Imagine a world where people talk with one another, learn from their mistakes, and care about their family more than tv. The absence of books in our society is keeping us from the important aspects of being human. If we do not keep books, then our society's issues will continue to grow and negatively affect us all. I strongly think that books are a vital part of our society which promote the practice of thoughtful conversation and unique and creative ideas.
While traveling with a group of friends, I have realized that books are what prevents us from making the same mistakes over and over again. My friend once said that man is like a phoenix, every hundred years, the phoenix would burn itself and start over, but "'we've got one damn thing the Phoenix never had. We know the damn silly thing we just did. We know all the damn silly things we've done for a thousand years and as long as we know that and always have it around where we can see it, some day we will stop making god damn funeral pyres'" (Bradbury 156). Because people no longer read or talk to one another, we can't learn from our past mistakes, thus causing the same terrible events to happen over and over like the many wars we have had. This issue certainly makes it vitally important to have books. When I first connected with my new friends, they where having a meaningful conversation about the world and life. At that moment I realized, "'the voices talked of everything, there was nothing they couldn't talk about'" (Bradbury 140). Even though many people believe books cause strong opinions and arguments, they are what also influences meaningful conversation and gives people the chance to differentiate themselves from one another. People no longer have creativity and many do not strive to change their world for the better. A man named Granger once told me that, "'It doesn't matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something thats like you after you take your hands away."' (Bradbury 150) Because people are constantly interested in tv, they do not have the drive to truly put their heart into something and leave a good legacy. Without a doubt, books are necessary for the positive changes our society needs to be successful.
Dear Council of Elders, With the knowledge I have gained from becoming the receiver of memories, I think sameness should be changed. People need to make their own choices, make mistakes made and learn from their mistakes. "The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It's the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared." (Lowry). Just think if you had to live your life everyday doing the exact same thing, not knowing any better, not seeing colors, not experiencing love, or hate, or pain. Would you like that? Not being able to make your own decisions like deciding whether you wanted to wear a "blue tunic, or a red one?" (Lowry). Although when everyone is the same. The community is saving people from making mistakes, and getting hurt. "Definitely not safe,' Jonas said with certainty. 'What if they were allowed to choose their own mate? And chose wrong?" (Lowry). But at the same time it is depriving the people of making their own choices, picking their own jobs, picking their spouses, and so much more. With sameness no one can make mistakes or learn from their mistakes, or experience different things, after the ceremonies when you get your assignments what you do the first week or so will be what you're doing for the rest of your life just over and over again. If you want to not see the beautiful colors of the rainbow, and choose your own jobs, and experience the feeling of love, not just "Do you enjoy me? The answer is 'Yes" (Lowry). There so many other things people are missing out on by having sameness. This situation needs to change, the receiver of memories are the only people who are able to go through these things, more people need to be able to have these memories. So sameness needs to go change. Sincerly, Jonas, Reciever of Memories
Dear Mr. President, For many years of my life, I have been a fireman. I used to accept the government's reasoning for burning books, but a recent experience has changed my ways; a woman who was willing to die for her books. She burned right in front of us. Her dedication to her ashen volumes of literature was inspiring, moving, even as a fireman. Now, I feel that books may be the part of life that people in my society are missing. I am writing to you now, Mr. President, asking you to reconsider the policies against books; books contain the kind of creative freedom of thought that we truly need to bring our society back to life. I know many people who believe that books are burned for good reason. They tell me that books are dishwater, no wonder they stopped selling, that technology, mass exploitation, and minority pressure carried the trick. But is it really so good? No. We have been deprived of too much with the destruction of books; I have even lost my own wife, Mildred. She is so soaked up in her 'family' in the parlor that she barely remembers the day we met; in fact, when I asked her, she told me that it didn't matter. Do you know how that hurt me, Mr. President? That my wife is so distant, so blank, that she didn't remember me? Our bland society has turned her into an unknown, a street face, a newspaper image, and it's so wrong (Pages 40-54). My old friend, Faber, has been turned into a coward. He is a creative man capable of extraordinary things, but the restrictions of society have dragged him into a spiraling lifetime of fear and guilt. Worst of all, one of my only friends, Clarisse McLellan, was shunned because she used her capability to think actual thoughts about important things like freedom, nature, happiness, and the past; in fact, she inspired me. She's dead now, Mr. President. The smartest, most unique girl I have ever met in my life is dead, and does anyone care? Other than me, no. Beatty told me it was better for "odd ones" like her to be weeded out of our seemingly perfect society. I guess the problem is that people don't want books because they simply don't know. All they do is stare at their phones and click on their keyboards, saying, just burn the books, we don't need the books, but why is this? They aren't familiar with the freshness of a thrilling story, the wonder and inspiration that books provided long ago. So it's time, Mr. President. It's time to regain the kind of creative freedom of thought that we truly need to bring our society back to life.
