Themes

Themes of Fahrenheit 451:

1. There will always be people who will disagree with the government and rebel.

2. Governmental oppression leads to fear for its people.

3. It's important to question the world in order to avoid unnecessary conformity.

Theme 1:

The main character of Fahrenheit 451 is Guy Montag who ends up rebelling against the government because he disagrees with their rules and laws. He is influenced to question/think differently by characters such as Clarisse McClellan and Faber. For example, Clarisse says, "Strange. I heard once that a long time ago houses used to burn by accident and they needed firemen to stop the flames." (Bradbury, 8) This made Guy start to wonder about his profession and he asks Beatty the fire chief, "Was- was it always like this?" (Bradbury, 34) This shows that he started to disagree with the way things were with his government. Even before, Guy was collecting books and even let Faber go when he was in possession of a book. This showed that Guy didn't really care much about the laws or at least that he didn't seem very interested in enforcing them. His hesitation to burn the woman and her collection of books showed me that he felt something was wrong with the rules in his society and that he didn't feel comfortable following such laws.

Theme 2:

In Fahrenheit 451, the government bans the use and possession of books. This oppresses the people in their society because the government is trying to control them by preventing them to learn from books. Books are a great source of knowledge so taking them anyway would be like taking their knowledge away. This makes me picture a scene from a movie where the villain says, "The less they know, the better." It's easier to control a large population of people if they don't know what's going on or know if the situation is right or wrong. Due to this oppression in Fahrenheit 451, a character named Faber and his colleagues are afraid of getting caught because there will be consequences. An example of this would be when the alarm sounded for the first time in the book and they had to burn the woman's book collection and she committed suicide along with her books. Faber even says, "Mr. Montag, you are looking for a coward...I'm one of the innocents who could have spoken up and out when no one would listen to the 'guilty,' but I did not speak and thus became guilty myself." (Bradbury, 82) He calls himself a coward and talked about how he didn't speak up, most likely out of fear as to what the government would do to him if he did so. Actors in plays are also oppressed by the government according to what Faber states, "Oh, there are many actors alone who haven't acted Pirandello or Shaw or Shakespeare for years because their plays are too aware of the world." (Bradbury, 87)

Theme 3:

 When Guy Montag questions, "Was- was it always like this?" (Bradbury, 34) It was only the beginning of his troubles and changes, he turning point if you will. He starts to wonder why they had to burn books and why they were illegal. Beatty the fire chief tells him the reasons, saying lines like, "...the word 'intellectual,' of course, became the swear word it deserved to be" (Bradbury, 58), "You always dread the unfamiliar," (Bradbury, 58), and "A book is a loaded gun in the house next door." (Bradbury, 58) This only fueled Guy's curiosity so he continued to learn by reading from some of the books he had collected and hidden and from a man named Faber, which he had met in a park several years back. Faber asks Guy, "How did you get shaken up? What knocked the torch out of your hands?" (Bradbury, 82) He was questioning how Guy realized what was going on around him and how he broke the "hand-cuffs of conformity." He and Faber devise a plan to destroy the fire houses so that the threat to books will disappear. This plan doesn't work out too well and Guy ended up having to stain his hands with blood. Guy runs away from the authorities and groups up with several men who are going through the same situation as he is. They all carry the knowledge/content of books in their brains and states that they must past down this information to their children to make sure that the knowledge isn't lost. If Guy had questioned why his society was the way it was, he would be like mostly everyone else in his world.

How Theme 2 Contributes to the Meaning/Structure of Fahrenheit 451:

The theme of governmental oppression leading to fear in its people contributes to the overall meaning of this story by being very universal/relatable and by giving the world another dystopian fiction novel for said genre. It also gives Fahrenheit 451 a very unique conflict. Another lesson that this book can imply can be to value books. Many governments in today's world could be oppressing too, this make Fahrenheit 451 interesting to read in many parts of the world because readers would be able to understand/comprehend the events that are happening in the book. Also, if the reader can relate to the book, they are more likely to enjoy the book and see the deeper meanings and implied themes.

The genre of dystopian fiction proudly displays Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. The government is usually there to protect you and eliminate fear in the hearts of its people. In this story, that doesn't seem to be the case. Instead, their involvement makes certain citizens fear for their lives and their right to obtain knowledge. There are many books today with happy endings but there aren't many with a grimmer tale. Some readers prefer the grimmer versions of tired out story cliches so Fahrenheit 451 is something they'd enjoy. The unique conflict makes the author successful in crafting a good piece of literature because it is something new that no one has read about before. Another reason why this theme contributes to the meaning of the book is the message of valuing books. The characters who live in fear from the government's wrath due to their strong belief and passion for books definitely value books so much that they would give up their lives. This implies that books are very important and valuable.