Warnings of Governments Suppressing Individual Freedoms

Unlike the governments of the past, some of today's governments set forceful laws on a society and rob people of their individual freedoms. In this novel, not only does Bradbury show how governments can rob people of their freedoms as individuals, but he also shows how governments can brainwash people into not thinking or expressing emotions. In Fahrenheit 451, Montag's society is prohibited from reading books, and war is constantly occurring. Not allowing the society to read books is an example of robbing peoples' individual freedoms. In our society today, there are many people who enjoy reading books and like to read about the past to help them gain more knowledge. However, the situation in Montag's society is much different. No one is interested in reading books or bringing to mind memories the past holds. Before meeting Clarisse, Montag hardly questioned anything; and if he did question something or ask "why", he wouldn't bring his questioning to the table. In other words, when Montag met Clarisse, he began to experience a different feeling and outlook on the world around him. The problem was that, only he and Clarisse were the ones questioning the changed society.

I think that, before Montag became interested in showing his hidden books to his wife, he was truly timid and scared about expressing his new emotions to the people around him. Of course he couldn't express these emotions to the firemen, because they play a big role in the society's downfall; burning books filled with insightful ideas. Also, his wife Mildred is so brainwashed by the whole society that she finds joy in sitting, watching the shows in her "parlor family" and listening to what they say to her. This quote that Mildred says shows how much the government and the people of her society have brainwashed her: "Books aren't people. You read and I look all around, but there isn't anybody !" (73). I think that Bradbury uses these quotes as a symbol of unreality to show that what Mildred is saying about her and Montag's society is true. What Mildred hears from books is not going to be shown in her own society, so she feels that there is no point to her reading.

Another example of the government robbing others of freedoms and brainwashing people is when Mrs. Bowles argues with Montag after he reads a poem to Mildred's guests. She says, "...I've always said poetry and tears, poetry and suicide and crying and awful things, poetry and sickness; all that mush!.....awful hurting words...Why do people want to hurt people?" (101). This quote shows that Mrs. Bowles has been robbed of her right to have feelings towards something meaningful. This also shows how much she is brainwashed, because the poem that Montag read contained thought-provoking phrases, and she reacts to them by crying. What Montag was reading was really about keeping peace with others and the world, and not losing sight of what is happening around us. Faber helped Montag understand the real meaning of books. In this quote he says, "So now do you see why books are hated and feared? They show the pores in the face of life. The comfortable people want only wax moon faces, poreless, hairless, expressionless. We are living in a time when flowers are trying to live on flowers, instead of growing on rain and black roam. Even fireworks, for all their prettiness, come from the chemistry of the earth. Yet somehow we think we can grow, feeding on flowers and fireworks, without completing the cycle back to reality.' (83).This shows that Faber is completely aware of what is going on in his society. Even though he is one who is robbed of his freedoms, he is not robbed of his mind and memory. Because of Clarisse and Faber's outlook, Montag has started to become a new person.

Ideas and Learning from Classmates

In my point of view, blogging is a great way to express ideas about a novel and share ideas about a certain topic with those around you. My positive outlook on blogs has a lot to do with contributing my own ideas with other people. I like the fact that your feelings being expressed about a certain topic are "out in the open", because that way, those around you can give you more ideas and express there feelings about the topic being discussed. During this year, for example, I experienced a lot of learning and new understanding from other peoples' blogs. I hadn't ever noticed before the blogs how much someone's ideas can broaden my own thinking and understanding of something. Even though we didn't get into our groups to have discussions about these books as often as we would’ve liked, I feel that the blogs made up for the group discussions by having everyone's ideas documented as final thoughts, instead of the ideas just being mentioned in the group and being later forgotten.

As a specific example, in Michelle's blog, "Thoughts About Fahrenheit 451", she mentioned something that had never occurred to me. She used a specific part in the book when Montag was in a house burning books. She says, "Montag dropped the book and another one falls into his arms. It is almost like the books want him to read them. I found this interpretation very helpful to me, because it shows how Montag's attitude is changing towards books. Montag wants to question things and ask "why" things are happening. To me, this is just one example of how Montag is changing his life outlook. I do think that Bradbury wanted this part of the book to be analyzed this way; interpreting certain events as a symbol of specific situations.

