Fahrenheit 451 pgs. 40-68
Q. Captain Beatty tells Montag that firemen are the “happiness boys” and that they are custodians of “our piece of mind.” Why does he say this? Be sure to include the problem with minority opinions, individual thought, and the historical conditions that made this possible. Use quotations and other evidence from the
text in your response.
A. I think Captain Beatty is trying to pursuade Montag that firemen are the good guys, they're the ones keeping civilization going. They better feed people's minds by taking the good out of reading books. He says this by saying "Colored people don't like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White people don't feel good about Uncle Tom's Cabin. Burn it. Someone's written a book on tobacco and cancer of the lungs? The cigarette people are weeping. Burn the book." I think Captain Beatty is under the impression that reading books, other people's thoughts and deas, feelings and personal time, put onto paper, he thinks that's a way of brain washing people's minds and making them become ignorant and disturbed at the world.
He also says "Not everyone born free and equal, as the constitution says, but everyone made equal. Each man the image of every other; then all are happy, for there are no mountains to make them cower, to judge themselves against. So! A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it! Take the shot from the weapon. Breach man's mind. Who knows who might be the target of the well-read man?" Captain Beatty refers to the "shot" from a bullet, to a book and it's ideas. I think this means that when a person reads a book, that person gets pursuaded and gets under the influence of that book. That person thinks they can express themselves in any way like the characters in a book. He says that from this passage in the book: "Nothing you can teach or believe. They're nonexistent people, figments of imagination, if they're fiction. And if they're nonfiction, it's worse, one professor calling another's gullet."
"You must understand that our civilization is so vast that our minorities upset and stirred." That's exactly my point. Captain Beatty thinks that by shaping and molding minorities into these book-free people, they'll turn out happy, and into well disciplined people. They will not. By feeding minds of minors with the knowledge of books, they'll turn out into free people. By that, I mean they will have the courage to be different.
"Ask yourself, What do we want in this country, above all? People want to be happy, isn't that right? Haven't He also says "you heard it all your life? I want to be happy, people say. Well, aren't they? Don't we give the fun? That's all we live for, isn't it?" I really have to disagree with this. People live their lives to fullest. People can't live their life without guidance from a book. The knowledge from a book helps people see that the sky's the limit to what you can achieve. You can live in this world, where books are banned, and you can't see what there is to see. Or you live in this world of many possibilities of books, and unreal things coming to life.
In this book, possessing a book is illegal. and it's the firemen's job to burn those books down. But why? To stop people from expressing their own feelings, to wonder about in reading a book? My personal thoughts about this, is that people should be able to express themselves in any way they want. Through reading a book, to being who they want to be. They shouldn't be criticised just because they want to be who they are, even if that means being different.
text in your response.
A. I think Captain Beatty is trying to pursuade Montag that firemen are the good guys, they're the ones keeping civilization going. They better feed people's minds by taking the good out of reading books. He says this by saying "Colored people don't like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White people don't feel good about Uncle Tom's Cabin. Burn it. Someone's written a book on tobacco and cancer of the lungs? The cigarette people are weeping. Burn the book." I think Captain Beatty is under the impression that reading books, other people's thoughts and deas, feelings and personal time, put onto paper, he thinks that's a way of brain washing people's minds and making them become ignorant and disturbed at the world.
He also says "Not everyone born free and equal, as the constitution says, but everyone made equal. Each man the image of every other; then all are happy, for there are no mountains to make them cower, to judge themselves against. So! A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it! Take the shot from the weapon. Breach man's mind. Who knows who might be the target of the well-read man?" Captain Beatty refers to the "shot" from a bullet, to a book and it's ideas. I think this means that when a person reads a book, that person gets pursuaded and gets under the influence of that book. That person thinks they can express themselves in any way like the characters in a book. He says that from this passage in the book: "Nothing you can teach or believe. They're nonexistent people, figments of imagination, if they're fiction. And if they're nonfiction, it's worse, one professor calling another's gullet."
"You must understand that our civilization is so vast that our minorities upset and stirred." That's exactly my point. Captain Beatty thinks that by shaping and molding minorities into these book-free people, they'll turn out happy, and into well disciplined people. They will not. By feeding minds of minors with the knowledge of books, they'll turn out into free people. By that, I mean they will have the courage to be different.
"Ask yourself, What do we want in this country, above all? People want to be happy, isn't that right? Haven't He also says "you heard it all your life? I want to be happy, people say. Well, aren't they? Don't we give the fun? That's all we live for, isn't it?" I really have to disagree with this. People live their lives to fullest. People can't live their life without guidance from a book. The knowledge from a book helps people see that the sky's the limit to what you can achieve. You can live in this world, where books are banned, and you can't see what there is to see. Or you live in this world of many possibilities of books, and unreal things coming to life.
In this book, possessing a book is illegal. and it's the firemen's job to burn those books down. But why? To stop people from expressing their own feelings, to wonder about in reading a book? My personal thoughts about this, is that people should be able to express themselves in any way they want. Through reading a book, to being who they want to be. They shouldn't be criticised just because they want to be who they are, even if that means being different.
2 comments:
Amiry, I agree with you. i like how you used some quotes from the book to back up your idea. "Someone's written a book on tobacco and cancer of the lungs? The cigarette people are weeping. Burn the book." i like this quote because shows how Beatty is being ignorant because that's his job. If someone doesnt like a book because it doesnt make them happy they just burn it so they don't worry about it. This is what makes me agree with you in that they are called the "Happiness Boys"
Amiry,
I'm very impressed with the thought you put into this. You really took this section of the book seriously, and that's great because it is one of the most important.
I'm not sure if I agree with your analysis in the first paragraph. I don’t think Beatty is afraid that people will become ignorant or brainwashed if they read books, because aren’t people ignorant now (in the novel’s society) without books? In the quote you mentioned about minorities, I thought he was saying that books have a tendency to make being angry, because minority opinions can be expressed in them. But I think you are on to something in the second paragraph about how Beatty fears that people will “get under the influence of a book.” It makes me wonder, what is the difference between being brainwashed and being under the “influence” of a book?
Thanks much for the thought you put into this. Your post is effective because it makes me question my understanding of the section and gives me new ideas to think about.
Mr. J
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