Lesson 6 | Fahrenheit 451 | 10th Grade English | Free Lesson Plan (2024)

FAQs

Why is Fahrenheit 451 banned? ›

This novel is not banned. Sometimes Fahrenheit 451 is challenged and asked to be removed because it contains vulgar language and content. Some people may take offense to the content due to conflicting moral, ethical, or religious beliefs.

This book's Lexile measure is 890L and is frequently taught in the 9th and 10th grade.

Cancel Culture and Censorship: In Fahrenheit 451, books are banned, and as a result, they are burned in addition to the homes containing books. While this may seem absurd, Beatty informs Montag that books became phased out over time as people stopped reading.

Rivers often symbolize a cleansing. Montag gets in the river and changes clothes and thus goes through a metaphorical rebirth. The phoenix who rises from the ashes is a common literary symbol. Just as the phoenix rises, so will Montag, the men at the river, and knowledge as a whole.

Some school districts aimed to ban the book from schools because they believed the book has unsuitable topics for children to read about. One major complaints was that the story portrayed talking animals that can communicate and act just like humans.

It is the MOST Banned Book in America.

Since its publication (1949), the novel 1984 has been challenged or banned so many times for its content, that the content must contain ideas that are threatening to those that seek to ban it.

Turns out the challenger happily quoted the uses of the following: “Good Christ”; “goddam”; and “damn.” This language was described as “filth” that children shouldn't be exposed to.

Ironically, Fahrenheit 451, an indictment of censorship, was itself censored by its publisher for thirteen years before Bradbury himself became aware of that. In 1967, Ballantine published an expurgated version of the novel to be used in high schools. Such words as “hell,” “damn” and “abortion” were eliminated.

Summary and Rationale: Fahrenheit 451

Text is noted for Grades 9-12 in the CDE Recommended Literature List; however, not for English Language Arts but as a History/Social Science and Science text. Fahrenheit 451 was previously adopted by the BOE for use as a supplementary text in 8th grade.

Ironic as it may seem given the role that book burning plays in the novel itself, Fahrenheit 451 has faced multiple censorship and banning attempts throughout the years, primarily for vulgarity and discussions about drugs.

How is Montag at the end of Fahrenheit 451? ›

Montag feels many things at the end of Fahrenheit 451. He is happy that he made it out of the city and that he found like-minded people. He is sad that his wife was in the city when it was bombed, and he is scared that Faber didn't make it out in time. He feels hopeful for the future.

Books are not to be read; they are to be destroyed without question. For Montag, "It was a pleasure to burn." The state mandated that all books must burn. Therefore, Montag, along with the other firemen, burn the books to show conformity. Without ideas, everyone conforms, and as a result, everyone should be happy.

Mirrors in Fahrenheit 451

Mirrors symbolize a clear view of oneself. Montag initially refers to Clarisse as a mirror, because she causes him to think about himself and analyze his feelings and actions.

Blood. Blood appears throughout the novel as a symbol of a human being's repressed soul or primal, instinctive self. Montag often “feels” his most revolutionary thoughts welling and circulating in his blood.

He starts by considering the moon, which gets its light from the sun, then considers that the sun is akin to time and burns with its own fire. If the sun burns time (and, thus, burns away the years and the people) and he and the firemen continue to burn, everything will burn.

Currently, Fahrenheit 451 is no longer banned in schools in America or in other countries. There were three past instances where the book was listed under 'banned status'. The first was in Bay County, Florida, in 1987, when the school board removed it from the approved reading list due to 'excessive vulgarity'.

Fahrenheit 451 wasn't ever banned across the United States, but some censoring did take place. The book was subject to expurgation from the publisher to make the text more appropriate for high school students.

Rather than promoting violence, Fahrenheit 451 urges readers to confront uncomfortable truths about the world and the societies they inhabit, fostering a sense of responsibility for safeguarding intellectual freedom. Banning Fahrenheit 451 would be a disservice to the very ideals it seeks to protect.