Another example that had rarely crossed my mind was mentioned by Danielle. In her blog posted on May 25th, she said, "In this novel, the books aren't just books. They're a way to learn about there past which is something the government doesn't want. People in this society don't know whats going on around them because they've been taught not to. The government tries to get ride of any evidence there is of their past by telling them that they will be arrested for reading books and by burning them." This stood out to me and helped me a lot, because I never thought about the government too much while reading this book. This is unusual, because the government has mostly everything to do with why Montag's society is the way it is. Danielle points out in that sentence that the government, in other words, brainwashed the people into not caring about their past. As I was reading the book, my interpretation of the society's situation is that over a large amount of time, gradually, people from the society started to just not care about the past anymore. In my first point of view, I felt that because the peoples' lives were becoming so much advanced, they just lost sight of what was once the world, before they were in the picture. Once I read on through the book, I began to realize that the government did play a major role in leading the people into their certain state of mind.

After we finished our blogging assignments where we were asked to comment on four other peoples' blogs, I came to the conclusion that blogging is only positively beneficial to someone when people read each others ideas stated in their blogs. When you blog, you write down your ideas about a certain topic and tell how you feel about it. None of your ideas will do any good, unless people read and comment on your ideas to help you better understand the topic being discussed. Everyone who is blogging should read, comment, and thoughtfully consider the ideas of others.

Parallels Between Two Worlds

So much modern technology and advancements are being added to our society today. Most of the advancements are being presented to us rapidly; one right after another. We don't have time to fathom all of these new technologies coming into our world; however, most of us find them as a necessity. They become so much a part of our lives. For example- cell phones, electronic planners, computers, etc. Many of us get so caught up in the new, more-in-style, updated technologies that we forget about what is right in front of us. Computers have taken precedence over book usage, because most people look to the internet as an easier source of gaining information and knowledge. The information found on a computer database is given to you by only a click of the mouse. This is an example of how things are being made easier for us. Now that people in our society have new, and more updated cell phones, they can not only call people from them, but they can email, instant message, etc. I have to ask myself- "Don't people e-mail others from a computer?" The difference is that now people can e-mail others on the go or when they are not sitting right near a computer. All of these things in our society seem to be taking away some of our responsibilities as humans. Once upon a time people would have to remember things only by writing them down. Now, people are reminded of events they need to attend, or places they need to be at a certain time because of these modern technologies. Although all of these things are a big help to our society, they can also take away from the simplicity of our lives and how we view the world as a whole.

These things try and prevent us from stopping to "smell the roses" per say, or to take a good look at reality and how life may really be turning out. There is no reason to look back and remember the past for knowledge and information, because we have all of the information right in front of us.
I think that most of these things I mentioned have a lot to do with why Montag’s society is the way it is right now. And this is brought on by our modern-day technologies. In Fahrenheit 451, over a period of time books stopped being read, and then it came to a point where books became illegal to read all together. I do think that according to this book reading being made illegal is a threat to individual freedom, because those who forget about the past’s importance to our lives, are only becoming more gradually unaware of how much the world is changing. This is shown throughout the book, from when Montag met Clarisse, to when Montag requested to read a poem to Mildred’s friends. Clarisse came into Montag’s life to lead him in a different direction. With the help of Clarisse’s view on life, Montag learned to question things, express his feelings, and think about life in depth. He saw a new attitude towards life that no one else showed him; and it did, indeed, fascinate him. Luckily, many of us in our world today have not forgotten to question and express our feelings. This is just a warning to us explaining the possible result of those who are gradually becoming unaware of the future society.

Hyperlinking

This is an interesting quote that Michelle used in her explanation of Montag's society being brainwashed......

"School is shortened, discipline relaxed, philosophies, histories, languages dropped, English and spelling gradually gradually neglected, finally almost ignored. Life is immediate, the job counts, pressure lies all about work." -Beatty (55).

