The Problem Of Books Ban From The Society

In Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451, books are illegal. Montag, the protagonist,  is a firefighter in a society where firefighters do not save things from being burned, they actually burn them. After an awakening from a girl he met on his way home from work, he realizes the importance of books. Montag then makes it his mission to gain the knowledge offered in books, but eventually, the city gets bombed and it is only a matter of time before everyone else would like to read. In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury uses many different techniques to illustrate the change in symbols such as fire, a sieve, and books. 

Bradbury uses the symbol of fire to show the change over the course of the novel. When the captain meets with Montag he explains the beauty of fire. Beatty says to burn all and to burn everything, as it cleans the world and gets rid of problems (57). When Bradbury uses this word choice, he is showing how destructive of a force fire is. He continues on by saying how it is admired and seen as powerful by the firemen and society. When Montag reaches the river, the hobos that live there realize the true beauty of fire. He says, “That small motion, the white and red color, a strange fire because it meant a different thing to him. It was not burning, it was warming…. He had never thought in his life that it could give as well as take” (139). What Montag means when he says this, is that fire is now warming. At the end of the quote, he contrasts fire in the beginning and the end, by saying how it was warming instead, and how he always thought it would take instead of giving. Bradbury uses fire throughout the novel as a significant symbol to show the change, use, and how it is represented throughout the novel.

Bradbury uses the symbol of a sieve to show the change throughout the novel. When Montag gets on the train on the way to Faber’s, he is trying to read, but can not retain any information. Montag thinks about how if he reads fast and reads all of the pages, maybe some of the sand will stay in the sieve (74). When he says this he is comparing the knowledge found in books to when you are at a beach filling up a sieve with sand. When you are picking up the sand (information) and putting it into the sieve (your brain), almost all of the sand (information) falls out. He is hoping that if he reads fast enough he will be able to retain as much information as possible. When Montag meets Granger and the other hobos near the river, they explain how they keep their information. Granger says, “All we want to do is keep the knowledge we think we will need, intact and safe” (145). Instead of reading everything, Granger explains how he reads the information he wants to keep. When compared to a sieve, the information Granger does not want falls through the holes, but the information he wants to keep stays on the thin parts in between the holes. Throughout the whole story, the meaning behind the sieve stays the same, as it compares with Montag’s mind trying to retain information, what changes is how much sand (information) you are trying to get at one time. Bradbury uses a sieve as a symbol in the story to show its change, importance, and meaning throughout the story.

Bradbury also uses books throughout the story to show change throughout the story. At the beginning of the novel, books are considered dangerous and a big threat against the stability of society. As a firefighter, the rules you had to comply with were as followed, “RULE 1. Answer the alarm swiftly. 2. Start the fire swiftly. 3. Burn everything. 4. Report back to the firehouse immediately. 5. Stand alert for other alarms'' (32). These rules are for the jobs of firefighters, they are supposed to burn books instead of saving buildings from burning. Books have knowledge in them, and the overarching government of this society does not allow books, and it is the firemen’s jobs to make sure that no one has that knowledge over each other, or knowledge at all. In a conversation with Beatty, Montag said that knowledge is power. Beatty then quotes him, making fun of him by saying, “And you shrieked, ‘Knowledge is power’” (103)! When Montag says this, he means that within books is knowledge, and with knowledge comes power. Montag is trying to imply that the knowledge within books is not allowed within the society because it has ideology inside of the books that the government does not want you to see. He has also read the books, and the information inside is enough for him to choose to go against the government and read them without them knowing. Bradbury uses books as a significant symbol to show the change throughout the story, as well as its use and meaning throughout. 

As stated before, symbols such as fire, a sieve, and books are throughout Bradbury’s novel from beginning to end. Fire, at the start, symbolizes burning and destructiveness, but as the novel plays out fire portrays more of a source of warmth. The use of the sieve throughout the story changes, in the beginning, Montag is trying to collect all the sand at one time but its all falling through, but towards the end, Granger explains how they only pick up the sand they need, instead of all the sand, so nothing falls through the sieve. Books are showed as dangerous and a threat against society in the beginning, and as the story plays out, Montag’s perspective towards books changes, and at the end of the story they are illustrated as powerful and knowledgeable. In Fahrenheit 451, the characters, as well as symbols, undergo transformation shown as changes in use, representation, and why they are used. The novel, Fahrenheit 451, takes objects in everyday life and adds meaning behind them and once you figure that out it gives you a different perspective on everything that unlocks a part of the story that was not there at first glance.