FAHRENHEIT 451by Ray Bradbury

Fahrenheit 451Novel of the FutureCensorship Gone WildModern Classic (Brave New World,

1984)Published 1953Ominous Warning about the Future of

Non-readers and Non-thinkersRole of Government?Equality? Does equal mean the

same?

“If they give you ruled paper, write the other way.” Juan Ramon Jimenez

The Hearth and the Salamander“ . . . There was no longer need

of firemen for the old purposes. They were given the new job, as custodians of our peace of mind, the focus of our understandable and rightful dread of being inferior: official censors, judges, and executors.” (Bradbury 59)

Equality! Happiness! Peace!“ . . .we can’t have our minorities

upset and stirred. . .What do we want in this country, above all? People want to be happy, isn’t that right? . . .That’s all we live for, isn’t it?” (Bradbury 59)

“Give the people contests . . .Cram them full of facts . . .entertainment.” (Bradbury 61)

“Have reason to suspect . . .”(Bradbury 36)

The Sieve and the Sand“The magic is only what the

books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us.”

“Do you why books such as this are so important? Because they have quality. . . This book has pores. It has features. This book can go under the microscope.” (Bradbury 83)

“Dover Beach” Matthew Arnold“’Ah, love, let us be true/ To one

another! for the world, which seems/ To lie before us like a land of dreams,/ So various, so beautiful, so new,/ Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,/ Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;/ And we are here as on a darkling plain . . .” (Bradbury 100)

Burning Bright“And on either side of the river

was a tree of life . . .And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” (Bradbury 165)

A Note on Censorship“Whether or not my ideas on

censorship via the fire department will be old hat by this time next week, I dare not predict. When the wind is right, a faint odor of kerosene is exhaled from Senator McCarthy.”

Ray Bradbury

Censorship and Senator Joe McCarthy“Censorship was a real and frightening

concern in the U.S. when Fahrenheit 451 came out in 1953 during the height of the career of Joseph McCarthy, the U.S. Senator from Wisconsin whose unfounded accusations of a Communist-infiltrated Department of State led to suppression of information and the propagation of falsehoods and fears . . .”

(Random House Publishers)

“If they give you ruled paper . . .”The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnThe American Heritage DictionaryBambiBrave New WorldCatch 22Catcher in the RyeFahrenheit 451ForeverFlowers in the Attic

Grapes of WrathHarry Potter (all) Lord of the FliesEtc. Banned Books(American Libraries Association)