This quote brought to mind Clarisse McClellan, because thinking back in the beginning of the story, the scary part was that she was the only person before Montag who questioned what is happening around them. The memories of life were always on her mind and she didn't forget what her uncle told her about the past. She keeps real-life situations in mind and uses them to analyze the situation of the society right now. What I want to know is-how did the whole world become unaware of the changing elements within their communities? Wouldn't someone have questioned these changes? Fortunately, Montag remembers Faber and both of them have a plan to make sense of their lives and everything that is happening around them. Faber explains the three reasons of how to go about understanding the significance of what you read. All of the things that he says go against the quote stated above. As Faber said, books have quality. And that quality can only be discovered if we have the leisure to digest it. With both of these, is when we can carry out actions based on what have we learned from these books.

Let's Face Reality

I just finished the second part of Fahrenheit 451. Through this part of the book, Montag meets with Faber and they start to analyze the people around them and how their attitudes came to be. Faber gives Montag a listening device so that both of them can hear what is going on even if they are not near each other. After his meeting with Faber, he finds that two of Mildred's friends are over their house. Montag is eager to read to them to prove that there is indeed something in these books that all makes sense. When Montag starts to read, Mrs. Phelps begins to cry, and Mrs. Bowles has an argument with Montag. In this argument, Montag says to her, "Go home. Go home and think of your husband divorced and your second husband killed in a jet plane......go home and think of the dozen abortions you had,...and your children who hate your guts. Go home and think how it all happened and what did you ever do to stop it?" (101). When Montag is saying this, his meaning is to get a point across. In other words, he said to Mrs. Bowles, Think about all of the horrible things you have done and then say to me that your life feels complete. All of those things you did, that contributed to the dumbing down of our society. And you still cannot see the impact of what you are doing.
In this society, all of the people seem to be completely brainwashed of their past. What their lives are like now are how they have always been. No one has time to think any more because in the reality of this lifestyle, even though it is not seen by the world, is sad. And nothing good can come of it it no one stands up to fight for what is right. Beatty shows how he is hypnotized when he says to Montag as they arrive at a house to start burning, "Here we go to keep the world happy, Montag!" (109). Beatty, along with eveyone else, believes that actually burning the past and its history away is just and will help the future society. But the truth is, they do not know what will hit them in the end. Erasing what has already happened is erasing millions of major events, memories, and most of all, the ability to think.

Faber's Realization

"We are living in a time when flowers are trying to live on flowers, instead of growing on good rain and black loam......Yet somehow we think we can grow, feeding on flowers and fireworks, without completing the cycle back to reality."-Faber (83).


So far in the second part of the book, I noticed that the man Montag had met in the past has come up with some thought-provoking ideas about the meaning of books on everyday life. Montag mentions that he met an old English Professor in a park long ago, and they both ended up having a very interesting conversation. During their conversation Faber exclaimed, "I don't talk things, sir, I talk the meaning of things. I sit here and know I'm alive." (75). Some time passed, and Montag wanted help in learning to understand what he reads. This led him to call Faber, asking him how many copies of the Bible were left in the world. Faber responded negatively towards Montag's question, so Montag decided to go visit Faber and have a discussion with him face to face.
Montag explains to Faber, "Nobody listens any more. I can't talk to the walls because they're yelling 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 I want you to teach me to understand what I read." (82). Faber tells Montag what three things are missing that Montag can't seem to make sense of. The three things are...

Number one: Books have quality. They contain pores, texture, and features. Why are books feared? Because they "show the pores in the face of life." (83).
Number two: "Leisure to digest it." (85). We need time to sort through and soak-in the information that the words in books reveal.
Number three: "The right to carry out actions based on what we learn from the interaction of the first two." (85).

What Faber says to Montag is from deep thought and much experience. Faber reveals that since books have become invisible, people do not stop to not just look, but to interpret or explain the meaning of what is happening around them. I found this part of the book very interesting, and I feel that Faber is going to play a large role in the upcoming events of the book.

