Hey, guys. So my English teacher had us all do a banned book project and I did mine on Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. While I was researching it, I found out some interesting things about the book, its reception, and what the author himself thought about it. So I wanted to share some of my findings with you and see what other people think about the banned book. Also, I would like warn you guys that there will me minor spoilers for this book so if you are interested in reading it, I suggest you do that first, form your own opinion, and then come back. If you already have or just don't care, lets begin.
So, to start off, lets get what the book itself is about. It's about a dystopic future in which books are banned (ironic, huh?) and firemen are in charge of executing book burnings. The main character, Guy Montag, one of these firemen but eventually finds that there is some value to the books he's burning. And, as discussed in my dystopian post, he goes against the government and keeps some of them (more on that later).
The main question here is why was this book banned? I went through article after article looking for a big reason as to why it was banned because after reading it myself, I couldn't find a major reason. Yes, it seemed to be about government censorship, but it was individual schools and school districts that banned it, not the government itself. Why would some schools or parents be so upset about reading censorship? Shouldn't that be the main reason to read the book in the first place? The answer I found was interesting. It was banned from several schools because parents complained about the subject matter. In Texas, one parent said that he didn't want his daughter reading about smoking, alcohol, or biblical references. He also claimed that the foul language and it's depiction of firefighters was insulting.
When I read this article, I was surprised, First of all, the smoking, alcohol, biblical references and foul language weren't even the main focus of the book. The second reason was just that it seemed very sheltered. I don't mean to offend anyone in saying that, but I mean that it seems as though the parent was being ignorant to the book's meaning. Yes, there are "controversial" issues in the book, but the main point was that it was a warning of what may to come in the future if the problems presented in the novel aren't addressed now. There is a reason as to why it was a dystopic future. Taking a step further, I also found that Bradbury himself admitted that Fahrenheit 451 was not about government censorship, rather, it was about television and how it is slowly but surely taking over.
This is where pose a question to you guys. Do you thing Fahrenheit 451 should have been banned from the school in Texas, or anywhere for that matter? I personally don't think it should have been mainly because it seems ignorant to ignore the issues presented in it. and I don't think that the content was inappropriate for high school students.
While researching this book, I really thought about authors commenting on their own work and maybe that will be my next post, but I have finals coming up, so I guess we'll wait and see but I do plan on doing another discussion post on it soon. I just wanted to give you guys a heads up on that. See you next week
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