Tuesday, October 14, 2014
F451: Chapter 1 Analysis
Grade 10 IGCSE students! Welcome to your first blog post of the year. For this post, you will put forth an interesting and provocative argument about Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. Keep your analysis to the first chapter only; make sure to focus on writing style and sophistication. When you write your analysis, put it on Microsoft Word first and make sure to save it on your computer- then copy and paste it onto the "comment" section below. Have fun, and be a risk taker!
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In the novel Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, the author suggests that humanity is getting ruined by the amount of power we have; The more power we have the more inhumane we are towards others because we think that they are not as important as us and we treat them like animals. To demonstrate my evidence, on page 78, Captain Beatty says, “You must understand that our civilization is so vast that we can’t have our minorities upset and stirred… Don’t we keep them moving? Don’t we give them fun?” Here it shows how Captain Beatty has power over everyone in the community and says that he can make all of them move and make them have fun and this shows that whatever he says or does is that he has power over all of them. Another example is on page 79 where again Captain Beatty says, “We’ve a record on her family. We’ve watched them carefully…” Here it shows how again he has power over the entire community that they live in but in this quote that I have shown as evidence, he was referring to one person and her family, which is Clarice. He was saying that he had records of the family and that they were watching them carefully which he shows that he has the power of looking over them in a spied way. This is another example of how power is linked in the book. The last example is when Guy Montag says, “There must be something in books, something we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing” In this quote it shows that books have a very big power over the people in the community. It shows that because a woman in a burning house was not getting out since she was with the books in the building. The book must have had a power over her that kept her in a burning building and that eventually killed her. As a conclusion, as it is mentioned in my thesis statement, the more power someone has the more inhumane we are.
How does Consumerism affect People’s emotion?
‘Fahrenheit 451,’ by Ray Bradbury conveys how consumerism affects people’s emotions, and the way he shows this is by showing that people who do not want to feel emotion, consume instead, which causes them to confuse the satisfaction they obtain from owning things with true happiness. On page 78, Captain Beatty says, “People want to be happy, isn’t that right? Haven’t you heard it all your life? I want to be happy, people say. Well, aren’t they? Don’t we keep them moving, don’t we give them fun? This is all we live for isn’t it? For pleasure, for titillation? And you must admit our culture provides plenty of these.” This conveys to the readers that, in this world that they are living in, happiness is shown as something that happens with order, and by making sure their eyes are closed towards the truth and the bad things that are happening in the world, and they do this by making them consume, and use that as a distraction. Another part in the book that shows how consumerism affects people’s emotions is on page 31, when Mildred says, “Its only two thousand dollars… And I should think you’d consider me sometimes. If we had a fourth wall, why it’d be just like this room wasn’t ours at all...” Since Mildred is considered a normal ordinary person in the book, when Mildred says this, this shows the readers that people in this book value items and things they could own very much, and they believe that the way someone could show their gratitude towards them is by buying them things and that’s the only way they could be happy. A similar part in the book was later on in the book when the author said, “Her seashells was tamped in her ear again and she was listening to far people in far places.” What this suggests, is that Mildred is again using consumption and the items she owns as a way to be happy, although what she is really feeling is not true happiness, it is only satisfaction. This is a great representation of how the “normal” people in the behave because Mildred is considered a normal person, which is a person who can be easily manipulated and distracted.
What is the relationship between totaliritanism and censorship and why do goverments like using it?