Response to group discussions

Mr. Miller: About your comment for my first posting- Montag does come across to be too busy to think of everything in such detail like Clarisse does. He seems to just pass through life without stopping to think about anything in front of him. This is shown when Montag reacts to what Clarisse told him about the dew on the ground in the morning. He had to stop and think about if he knew about it or not, and then he felt irritable after thinking about it. This is the same thing that happened when Clarisse asked him if he was happy. That questioned kept nagging him until he could come to a realization. When I went back to the part where Montag's wife was talking, I realized a significant difference between Montag's wife, Mildred, and Clarisse. This is it: When Mildred was reading her play script at home she glanced up and looked at the TV for a few minutes and suddenly said to Montag, "Hey...The Man's thinking!" (pg 19). She said this in a way which expressed shock or confusion. It was said in a way where the reader should assume that no one in that certain time thinks anymore. This is totally opposite to Clarisse because thinking is mostly all that she does. She questions things around her in such detail that it makes Montag question his happiness and his own feelings.

Ok, so moving on to our group discussions today....

I feel that our group discussions were very productive, because everyone contributed their on ideas so everyone would be able to gain a better understanding of the book. Some of the ideas that were shared didn't even cross my mind. For example, Danielle mentioned that she thinks Clarisse's uncle is an older man, because he talks about things that would require much experience to understand. This is probably true, but in my point of view, I pictured her uncle to be younger, because I came up with the idea that Clarisse and her family came back to the future, after living and dying in the past. (Might be a little far-fetched, but just coming up with an idea). I came up with this idea, because it seems like everyone in Montag's world, except for Clarisse and her family, have been hypnotized by the elements of the futuristic world. We all questioned why the incident with Montag's wife came up all of a sudden, because throughout the beginning of the book the subject focused on was Clarisse and Montag. Montag never once, before the incident, mentioned his wife. Our group thinks that this incident is going to later tie into some of the key ideas of the book. Some other things that we wondered about were...

-Why didn't Montag tell his wife about Clarisse?
-Why, if Clarisse's family always has discussions at night, does Montag just find out that Clarisse is his neighbor?

Dangers of Blogging

After reading these articles, some of the dangers from blogging were: Giving out personal information to the world, using the blog posts as profanity messages, writing threatening messages to people around them, or replacing chat rooms for these blogs. The personal information that people want to include in their websites or blogs is open to so many users; half of the users are probably not safe. I think that the highest and most important concern for blogging is the child molesters and predators that are lurking around reading every ones information. As we know this has happened before, where these people take this information and use it to harm a certain person. This concern is definitely legitimate, because it has to do with the safety of those using the blogs. Another danger that wasn't mentioned in the articles was the safety of the bloggers' family members. Even if the blogger puts information out about him or herself, there is no guarantee that a predator will specifically track that same person down. If there is enough information open to the users, it is possible for them to receive personal family information also. Three rules that I think the class should follow on our blogs are: 1. Do not have conversations about anything other than the book you are reading, because blogs for school should be used for school purposes only. 2. Do not put your last name or any family or personal information, and 3. Do not add a picture of yourself so that you can preserve your identity.
Even though I do have a myspace and a facebook, I have the same opinion of those who have written in these articles. In some way, I think that myspace is a safer network, only because if you do not include the school that you attend, no one will know which school you go to, unless they are your friend. You make the choice to add someone you do not know as a friend. This is the same situation as facebook, however, in this network, it shows the school you attend. This is how someone has easy access to your personal information.

So far in Fahrenheit 451

So far in Fahrenheit 451, a man named Montag is not a fire fighter; instead, he is a firestarter. In the beginning of this book, the author describes what he is doing and the setting that he is in. One night after Montag's night shift, he came across a girl named Clarisse McClellan. He found this to be a little strange considering that it was very late at night for anyone to be roaming the streets. He got into a conversation with the girl, which made him question many things that he had never thought about before. For example, the girl questioned him being a firestarter, because she had always known that fires start usually accidentally, and firefighters put them out. Montag explained to her that this was not true, because houses had always been fireproof. Clarisse McClellan also questioned him knowing about the man in the moon and the dew on the grass in the morning. Montag never had the time to think of things in such detail, which made him question Clarisse's intentions and thoughts.
I'm not exactly sure what is to happen later in the book, but I have a feeling that Montag is to come across a realization of his life as it is right now; and Clarisse McClellan will take a big part in this realization. So far, I find the book to be interesting, because it seems to take place in a future setting, which is always thought to be much different than the present time. I would like to see what happens to Montag after his realization, and I hope to recognize the warning that will be portrayed to the readers.