Hopefully this will open your eyes and you will decide to make the right decision for your society.
Great job, Fiona! I am very convinced, just by reading this - and hopefully Mr. President will be too :)! I love the way you keep repeating "Mr. President" to engage the reader. Very nice!
I like how you used three different characters and how books have impacted them as support for your letter. I agree with Isha; repeating "Mr. President" does engage the reader. :)
Imagine a world with hope, decisions, and color. A world like this once existed, but it also came with terrible cruelty, hatred, and pain. The sameness in our society makes us blind to all the good things there once was. My proposal is that we eliminate sameness. The benefits would be; happiness, love, and to be able to see color etc. The point is get rid of sameness, bring in the good memories, and leave out the bad.
Every day after the ceremony of twelve I would journey to the annex room to receive my training from the Giver. Sometimes I would receive horrid dreadful memories, yet there was always the good ones. My idea is to show everyone the good memories and not the bad. The first memory I would show everyone is the memory of love. Jonas, " couldn't quite get the word for the whole feeling of it, the feeling that was strong in the room. 'Love', the Giver told him"(Lowry). The day I received the memory I felt a joy and happiness I never have felt before and I yearned to share it with everyone. I wanted everyone to know what sameness was doing to them. Secretly I transmitted memories to Gabe but he had pale eyes. Which is a genetic mutation in the sameness. Because only a handful of people had pale eyes they were the only people who would find these memories. The people should be to make there own decisions as well. In our society the elder's make all of our decisions. The society we're in does not," dare let people make choices of their own"(98). The elder's just say that if they are the ones making the decisions in our community we will all be fine. But I want to make my own choices. I saw in a memory of the past that when people made their own decisions, they ended up being happy. Yes you can make wrong decisions but my solution for that is to run it through a committee and see what they think. If it's good they pass it. And for whatever reason if they think it's bad then we can block it. As long as it is a good reason. Sameness caused everyone to have no choice in what they do, but with sameness gone they will have a say. I can see colors. And my wish if for other people to see colors as well. Colors are magnificent, yet no one can see them because of sameness. Jonas tried numerous times to show colors to people and once he, " put his hands on Asher's shoulders, and concentrated on the red of the petals, trying t hold it as long as he could, and trying at the same time to transmit the awareness of red to his friend"(99). There is no harm in showing people colors. There is only the joy and beauty of them. If the sameness was gone then the people in the community would be able to see them as well. And feel the joy he did when he saw the magnificent colors. Overall, if we got rid of sameness our society would have the ability to see color, make their own decisions, and feel love. Yes there is bad in memories from the past but I would only allow the good to come back.
When I first talked to my neighbor, I wasn't sure what to think of my world at first, but I decided. Books shouldn't be banned because they provide valuable insight into the past and give us information that could help us not repeat our mistakes. Yes, all the people in our society are happy, but are they truly happy? I decided that I wasn't happy with the world, after my neighbor asked me that question, or something like that (Bradbury 9). I then talked to my neighbor again, about more things of this society, and how people "head for a Fun Park to bully people around", and I slowly realized that this society won't "stop us from making the same damn insane mistakes!" (Bradbury 26, 70). Books are from the past, after all, and the sun burns time, burns the past, burns those books that could help fix ourselves (Bradbury 134). We should unban books before the past is burnt from us, like how the sun burns time!
