Document Type
Thesis
Degree
Bachelor of Arts in English
Advisor
James Tackach, Ph.D.
Abstract
We often hear the phrase, “Ignorance is bliss.” Ray Bradbury disagrees. Fahrenheit 451 presents several characters who challenge the action of blindly following social norms. In the beginning of the novel, for example, Guy Montag is a strict rule-following fireman who participates in enforcing censorship by burning books. By the end of the novel, he has become a free thinker who wants to read books and live with like-minded people who value literature. This transformation mirrors the evolution of the conservative 1950s to the counterculture that follows.
Recommended Citation
Caouette, Courtney, "The Challenge of Conformity and Censorship of the 1950s Criticized in Fahrenheit 451" (2020). English Theses. 29.
https://docs.rwu.edu/english_theses/29
