Literary Analysis: Fahrenheit 452

Flames turning pages of Shakespeare, Thoreau, and Plato into amber ashes, Bradbury's, "Fahrenheit 451" tells a bitter story of censorship in a society where books are a threat to society's fibers. Being the burner of books, Montag struggles with the desire to understand the meaning of this threat. Throughout the novel Montag experiences struggles that he never thought he would ever deal with. In his search for peace of mind he finds satisfaction, but it is bittersweet. Censorship is the prohibition of any material that might be considered obscene or objectionable, in this case it is books. In the novel there are two groups of factors that make censorship work well in this society: a general lack of interest and factors that make people hostile. These factors are what draw Montag to the books. The threat of books in Montag's society creates conflict in which he must battle to find the meaning for the banning of books, so that he can eliminate the violence and lack of free thought in the world.

The first group of factors that give reason to the threat of books and the cause of censorship in Montag's society is the idea that the material can make people hostile. Material in books creates hostility with special interest groups such as minorities. Beatty explains to Montag that books are bad because they hurt those of certain groups. Beatty lists off many groups including teachers and doctors as minorities, and that books promote violence between people because of the ideas that they express. Montag realizes that a main reason that books are a major threat in society is because it allows people to think on their own and not obey the ideals passed down by the government. He struggles with himself about reading books, but continues to do so, in order to unravel the mystery behind books. A second factor in this group is the envy that books can bring into society.