Dear Elders, I believe the community should get rid of sameness because people need freedom and be able to make their own choices to be a human. All intelligent people would be able to realize that getting rid of sameness would be the best thing for the community so everyone could make their own decisions and do what they want. "Two children, one male, one female, it's written very clearly in the rules" (Lowry 8). Clearly in this quote you can tell people are being very restricted to what they can because they have specific rules for just things like how many kids you can have and what gender. "And this year you get your assignment" (Lowry 41). Obviously you can see in this quote it is unfair that they do not get to decide their own job, you elders have to choose our jobs from us it is not fair. Yes, keeping sameness will protect people from making bad decisions but people should be able to learn from mistakes to make better choices later on. "Jonas? Are your ready? Did you take your pill?" (Lowry 41). Now you also have to make rules about pills we have to take? It is so dumb that you have to make us take a certain pill. We have no say in anything. So, now is the time to get rid of sameness forever in the community.
Dear Elders, Imagine running through the flowers, laughing, singing, and having fun. Oh wait, we can't do that, because of your sameness. As the new receiver of memory I have realized things have to change. This sameness needs to stop. Individuality is what keeps people interesting and different. We have lost so many good memories from this sameness. Some memories are bad, however we need those to live and grow. I remember a memory of something called Christmas. When I recieved it I felt "warmth... And happiness.. And family,"(pg 123). This feeling was amazing. Why would you take that away from the people? You ask the giver for information on a crisis, but if everyone knew the past, you would know it already. You "don't dare to let people make choices of their own," (pg 98). Are you scared to let people make their own choices? You know, people can make good choices on their own. Human life is valuable, and you can't keep killing children if they are different or kill one twin if they are identical. I watched the tape of the release, and my father "killed it.. Father tidied the room. Then he picked up a small carton that lay waiting on the floor, set it on the bed, and lifted the limp body into it,"(pg 150). Kids cannot be killed. Even if they looked a like you can put them in something to tell them apart, and they would have different names. You, as the elders, need to change this sameness to give people back their individuality and life. Sincerely, Jonas (Reciever of Memory)
Good job, Lexus. Although I read Fahrenheit 451, I am convinced that you want sameness to be removed from "your" society. I like the way that you integrated the quotes in to make sense and to add warmth to your say. Great job!
Think about a world where kids actually learned about what happened in the past. They need to know about the past to prevent history from repeating itself. These children also need to stop watching their parlor walls it gives them the impression that their real family can be replaced by a tv. Their family can't be replaced by a tv. They also don't need to be punished for wanting to know about the past it's just wrong.
So mr. President what do you think would you want people to know the truth of do you want to keep lying right to their faces. The fire fighters are forced to burn the only real information that they have "" The books, Montag!" The books leapt and danced like roasted birds"(Bradbury110). This is destroying society because people don't know what really happened with important events in history. My wife Millie was content with her life of watching her family on the parlor walls. Millie thinks that her life is fine and it couldn't be better "I'm not happy I'm not happy I am Mildred mouth beamed. "And I'm proud of it"(Bradbury62). My wife is content because she doesn't know better. People are so interested in their tv's "'It doesn't matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something thats like you after you take your hands away."' (Bradbury 150). No body feels like making a change and changing these laws to get us back our information about the world in the past.
It's important that we get real information at once to make up for all those years of misleading information. So give us back our books so we can learn the real information.
I really am sure we need books in this world because everybody needs knowledge of the past and will be smarter and will make the world a better place to live in. Not having books is driving insane. I was a fireman and realized how cruel and harsh we are. People have died because of not having there books. They lost there lives because of the rules that you, the government, have made. If we didn't have books I understand that people would keep on going with there life that they semi enjoy. But people need to enjoy there life and the time they have. So take action and please make this society and this world to be better and make it like it was years ago.
