What happens when knowledge is not valued in society?
Well, one could imagine that they would not get very far. This is the case for Guy Montag’s society, where reading books is banned and people sit in front of the television every hour of the day. People do not care for knowledge and the only education they get is from the television or school, where abnormal, useless subjects are taught.
In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the characters Faber, a wise retired professor, and Beatty, a deceptive fireman, are used to show that knowledge is extremely powerful despite the beliefs of the society they live in.
Firstly, Beatty, the antagonist of the story, utilizes his knowledge in a way that differs greatly from Faber: he uses it explicitly for hurtful or manipulative reasons. …show more content…
Beatty visits him to tell him about the history of their profession and Montag hints at his new interest in books to which Beatty says: “What do the books say, he wonders. Well, Montag, take my word for it, I’ve had to read a few in my time, to know what I was about, and the books say nothing! You come away lost” (Bradbury 59). This is important because their society has stopped reading of their own will, which makes it easier for Beatty to manipulate Montag using his knowledge of the past and how books came to be hated. Beatty knows books are valuable, but he twists the truth to make it seem as if society is correct in their opinions of, and how they treat literature. This shows the theme that knowledge is so undoubtedly powerful it can also be used in ways that can be
Well, one could imagine that they would not get very far. This is the case for Guy Montag’s society, where reading books is banned and people sit in front of the television every hour of the day. People do not care for knowledge and the only education they get is from the television or school, where abnormal, useless subjects are taught.
In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the characters Faber, a wise retired professor, and Beatty, a deceptive fireman, are used to show that knowledge is extremely powerful despite the beliefs of the society they live in.
Firstly, Beatty, the antagonist of the story, utilizes his knowledge in a way that differs greatly from Faber: he uses it explicitly for hurtful or manipulative reasons. …show more content…
Beatty visits him to tell him about the history of their profession and Montag hints at his new interest in books to which Beatty says: “What do the books say, he wonders. Well, Montag, take my word for it, I’ve had to read a few in my time, to know what I was about, and the books say nothing! You come away lost” (Bradbury 59). This is important because their society has stopped reading of their own will, which makes it easier for Beatty to manipulate Montag using his knowledge of the past and how books came to be hated. Beatty knows books are valuable, but he twists the truth to make it seem as if society is correct in their opinions of, and how they treat literature. This shows the theme that knowledge is so undoubtedly powerful it can also be used in ways that can be