the topic of censorship as many of his books had to do with it.

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Ironically, one of his most famous works, Fahrenheit 451, was reviewed for censorship, just further proving his point. One of Bradbury’s biggest concerns and in his opinion a danger of censorship was that people were being ‘dumbed down’ by new technology in society. He also thought that many would lose sight of important events if we focused merely on political correctness and making sure everything everyone sees is appropriate.

Although he understands we’ve come into a new era with new ideas and views, he believes something as minuscule as a book, that was deemed perfectly fine in the past shouldn’t be banned and I agree.

Ray Bradbury is an author most commonly known by his most famous work Fahrenheit 451 about a dystopian society that is uneducated, dull, and has lost sight of the realities of the past, so much so that “firemen” in this society are meant to start fires to burn books, keeping the society censored and left in the dark.

Throughout the book, the main character and once fireman Montag goes through a journey of finding himself and the truth that he had been sheltered from for so long. Here Bradbury, the narrator, even displays the fool Montag has made of himself for being so blind to the truth for all this time, “And one day he would look back upon the fool and know the fool. Even now he could feel the start of the long journey, the leave-taking, the going away from the self he had been” (page #). The premise of the story is the protagonist finally seeing the truth and realizing that if the other doesn’t find out themselves it will be too late. Gerald Jonas with The New York Times gives a quote from Bradbury, “What he said then is still true: ‘There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches.’” Bradbury was shocked at the fact that his book was censored considering its content so he decided to write a Coda basically giving reasons why his and many other famous writer’s literatures shouldn’t be modified or rewritten for any reason. He passionately says, “The point is obvious. There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches. Every minority feels it has the will, the right, the duty to douse the kerosene, light the fuse. Every dimwit editor who sees himself as the source of all dreary blanc-mange plain porridge unleavened literature licks his guillotine and eyes the neck of any author who dares to speak above a whisper or write above a nursery rhyme.” Even just this excerpt from his Coda shows his opinion and thoughts on the matter, in that every author carefully crafted their works and stories together to find their own style and add to their story. In changing those seemingly minor details you change the story entirely. He emphasizes that political correctness doesn’t have to always apply for instance in Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, a racial slur is used throughout the book, editors changed that word to “slave''; however, by changing the word you change the meaning, you change the book and it is in our freedoms that we were free to write what we want and nowhere within that does it say our work must be censored to not offend, affect or negatively impact anyone in any way. So that is what Bradbury means when he says everyone can light a match, burn a book.

Similar to how books were banned in the Fahrenheit 451 society, many schools decided to ban books for a variety of different reasons and although some of these reasons might be justified, first of all, these districts have no control over the content students read or watch outside of school, so the argument is that it is inherently ineffective, to begin with, and secondly, it shouldn’t be up to the school to decide what is offensive or inappropriate and should be banned, that should ultimately be up to the parent's discretion anyway. The reasons books are banned says Betsy Gomez in “10 Reasons Why Books are Challenged and Banned” are because of LGBTQ content, Sexually Explicit Content, Profanity, Racism, Violence, Religious Viewpoint, Sex Education, Suicide, Drug and Alcohol Use, and Nudity. Many argue that these topics are inappropriate to the minority and shouldn’t affect everyone, however, I believe it isn’t the school’s job to decide what is appropriate and what isn’t. Banned Books Week is meant to celebrate these challenged books and our freedom to read the content we want and for authors to publish the content they wish to publish. Overall I don’t think schools should be responsible for banning books and books shouldn’t be banned by society.

Bradbury not only wants to protect the writer but also protect the people and their intellectual freedom which he thinks could be a danger, threatened by sensitivity and new technology in the book and the real world. According to Bradbury, if creators catered to everyone, content would be meaningless and watered down, not only that but also a huge threat to intellectual freedom. He constantly tries to remind everyone, through his books or not, to refuse to conform to everything society says and does because it is in that where great things are created and intellectual freedom is achieved (Lambert). Unlike what Bradbury urges for our current society the people in the dystopian society began to get consumed by new technology like seashells and parlor walls. Mildred was the closest person to Montag yet acted so distant, either attached to her “family” in the parlor walls or ignoring Montag with a constant distraction in her ear. Montag, Bradbury explained, was blind to it at first but soon realized how far gone his wife really was, it was like he didn’t even know her. Bradbury narrates this quote in the story, “She had both ears plugged with electronic bees that were humming the hour away. She looked up suddenly, saw him, and nodded. ‘You all right?’ he asked. She was an expert at lip-reading from ten years of apprenticeship at Seashell ear-thimbles. She nodded again” (page #). Just further emphasizing how dry and robotic she has become from new technology and her censored lifestyle. Not only this but Mildred, in particular, is also very invested in the TV parlor shows that she is a part of, in fact, she wants a fourth parlor wall so she can almost close herself off completely to society and live in her own world. By illustrating Mildred’s odd behaviors Bradbury hopes to persuade readers we cannot let this be our society and we must all stay connected physically and emotionally and not let technology be the only leading factor in our lives.

In conclusion, Bradbury disagrees that books should be challenged, changed, banned, or censored books and those opinions clearly show those in his books especially Fahrenheit 451, although he is in some ways talking and writing for the main character Montag, he is also narrating as himself, making clear his views and thoughts. Overall, I don’t believe books should be banned changed, or censored and everyone should be free to read and write what they want.