The novel, F451, by Rad Brad bury suggests that the government depends on Totaliritanism and Censorship to prevent the spread of ‘undesirable ideas so that the problems aren’t created with and Totaliritanism offers the security and control in order to prevent people from being exposed to reality; thus it creates a strong bond that governments can use effectively. To demonstrate what I mean, on page 78, Captain Beatty says “You must understand that our civilization is so vast that we can’t have our minorities upset and stirred. Ask yourself, what do we want in this country, above all? People want to be happy, isn’t that right?” From this we can convey that there is definitely Totaliritanism happening and happiness must be controlled. Because if it isn’t, the minorities will start to get crafty, they will start to get ideas that are not allowed by the government, protest, and cause chaos. It is important to control the people’s moral so that you can avoid several problems. Another example, page 75-76, “Now let’s take up the minorities in our civilization, shall we? Bigger the population, the more minorities……The bigger your market, Montag, the less you handle controversy, remember that? All the minor minorities with their navels to be kept clean.” This relates with censorship and totaliritanism because the minorities must be watched carefully so they do not fret or start asking questions. If the minorities know too much, the idea will spread like wildfire through the people and they will soon turn against their own government, which the government does not want to happen. They want their plan to be executed without a problem and controlling people’s ideas and emotions, whether directly or indifferently is not difficult. The final reason is, page 79, “Clarise McClellan? We’ve a record on her family. We’ve watched them carefully. Heredity and environment are funny things. You can’t rid yourselves of all the odd ducks in just a few years. The home environment can undo a lot you try to do at school. This tells us that censorship can be related to marginalizing or getting rid ‘silently’ of unacceptable ‘enemies’. In Montag’s world, Clarlise is a person like us who thinks differently and acts differently then the rest of the society, which is totaliritanistic. The government has taken care of her by possibly killing her (she got run over by a car). Then her family got moved out. She was marginalized as well so people didn’t care or notice that she is dead. That is what censorship and totaliritanism can do to people.
How does individual freedom affect social security?
In the novel, ‘Fahrenheit 451’, by Ray Bradbury, the author suggests that society want social security but individualism is a threat – conformity brings security, that is what society demands.
According to the dystopian novel, “ If you don’t want a house built, hide the nails and wood….Better yet, give him none.” (Bradbury 80) The author illustrates in this quotation that individual freedom affects social security. If the society does not want one to be opened to freedom, they just simply hide the evidence that one will be curious about. In this case it is the books, the books are forbidden in this society to discourage the citizens of being curious of what is held behind those books. In other words, the people do not have freedom because they are not allowed to own a book; if they do own a book, the fireman are sent to burn down the house and the people if they don’t chose to leave. “They make me go. I made up things to say. I don’t know what he thinks of me. He says I’m a regular onion.” (Bradbury 33) The author illustrates in this quotation that individual freedom affects social security. Clarisse is forced to go to a psychiatrist, because of her safety. If she does not want to die, she must go. They take her freedom away because if they do not she will be killed. She will be killed because if she had freedom she will be able to think normally and that is not what society wants. Therefore, they take away her freedom in order to give her security. “We let the fireman keep the book twenty-four hours. If he hasn’t burned it by then, we simply come and burn it for him.” (Bradbury 82) The author illustrates in this quotation that individual freedom affects social security. For the ones that are curious would want to open a book and see what it is all about. However, they said that the fireman is only allowed to have it for one whole day or else they will come and burn it. This is another great example, because the author shows that they are given no freedom what so ever. If they wanted freedom then they would want to keep the book; if they keep the book then the society will come and take their security away, because they will come and burn down the house. However, if they want security and not have their house burnt down, they will give up freedom; in other words, giving up the book. As a result, the author suggests that if they want to keep the book, they will keep their freedom but they will not have social security. However, if they want do not keep the book, they will have social security but they will have to give up freedom.
In conclusion, the author illustrates that having individual freedom affects having social security.
How Can Freedom Affect Security?
In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury suggests that is a dystopian society, freedom can be the main reason why one might lose his or her security; the government uses the public’s fear of losing their security to make sure that their people would give up their freedom.
In the first chapter of the novel, the issue of freedom vs. security is already evident through some events that happened in the book. For example, on page 16 Clarisse says, “My uncle drove slowly on a highway once. He drove 40 miles an hour and they jailed him for two day.” This evidence conveys that freedom affects security in the dystopian society they are living in; the government has the control on every single aspect of everyone’s lives and the government plays a big role on why freedom is the main reason why people lose their security; the government does not want freedom for their people because the government is afraid that if their people have the freedom to do whatever they want, the government would not be able to control them. So to prevent this from happening, the government marginalizes or punishes people by sometimes killing who they think are trying to break free from the rest of the society.