Clearly, I think that we need to make a change and get rid of sameness. This boring old community needs some light, some sparkle, some pop. To be human you need to be able to make your own decisions and to do that you can't just have the sameness then you make no decisions but with different things to do you have more decisions. "Two children, one male, one female, it's written very clearly in the rules" (Lowry 8). This is showing that you have rules for everything, they have no freedom to have there own kids and that should be there decision not the yours. Have you ever thought about waking up eating the same breakfast, eating the same lunch and dinner people don't like this they want to eat what they want to eat. What about us, you choose all our job and that can be the most important of our lives. "And this year you get your assignment". This is showing how you assign all are jobs and we can't pick or choose any thing and I think that is important. Yes, keeping sameness is good so people don't forget but don't you want to make your own decisions and make mistakes but fix them. In our community we can't even pick who marry just the same old marrying who you guys pick by the way thx😉. I won't to pick who I marry that is very important for your later life. Jonas? Are your ready? Did you take your pill?". Why do we have to take a pill why? So I think after this letter you need to go and change everything. Ps : please Love Ryan
Dear, government Books have been eliminated for generations, the society has changed dramatically since the ban of books. But is it worth it? Books are very vital for learning information, sharing ideas, and helping people to feel empathy. Back in the day, people helped each other learn information. People nowadays learn the basic facts and then never use it. Through books, people will learn a whole new world in which people use the information in everyday life. People can share ideas through books. Yes, you can share ideas through mouth and other means, but if you pay attention, you will notice a weird trend. The government, or whoever is in charge of the parlors, force opinions on the viewer. There is no controversy of opinions. Books were a way to share views on topic with one another, People saying this is better or worse. That gives room for etiquette discussion conversation. People are not social and do not care what happens. People could talk with family, friends, or enimies to discuss controversies with people. Books, fictional books especially, are very good at showing you a world not like the one you live in. It shows the character going on an adventure and the reader is feeling what they feel, they see what they see. Books are not just for facts, they are also great for feeling empathy. Like stated before, you feel what the character feels, something people don't do anymore. People have grown ignorant, unfeeling, unloving, and homicidal for their own entertainment. They can't feel what others may be going through, and therefore don't care for them. Books help people to feel empathy for others and the world around them. Without books, the world fell into despair, but it is not too late. The government still has a chance to turn things around, educate people. In a few years, people will be intelligent, social, empathetic beings. Please take yes into consideration. From, A concerned citizen
I remember when I got my helmet numbered 451. I remember when I burned my first book. I remember how I was doing what I was told to do, and not thinking. I remember how "[my] hands tore the flyleaf and then the first page then the second page" (Bradbury 84). I remember how people committed suicide for their books. I remember how so many people were so unhappy with having no books, and how so many were absolutely carefree. I remember everything. And I also remember how I felt after I met this girl, who had a whole different view on life. Clarisse. I remember how bad I felt to burn books after talking with her. Now I feel, and strongly stand, for the fact that our society should have books because it provides us with education and knowledge, and can help our society to become less violent, more social, and more happy.
