In the book of Fahrenheit 451, not all the authorities were wise. They made some foolish decisions. However, the people still need to follow them. Why don’t the people just make them step down from their position, you may ask. Well, God made them a leader for a reason.
As mentioned in Romans 13: 1-3, “ Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished.
For the authorities do not strike fear in people who are doing right, but in those who are doing wrong. Would you like to live without fear of the authorities? Do what is right and they will honour you. ” Ray Bradbury tests the creative/destructive nature of man as he makes a strong challenge of his authorities in the book. Imagine that a group wants to ban Fahrenheit 451 because Montag defies authority. For the sake of the argument, assume for a moment that you wish to “ ban” Fahrenheit 451 from the library shelves. To do so, you must do a number of things.
First, you must establish why defying authority is wrong. What are its consequences? What are the probable effects on youth to see disregard of authority? Second, you must have some theory, either implied or directly stated. That is, you must establish how a reading of Fahrenheit 451 would inspire a student to disregard authority. Why is reading bad for a student? How can it be bad? Next, you must establish how a student who reads Fahrenheit 451 will read the book and extract from it a message.
