Author's Note: This is my essay for Fahrenheit 451, where the characters are fighting for different causes. One is about the knowledge books give you. One person wants to learn more from them and fights for the freedom to do so. The other person is standing in his way and confuses him with different quotes from books. In the end jealousy of the knowledge others have had started the entire problem.
Sitting in the library stuffing any sort facts and information into your head, like your going to be on Jeopardy that night and you haven’t studied anything; but in fact you just feel the need to have those facts in your brain. All those facts and figures in your head make you feel special, like you are the only one with all the answers. You read and read scanning the words barely glancing at them, you need to be the first one with this knowledge, you need to be the only person that knows this. You think to yourself, maybe, one day, that all have so much knowledge all become someone important, someone whose name and face everyone in the entire planet will know. With this picture in your head you vow to never share this knowledge with anyone and you want more. Soon you start to leave the library, your daydreams are coming true and you can’t believe that anything different will happen. Having all the knowledge in the world doesn’t matter unless you put it to good use and share it with others.
In Fahrenheit 451 Guy Montag is going through a lot more than the average guy is. First he finds his wife trying to kill herself, then he meets a girl who changes his perspective of the world around him. At first he lives for the pleasure of burning houses and whatever is inside of them, but then he meets Clarisse, who changes Montag in a way that even he himself doesn’t understand. When Montag and Clarisse first meet one question Clarisse asks is,”Are you happy?” Montag, not giving the question a second thought, says yes of course he is. He realizes that he is not happy when he comes home from work and sees his wife practically dead on the bedroom floor.
In this book, knowledge is something people want. Books are not allowed for fear that someone could have so much knowledge they could figure out a way to take over. Some people risk their lives for that knowledge, but they have people that take care of those people, the are called firemen. Now normally when someone says firemen you think of people who risk their lives to stop a fire destroying some one’s home. In this book, which is a dystopic version of our world now, firemen start fires . They start fires that burn books, the knowledge, and everything else inside. Knowledge is something that you need to share with someone in order to keep it alive and safe. The more people that share your knowledge; the harder it is for the firemen to stop them.
Fahrenheit 451 is a complete opposite version of our world. The people in the book don’t love each other the way people should. People only seem to marry for each other’s money, looks, and other people’s jealousy. People in our world marry each other out of love and happiness. Parents don’t even care about their own children; they only see them about four times a year, and they dislike those few days! Now, in our, time/world parents dread the day their children grow up and leave the safety of their arms. Bradbury creates the perfect dystopic world for Fahrenheit 451.
Every person is different and knows different facts about their history or ancestors. It is almost impossible to learn everything and actually remember it. If your goal is to learn everything you are condemning yourself to a life of isolation. Even if you read every book in the world you still will not know everything. You won’t know the personal struggles every Indian tribe had because no one recorded these stories. You will not know the stories about every person in the world, it would be to much for your brain. The brain is not made to hold all the knowledge in the world; your brain could pretty much explode. No one is meant to know everything, that is why everyone has different interest they learn about and pick up different facts along the road.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Permanent
Author's Note: This is about Beatty's death in the book Fahrenheit 451. the main character is Guy Montag. This essay is also talking about what Montag is going through in the book. Please read and comment on it!!!
I walk through the silent tombstones. Forever silent, like the people buried below. A ways off people cry and are dressed in black, looking at a pale, dead body. Another person silent, still, and never to wake and greet their family again. The gray headstones, deeply carved with a name, each with a story to tell. Montag the main character in Fahrenheit 451 struggles after he ends his bosses life. Death can’t be taken back and it should be respected. You only get one life and death can end it in a second.
The death of Beatty was unexpected yet you get the feeling of what is about to happen. Montag is going through a lot but Beatty makes it worse because he knows what Montag is going through. Beatty knows that Montag is hiding books. He just doesn't do anything about it because he thinks Montag will burn them eventually. When Beatty is describing how quotes and words don't matter Montag gets angry because he knows that they do. Beatty tells Montag to burn all his problems, so he does. Montag's problem was Beatty, so he burned him. He then realized that Beatty knew he was going to die and he welcomed it. Afterwards Montag unconsciously walks towards Faber's house. The friendship between the two is strong. Though they met only a few days ago they are good friends. The fact that Faber will help Montag is what lets them trust each other and help one another.
