Fahrenheit 451 is one of those books that
has definitely ended up on lists of banned
books.
Isn't that ironic given that Bradbury's number
one theme is: Censorship.
OK, so with the pages and pages about book
burning and book banning and books being "dangerous,"
it's not hard to figure out what Bradbury
was trying to say: He's against censorship,
of course!
But here's the key part of this theme.
Bradbury isn't just against banning books.
What Bradbury is really railing against in
Fahrenheit 451 is the kind of thoughtlessness—the
kind of limited thinking and narrow-mindedness—that
he believes is at the heart of censorship.
Books have fallen out of favor for all sorts
of reasons in Fahrenheit 451.
Other forms of entertainment have taken over.
There's just too much stimulation to allow
for quiet thought.
But the bigger point is not why books have
fallen out of favor, but what's happened as
a result.
In Bradbury's society, people expect to be
fed information.
They don't think for themselves.
And like Mildred's friend who voted for the
president based on the candidate's looks,
they're incredibly superficial.
That's what Bradbury wants his readers to
be alert to—and to challenge.
We all know what will happen otherwise.
Books—like Bradbury's—get banned.
