American Studies

The significance of the story Fahrenheit 451 is the destruction of available knowledge to man leads to the irony and theme of the story. Fahrenheit 451, the title 451 degrees is the temperature in which paper burns. Guy Montag is a fireman who lights fires instead of putting them out which firefighters are trained to do. Through out the story Guy is to burn all books so society will not gain knowledge. When guy goes to a specific job, he burns the books and a woman who refused not to leave. She would rather die than not to gain knowledge. Guy feels very guilty, tells his wife Mildred who does not seem to care. Mildred is “brainwashed” like the rest society in which she and the rest think reading books are bad. Mildred stays at home watches the televisions which is the only “correct” source of information and knowledge. When Montag meets Clarisse she opens his eyes to a different light. She explains to him her life as a free spirit...