truextilxdeath

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My essay. Enjoy.

In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, an entire society is conformed to a lifestyle without books. To the people, books represent free-thinking, and in their society, free-thinking leads to corruption and chaos. In order to preserve normalcy, books are destroyed. Any objectionable written word or thought is shunned, and as a result, civilization suffers. Fahrenheit 451 demonstrates how censorship is lethal to democracy and mankind in general.

Censorship is democracys foe. A famous quote by President Dwight Eisenhower states the following: "Dont join the book burners. Dont think youre going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Dont be afraid to go into your library and read every book. Freedom cannot be censored into existence. A democracy chronically fearful of new ideas would be a dying democracy." Particularly the last line of this quote expresses the effects of censorship on a democracy. Censorship cripples a society; identifying problems within the society becomes immensely difficult and finding solutions to the problems is even more tasking. Humans cannot learn from past mistakes if they are unable to realize the mistakes initially. In the book, the country is constantly going to war. After the war, homes and families are patched together and life continues as it was previously. Characters in the book, such as Mildreds friends, are not even saddened at the prospect of losing their husbands in the war. Im not worried, said Mrs. Phelps. Ill Let Pete do all the worrying (97). They accept war as a common occurrence and do nothing to prevent it from destroying their towns or people. The characters in the book do not consider history a teacher in itself. They do not look to the past to prevent future mishaps.

Characters in Fahrenheit 451 do not leave room for individual thought or reflection in their day-to-day lives, and they have no desire to begin thinking for themselves in order to initiate change or growth. The townspeople in the book sit complacently at home each day devoting their attention to a constant string of television programs, such as Montags wife Mildred, who, when she isnt watching television, listens to sounds from an earpiece at a constant rate. She was an expert at lip reading from ten years of apprenticeship at Seashell ear thimbles (22). Some citizens work, but their jobs are assigned to them and they have no emotional attachment to their occupations. Humans are completely devoid of passion or zeal.

Unabridged thought leads to development and change, and development and change lead to innovations and growth. Characters in the novel do not question the government or the decisions it makes for its people; they accept the decisions made for them and know that these decisions are what is best for their lives. Those who do think for themselves are discovered and destroyed, like Montags friend Clarisse. Luckily, queer ones like her dont happen often. We know how to nip most of them in the bud, early (64). Such behavior results in complete loss of individuality and thus, democracy is nonexistent.

Our society is in danger of undergoing the same drastic developments as the society in Bradburys novel. The current state of censorship continues to intensify with each passing day. Books discussing controversial topics are banned, music with questionable lyrical content is deemed morally corrupt and pulled from record store shelves, and movies containing even the slightest offensive scene are not even released. What one person may find offensive another person can find enlightening and entertaining. Freedom of speech reigns dominate in our countrys list of guaranteed benefits, yet speech rarely comes without a high price. Americas people are trained to consider certain topics, words, and images wrong; therefore censorship ensures to sustain a sense of ethical pride. However, this censorship also serves to cripple creativity while promoting a close-minded take on artistic venture. This mind-set is very similar to that of the people in Fahrenheit 451. Authors are deemed crazy, illogical criminals, and all other forms of artistic expression are virtually unheard. Those who try to salvage their books are likewise deemed crazy, such as at the woman Beatty scolds who sacrifices her life to save her books. Wheres your common sense? None of these books agree with each other. Youve been locked up here for years with a regular damned Tower of Babel. Snap out of it! (42).

A prevalent theme in Bradburys novel is that democracy cannot survive in a society of conformity and censorship. Democracy does not exist without participation from citizens who are eager to contribute their thoughts and efforts in accomplishing a common good. The citizens in Fahrenheit 451 contribute nothing to society because they do not have minds of their own. Their inability to think results from the governments ban on all written works, many which discuss historical events and provide insight that could aid the current state of the nation. Additionally, democracy is nonexistent because the townspeople are not individuals and all posses the same agenda and mind-set, lacking in love and overwhelmed in ignorance. Their society is continually annihilated and rebuilt because history is neither remembered nor understood. All of these factors contribute to an ineffective and diseased way of life. The novel Fahrenheit 451 presents readers with a world that, if we as citizens continue to repress, could be our ultimate demise.

[Edited on May 09, 2005 10:29PM]

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