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Essay / Ignorance and Knowledge in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the protagonist, Guy Montag, works as a fireman burning books rather than putting out fires, as a fireman is supposed to do . Montag begins as a loyal citizen of society, burning books without question and participating in the suppression of knowledge. Fireman helps destroy all forms of knowledge, books being the main subject of this novel. This story is filled with countless examples of ignorance and knowledge and is reflected in most of the characters throughout the story. The Fahrenheit 451 society lacks communication. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay This is a problem that Guy Montag begins to become fully aware of early in the story. It's a sign of ignorance. People will focus entirely on their television rather than on their relationships with others. Mildred, Montag's troubled wife, is a prime example of this. She spends her time wondering what her next TV show will be rather than knowing how her own husband is doing. Montag begins to question everything when he meets Clarisse, who ends up asking him if he was really happy with his life. Nobody listens to me anymore. I can't talk to the walls because they yell at me. I can't talk to my wife: she listens to the walls. I just want someone to hear what I have to say. And maybe if I talk long enough it will make sense. And I want you to teach me to understand what I read. Montag had given up trying to improve his relationship with Mildred because he knew that nothing could improve their unhappy life together, especially not books. So he had to turn to someone else to get the help he wanted. Faber, the only person Montag believes can help him achieve his goals and bring books and knowledge back to the world. Faber, like Montag, seeks to protect and take back the rights to books and the knowledge that the world fears and attempts to censor. Number one: do you know why books like this are so important? They have quality... Number two: entertain and digest. And number three: the right to take actions based on what we learn from the interaction of the first two. Faber uses knowledge of books as an advantage over the rest of society, who spend all their time on the electronics of the world. Faber immediately expresses his love and passion for books throughout his time in the novel, but he is too afraid to do much. He hides at home and is very careful about the people he comes into contact with. He considers himself a coward and it was not easy to gain his trust, but Montag managed to convince him. Guy Montag, Clarisse, and Faber are all examples of the knowledge that manifests itself throughout the story. They are different in a way that prevents them from succumbing to ignorance. They look beyond the living room walls and, instead of talking about things, they talk about the meaning of things. Montag soon learns, from Clarisse, that happiness is very much involved in the concept of knowledge. This takes him from being ignorant to being a knower. He wasn't happy. He said these words to himself. He recognized that this was the true situation. He wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run off across the lawn with the mask and there was no way she could knock on his door and ask him to get it back. It was Clarissa who began Montag's journey with books and shed light on how censored and distracted the world was. Nobody was happy, they were all just distracted by this.