Skip to main content

In Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, why does Faber believe that it will take more than simply saving a few books occasionally to change society?

For Faber, the only way to change society is to change its culture, as he comments to Montag:


The whole culture's shot through. The skeleton needs melting and re-shaping.


In his view, it was not the firemen who caused censorship; it was the people. As he says, "the public itself chose to stop reading"; they wanted entertainment and happiness, not books. This view is based on his own experience as a professor when, one year,...

For Faber, the only way to change society is to change its culture, as he comments to Montag:



The whole culture's shot through. The skeleton needs melting and re-shaping.



In his view, it was not the firemen who caused censorship; it was the people. As he says, "the public itself chose to stop reading"; they wanted entertainment and happiness, not books. This view is based on his own experience as a professor when, one year, he found only one student had signed up for his course, "Drama from Aeschylus to O'Neill."


According to Faber, society can only change if the following three things are restored: firstly, that people are given access to a wide variety of information; secondly, that they are given adequate time to digest it; and thirdly, that they have the right to "carry out actions" based on these first two points.


So, in Faber's view, changing society involves more than destroying the firemen system. It is about giving people access to a wide spectrum of information, the sort only found in books, and allowing these people to think for themselves. 

Popular posts from this blog

In chapter one of The Great Gatsby, what advice does Nick's father give him? How does this make him a good person to tell this story?

Nick says that his father advised him that, before "criticizing anyone," he "remember that all the people in this world haven't had the same advantages" as Nick.  As a result, Nick claims that he is "inclined to reserve all judgments," presenting himself to the reader as a fair and dispassionate arbiter of character, and thus, a reliable narrator.   The problem is that Nick immediately reveals himself as anything but reliable, as he then launches... Nick says that his father advised him that, before "criticizing anyone," he "remember that all the people in this world haven't had the same advantages" as Nick.  As a result, Nick claims that he is "inclined to reserve all judgments," presenting himself to the reader as a fair and dispassionate arbiter of character, and thus, a reliable narrator.   The problem is that Nick immediately reveals himself as anything but reliable, as he then launches into a discussion of how pe...
Post a Comment
Read more

How did the United States become an imperial power?

"Imperial power" is a bit of a vague label. It tends to mean several things at once, so let's unpack it. In the sense of "this country was built on conquest by force," the "imperial power" part of America actually predates the United States proper. The territories that would become the United States were imperial colonies, established by the great European empires of the 17th and 18th centuries. Much of the US Constitution and American governance generally goes back to England, history's largest and most successful imperial power, but vital aspects of American culture come from other imperial powers, such as France and Spain. Much of American culture comes from sources other than the old empires, but they were key influences on what the United States became. In the sense of "this country treats conquest by force as a fundamental component of its culture, economy and politics," the United States has always been an imperial power. Even earl...
Post a Comment
Read more

How and why does James Gatz become Jay Gatsby? Describe the young Gatsby/Gatz.

James Gatz, a poor Midwestern boy of probable Jewish lineage, becomes Jay Gatsby, a presumed WASP and wealthy socialite, when he moves to New York City and acquires his fortune. It is wealth that has allowed Gatz to transform himself into Gatsby. However, those who know his background (e.g., Daisy and Tom Buchanan) never allow him to forget that he is nouveau riche -- that is, an upstart who has just recently made his fortune,... James Gatz, a poor Midwestern boy of probable Jewish lineage, becomes Jay Gatsby, a presumed WASP and wealthy socialite, when he moves to New York City and acquires his fortune. It is wealth that has allowed Gatz to transform himself into Gatsby. However, those who know his background (e.g., Daisy and Tom Buchanan) never allow him to forget that he is nouveau riche -- that is, an upstart who has just recently made his fortune, whereas they arose from well-to-do families. Gatz became Gatsby through determination and discipline. At the end of the novel, the narr...
Post a Comment
Read more