Montag is troubled, confused, and in pain, and doesn't know where to turn. Betrayed by his wife, Clarisse killed, his friend at the stake of death. Montag kills Beatty thinking that all his problems have ended; but his problems and challenges have only just begun. This book, the perfect image of a dystopic world is in confusion and pain. No one trusts each other and really likes each other for that matter. True love, trust, loyalty, and all the things that mattered are gone. In Fahrenheit 451 the only thing that matters is getting wall TVs and racing cars. No one takes time to look at things anymore, unlike Clarisse who studied everything in the world. Only the death is on people’s minds.
Everyone fears death, some more than others. People fear of never coming home after work anymore, or never seeing your children or grandchildren again. The thing that most people fear though is never waking up again. Silence, after you leave the world, is all you will make again. Death is permanent and you can’t take it back.
I walk through the silent tombstones. Forever silent, like the people buried below. A ways off people cry and are dressed in black, looking at a pale, dead body. Another person silent, still, and never to wake and greet their family again. The gray headstones, deeply carved with a name, each with a story to tell. Montag the main character in Fahrenheit 451 struggles after he ends his bosses life. Death can’t be taken back and it should be respected. You only get one life and death can end it in a second.
The death of Beatty was unexpected yet you get the feeling of what is about to happen. Montag is going through a lot but Beatty makes it worse because he knows what Montag is going through. Beatty knows that Montag is hiding books. He just doesn't do anything about it because he thinks Montag will burn them eventually. When Beatty is describing how quotes and words don't matter Montag gets angry because he knows that they do. Beatty tells Montag to burn all his problems, so he does. Montag's problem was Beatty, so he burned him. He then realized that Beatty knew he was going to die and he welcomed it. Afterwards Montag unconsciously walks towards Faber's house. The friendship between the two is strong. Though they met only a few days ago they are good friends. The fact that Faber will help Montag is what lets them trust each other and help one another.
Montag is troubled, confused, and in pain, and doesn't know where to turn. Betrayed by his wife, Clarisse killed, his friend at the stake of death. Montag kills Beatty thinking that all his problems have ended; but his problems and challenges have only just begun. This book, the perfect image of a dystopic world is in confusion and pain. No one trusts each other and really likes each other for that matter. True love, trust, loyalty, and all the things that mattered are gone. In Fahrenheit 451 the only thing that matters is getting wall TVs and racing cars. No one takes time to look at things anymore, unlike Clarisse who studied everything in the world. Only the death is on people’s minds.
Everyone fears death, some more than others. People fear of never coming home after work anymore, or never seeing your children or grandchildren again. The thing that most people fear though is never waking up again. Silence, after you leave the world, is all you will make again. Death is permanent and you can’t take it back.
Patriotism
Author's note: The prompt for this years Veteran's Essay is "Does patriotism still matter?" For the most part my essay is stating that yes patriotism still matters. Please read and comment!!
To answer the question, "Does patriotism still matter?" the answer is definitely yes. Patriotism is in everyone's lives even though you don't recognize it. It holds Americans together through thick and thin. Even now is an example of people showing patriotism. The economy is in trouble and people are helping neighbors and family even more than usual. People don't just give up and quit, well at least people shouldn't, they get up and try again. Patriotism is in every American person and they shouldn't be afraid to show it.
To answer the question, "Does patriotism still matter?" the answer is definitely yes. Patriotism is in everyone's lives even though you don't recognize it. It holds Americans together through thick and thin. Even now is an example of people showing patriotism. The economy is in trouble and people are helping neighbors and family even more than usual. People don't just give up and quit, well at least people shouldn't, they get up and try again. Patriotism is in every American person and they shouldn't be afraid to show it.
The people that express their patriotism the most are the people in the army, navy, marines, and so on. Those people fight for our country when we need them the most. Right now the are fighting for us, trying to stop the terrorist attacks on the U.S. They started in 2001 when the terrorist crashed into the twin towers and they are still fighting nine years from then. Even if you're not in the war fighting you still show patriotism in other ways like volunteering, donating to charities and any other way you help and support people. Patriots are all around you in your everyday life.
Patriotism still matters because it helps us stick together. No true patriot would walk out on its country and fellow people. If patriotism didn't matter then everything would be out of control. America wouldn't exist if it didn't matter anymore. There would be no patriot still loyal to America. We need patriotism to keep America alive and powerful. We are still powerful because of patriotism and if it didn't matter we wouldn't and everything would be in chaos.
So to sum up the question "Does patriotism still matter?", the answer is yes. If we matter and we didn't believe in it America would fall apart. In addition to that everyone loves America and patriotism is the key to that. We can't love America without being a patriot too.
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