Censorship: Bradbury on Hitler You stand in front of a burning building. You see ashes rise into the air as sirens surround you. The heat of the flames is unbearable on your skin, the pain made even more harsh as you realize what is being burned. Your friends... your teachers... your memories. All of it gone with a spray of kerosene and a flick of a switch. You realize all this as tape goes over your mouth and you're shoved into the back of a van. All of your books are gone and they are never coming back. Ray Bradbury crafted an instant classic with his creation of the book Fahrenheit 451. This book set in a futuristic dystopian United States asks what if books were illegal? This thought experiment is what drives the entire narrative of the book as you can see the negative effects on society because books are banned. Some of these effects include loss of self, lack of compassion, and an overprotective big brother type government keeping watch of everything. With all these terrible occurrences going on it is easy to see the message that Bradbury is trying to get to the audience. The main reason that books were censored in the first place was because people thought that books were bad since they offended people."The public itself stopped reading of its own accord.” (Bradbury 43) Banning all books was not the solution to the problem and this led to even more problems in their society. Why would Bradbury write this book? He wrote this book with Hitler and Alexandria in his mind. When asked what gave him tjh “Well, Hitler of course. When I was fifteen, he burnt the books in the streets of Berlin. Then along the way I learned about the libraries in Alexandria burning five thousand years ago. That grieved my soul. Since I'm self-educated, that means my educators—the libraries—are in danger. And if it could happen in Alexandria, if it could happen in Berlin, maybe it could happen somewhere up ahead, and my heroes would be killed.” Now to further understand what this means look at the example that Bradbury gives. He creates a character who is the person he fears ,a Fireman, a man part of an organization that receives calls about illegal books in society. This organization's job, put in place by the government, is to respond to these calls and act on them for it is their duty to burn every book they come across. Bradbury got this idea from the book burnings from Hitler’s censorship and the burning of the Alexandria Library. During WWII, Hitler burned books in Berlin. He wrote Fahrenheit 451 to keep his heroes, books, alive. Bradbury loved his books and wanted to protect them because if books are lost, then knowledge is lost. That is why no one should
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These reasons can vary, but one of the main reasons books are banned is because “Censors are often targeting the latest social issues”(Scales). Many books are banned because they represent a current controversial or heated topic.. Take for example the book Daddy's Roommate, a children's book that focuses around a child whose father divorces his wife and then lives with another man. They participate in family activities and act as any other couple would. This book has come under fire from many fronts because it features homosexual relations between two men. Whether it be homosexual relationships or some other modern controversial topic, it will most likely come under fire. To provide an example of this “Most censors have just recovered from the idea that fictional characters can have periods” (Scales). The fact that books are being banned for these reasons hurts everyone, because while these books may be for children, they are meant to make children think. Some people however think that “books are not meant to make kids think”(Scales) but rather believe that children’s books are meant to entertain children and distract them. This is wrong as many modern children's books contain healthy doses of thought-provoking material for kids to discover. When people censor books because the contain controversial content, it hurts children because it prevents them from thinking and being inquisitive creatures as they are spoon-fed pre-approved
These reasons can vary, but one of the main reasons books are banned is because “Censors are often targeting the latest social issues”(Scales). Many books are banned because they represent a current controversial or heated topic.. Take for example the book Daddy's Roommate, a children's book that focuses around a child whose father divorces his wife and then lives with another man. They participate in family activities and act as any other couple would. This book has come under fire from many fronts because it features homosexual relations between two men. Whether it be homosexual relationships or some other modern controversial topic, it will most likely come under fire. To provide an example of this “Most censors have just recovered from the idea that fictional characters can have periods” (Scales). The fact that books are being banned for these reasons hurts everyone, because while these books may be for children, they are meant to make children think. Some people however think that “books are not meant to make kids think”(Scales) but rather believe that children’s books are meant to entertain children and distract them. This is wrong as many modern children's books contain healthy doses of thought-provoking material for kids to discover. When people censor books because the contain controversial content, it hurts children because it prevents them from thinking and being inquisitive creatures as they are spoon-fed pre-approved