Another example that shows why freedom can lead to one losing his security is on page 68 when Montag says, “There must be something in books, things we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there.” This conveys that people who chose their freedom to learn more through books automatically lose their security because they are seen as a threat to the government and to their present ideology.
Lastly, on page 80 Beatty says, “If you don’t want a man unhappy politically, don’t give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet, give him none.” This conveys that freedom can affect security; if a person in this society wants to be safe, he should just blend in with the rest, give up his freedom and forget all of his desire to know more by questioning the government or other people.
Therefore, in conclusion, freedom does not only affect how the society treats you but it also affects your security.
In Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, the author implies themes such as the use of censorship paired with a totalitarianist government to control a society, and eventually make it mindless and numb; censorship can be used to limit a society’s knowledge of outside current events, therefore making them more used to being less knowledgeable about things happening around them.
Captain Beatty makes a lot of comments that are related to censorship, he talks a lot about the books he burns, yet he doesn’t seem as though he knows what is in them. He talks about threats to their society, he makes is seem as though those who think independently and creatively, those who like to enjoy nature and stay away from the TV, are those who are the threats to what seems like their perfect life.
There are many quotes by Captain Beatty which give evidence to this such as, “You must understand that our civilization is so vast that we can’t have our minorities upset or stirred. Ask yourself, what do we want in this country, above all? People want to be happy, isn’t that right?” – Pg. 78. It shows form this quote that he wants the society to be controlled and everyone to be happy, and the only way to do this would be to have a controlling government to keep people from voicing their possibly outrageous opinions.
Another quote by Captain Beatty shows how they have a highly controlling society where they don’t want people to think for themselves rather just to think what the government wants them to think. “She didn’t want to know how a thing was done, but why. That can be embarrassing. You ask why to a lot of things and you would end up being very unhappy indeed, if you keep at it.” – Pg. 79. In this the Captain is obviously referring to Clarice and her independent thinking. This seems to be very strong proof of a controlling society, and how they want people to think how the Government wants them to think. This is a very good way to start teaching people how to think, at their younger years, when their minds are soaking up everything they are being told, and they could expect no friction from the parents as they have already been ingrained into that way of thinking.
The next quote by Clarice is evidence of their controlling society, except this time from the perspective of one who has not yet been brainwashed, this perspective is different because it is uncensored, you can tell there are no lies, and she seems to be very innocent and has no reason to speak lies about the society. “When I talk, you look at me. When I said something about the moon, you looked at the moon last night. The others would never do that. The others would walk off and leave me talking, or threaten me. No one has the time and more for anyone else. You’re one of the few who put up with me.” – Pg. 34. From this quote we can see that she is quite used to a society that is brainwashed, and she is so used to it she can find one who doesn’t think the same way, yet is quite directly responsible for the censorship of their society.
Using this evidence we can see quite easily that the society has been controlled to think in a certain way, to avoid the trees and nature, to avoid socialising and to be very selfish. We see that everything has to be controlled supposedly because of others being offended by opinions and the best way to do this was to brainwash the society.
