FAHRENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury

Fahrenheit 451 Novel of the Future Censorship Gone Wild Modern Classic (Brave New World, 1984) Published 1953 Ominous Warning about the Future of Non- readers and Non-thinkers Role 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 Finn The American Heritage Dictionary Bambi Brave New World Catch 22 Catcher in the Rye Fahrenheit 451 Forever Flowers in the Attic

Grapes of Wrath Harry Potter (all) Lord of the Flies Etc. Banned Books (American Libraries Association)