In Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451, reading is forbidden. Reading enables people to act on their own free will, and the thought of this terrified the government. Despite the government’s decision to burn books, the law was only enforced because of the people's hatred for the books, and the government not wanting the citizens to educate and think for themselves.
The government believed that they were helping the citizens to remain sane.
‘Stuff your eyes with wonder,’ he said, ‘live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid in the factories. Ask for no security, there never was such an animal. And if there were, it would be related to the great sloth which hangs upside down in a tree all day every day, sleeping its life away. (Bradbury 150) …show more content…
The extremity at which the people took the law was not planned, however. After the banning of books, education reaches a minimum. In fact, many people forget that in order to sustain life on Earth, they must reproduce and have children. While the population is coming to a halt, the want for new technology and entertainment increases. People spend hours with their “parlor families,” a family that is generated electronically, and forget about their real families. The children that are present in the society have a disrespect for elders, and for the law. Late at night, teenagers would drive around the streets and attempt to run people over; Guy Montag is almost killed this way, and one of his acquaintances, Clarisse, is. She had introduced Guy to the fact that it is possible for people to live better lives if they are able to read, a way to experience life fully without having to experience it
The government believed that they were helping the citizens to remain sane.
‘Stuff your eyes with wonder,’ he said, ‘live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid in the factories. Ask for no security, there never was such an animal. And if there were, it would be related to the great sloth which hangs upside down in a tree all day every day, sleeping its life away. (Bradbury 150) …show more content…
The extremity at which the people took the law was not planned, however. After the banning of books, education reaches a minimum. In fact, many people forget that in order to sustain life on Earth, they must reproduce and have children. While the population is coming to a halt, the want for new technology and entertainment increases. People spend hours with their “parlor families,” a family that is generated electronically, and forget about their real families. The children that are present in the society have a disrespect for elders, and for the law. Late at night, teenagers would drive around the streets and attempt to run people over; Guy Montag is almost killed this way, and one of his acquaintances, Clarisse, is. She had introduced Guy to the fact that it is possible for people to live better lives if they are able to read, a way to experience life fully without having to experience it