Andrew Yildizlar
Fahrenheit 451
When is having too much safety and security jeopardizing our freedom? In the book Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, the author suggests that when a society puts having their own safety and security before their right of freedom, that the ability to control and make our own decisions freely is now essentially stripped away and basically taking away any sense of curiosity and wonder that human beings do posses. The book evidently shows this in some ways through the characters and especially the protagonist Montag who deals with the misunderstanding of staying under the radar and following all the safety and security rules set by the government or have his own freedom to think and do, as he likes to a certain extent of course. Sort of explaining how maybe in the real world in our society we have too much security and it actually cuts back on our freedom and what we wish to do and say which does occur all over the world especially in America where the government will be over protective at times and not allow some types of freedom for people. Though people living there actually feel as though they can’t get any more freedom and that what they have is enough and the government is right to be very protective and safe about things. The book has portrayed this idea very well. For example in the story it says, “we let fireman keep the book for 24 hours. If he hasn’t burnt it by then we simply come and burn It for him.” This quote perfectly conveys how the government is over protecting people in that society and the security is too tight that a person can’t even own a book because they don’t want people to learn about the past and have any ideas of change nor any such curiosity. Another effective quote gathered from the book is this, “Hide the nails and wood. If you don’t want a man unhappy politically don’t give him 2 sides to a question, give him one; better yet give him none.” Basically this tells us that in this society there is only one main power that is in control over everyone and it has to make sure that it is the sole power and it is the one that controls what people think about. Pretty much saying that this government does not want anyone thinking about another way of life and that they are supposed to be happy because they are safe without knowing the supposedly evil that beholds a government that runs differently with people who had real freedom is bad. The bad thing is that people do believe in what they are saying and listen to the government because they are safe and have a good sense of security and don’t feel like they need any more freedom when in fact the people living in that society do. Essentially this book does prove that when people actually believe that having safety and security within themselves is more important then their freedom that human beings are stripped of their creativeness and intelligence to innovate and be happy with their lives. This book definitely shows that there is a limit to the amount of security we need and that we may need to look at our own lives a little differently and ask our selves if we really do have freedom.
In the novel F451 by Ray Bradbury, the author suggests that authority takes freedom away from society; we unconsciously become their slaves, the illusion of freedom such as superficial choices blind us from reality.
The specialism of freedom is represented when Captain Beatty quotes ‘ We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal, as the Constitution says, but everyone made equal.’(77) The constitution is represented as the antagonist of the story. This creates conflict between people like Clarisse, which speaks her mind but risks being marginalized, or Mildred, who accepts her reality of being equal to everybody else. Beatty, in this case, is defending Clarisse in a kind of ironic way because he allows firemen to read the books to get the curiosity out of their system even though it is illegal.
‘My uncle drove slowly on a highway once. He drove forty miles an hour and they jailed him for two days. Isn’t that funny, and sad, too?’(16) this quote said by Clarisse is an example of a higher authority enforcing the society of how to live their daily lives. The society has become so used to this idea that no one even questions why they are living that way any more. They are all under the illusion that they are in control of their own destinies but they are blinded by the fact that authority is what is controlling their speed, and in that case, mind.
Authority takes away their right to drive fast just in case they think, which would be very unusual in their society. This society has a herd-mentality; when someone like Clarisse, who in their eyes has unusual thoughts, is seen as anti-social and is a threat to them. ‘ She didn’t want to know why, but how things worked. You ask Why to a lot of things and you wind up very unhappy indeed, if you keep at it. The poor girl’s better off dead’ (79) by saying this Beatty illustrates herd mentality to control the people. He could not control Clarisse so he tells Montag she is better off dead in a way warning him to not start questioning things himself.
Herd Mentality and Safety
In the novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury suggests that the government manipulates herd mentality to control the population; they find control through submission to authority, and use fear and safety to keep people in line. One example of the government attempting to suppress the population in Fahrenheit 451 is when Clarisse informed the reader that her uncle was jailed for two days for “driving forty miles an hour”. This proves that the society was corrupt and tried to use fear of being jailed on the population in order to get them to obey their laws. However, this particular example of a rule meant to control the population was broken by Clarisse’s uncle.
Another example that shows how corrupt and run by fear the society is was when Beatty said that the firemen “stand against a small tide of those who want to make everyone unhappy with conflicting theory and thought.” Thought is considered a bad thing. This proves that individuality in people is suppressed, creating a herd mentality in order to maintain control over the people.
“A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it.” These sentences are perfect examples of how the government manipulates fear to use and manipulate herd mentality to its advantage, and to stop individuals from reading and getting independent thoughts. The phrase “burn it” proves that individuals who do not obey the society by reading books against the law will have their books burned – along with their houses, and sometimes even themselves – as punishment. The authorities would then get rid of the person who causes disorder in the society, most probably by placing them in mental institutions, or by simply killing them, as it was suspected happened to Clarisse.
In conclusion, evidence from the book Fahrenheit 451 proves that, in Montag’s society, herd mentality is a concept that is manipulated by the higher-ups in order to keep common people in line, submissive and obedient.
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