Throughout the last couple weeks, I have realized that we are living in a dystopia. Kids "bully people around, break windowpanes in the Window Smasher place or wreck cars in the Car Wrecker place with the big steel ball" (Bradbury 27). This is the way people have fun. Murdering and hurting others and hurting yourself. There is no respect for each other at all. No one is happy when most of the city's population is mean and unfriendly. I learned that "everyone must leave something behind when he dies" (Bradbury 149), so why not make it good. We should remember the work they did to make everyone happy, the good intentions they brought to mind, not the number of people they hurt or the amount of cars and windows smashed. Books can help bring good to one another, and even to a society, because it can help us to not repeat the past, and create a better future. A man named Granger told me that "there was a silly damn bird called a Phoenix back before Christ [...] but every time he burnt himself up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself born all over again. And it looks like we are doing the same thing, over and over" (Bradbury 156). By keeping the past as history, we are doing ourselves a favor by improving the ways of living. Everyone will be happy and social, and those parlor walls, all they do is distract people from their priorities. Yes, most people think that books are a thing just to confuse others and that "the books say nothing! Nothing you could teach or believe" (Bradbury 59). However, that is not true. Many, and possibly the most wise men of all, agree that " we do need knowledge. [...] The books are to remind us what [...] fools we are" (Bradbury 82). We as a whole need to focus on happiness. And happiness can be found by firemen stopping fires instead of starting them to burn books. Also, the Hound should have a more valuable purpose, that is if we need it. To add on, we need better schooling systems so that children, with the help of books, can learn important information. With all of these changes, our society is bound to improve dramatically.
Sincerely, and with hope for a better future, Guy Montag
I remember the first time I started to see color. It frightened me at first, but now I've started to love it. It's amazing to see everyone's hair color. But, I've come to notice something. Everyone has the same color hair, eyes, skin, even the same way of living. People also are unable to make any mistakes living like this, and thus are unable to learn from these errors and do something better the next time they attempt. Even though The Giver and I are the only ones who can notice this, people still should be able to see what they have in common and what is not similar between one another. That is why you should get rid of Sameness. Everybody deserves to experience the diversity of people's lives in their own, and by having Sameness, people are not able to experience this beautiful diversity.
Before I became the Receiver of Memory, I could have cared less about the way people looked. But now, with the knowledge bestowed upon me by The Giver, I have decided that it is time to bring Sameness to a stop. These civilians living under the Sameness rule may appear to be happy, but they have no idea what some of the best feelings in the world are, such as love. When I asked my parents about love, they just replied with "Jonas. You, of all people. Precision of language, please"(Lowry 127). Two of the most important people in my life don't even know what true love feels like. Love is a beautiful feeling, and everyone deserves to experience it. People also need to be able pick their own jobs, they are all perfectly capable of doing so. I don't understand why you "don't dare to let people make choices of their own" (Lowry 98). Do you think that you know what's the best for everybody? Or are you afraid of the fact the people can decide things on their own? Well it's not the proper way to live. I can't live in these conditions any more, that's why I've taken my Father's bicycle. Why didn't I take my bicycle? Because "it was necessary because it had the child seat attached to the back" (Lowry 166). I'm taking Gabriel with me. "Why am I taking a newchild with me?" you may ask yourself. Well, I learned that he's been filed for release, and I now know what happens when one gets released. I don't want that to happen to little Gabe here. So I'm running away. Good luck trying to get me to come back, because I'm not coming back until you get rid of Sameness. - Jonas
Dear Mr. President, Before books were banned, more people graduated from high school and ended up attending college. There were also a smaller amount of murders in the society because people were so fascinated and interested into reading books, compared to looking for a fight in the local fun park. It's a win-win, people are more safe and also more intelligent while alive. Some people think that books should be banned, but really they're wrong. Books let people think for once and actually use there imagination. Books give people hope and motivation to do something good in there lives. I, Montag, think that books are very useful for learning and they also let people in this society use there imagination, therefore they should be allowed in our society. One reason why books should be allowed in our society is because they allow people to use there imagination for once. Everybody nowadays is so attached to there technology, that nobody looks at the world anymore and just imagines life in a different way, "I can't talk to my wife; she listens to the walls" (Bradbury 78). My wife doesn't listen to me at all, she's attached to what she calls her "family", which is basically her TV's that she spends with everyday. Honestly if books aren't allowed in our society soon, my wife and I are going to have a lot more arguments going on. A second reason why books should be allowed in our society is that more children will graduate high school and attend college. Books give people more knowledge in general and reading increases your GPA and SAT's. Reading books will also help kids enjoy school more, and will motivate them to do good in school, "Why aren't you in school?" (Bradbury 26). I asked this question to my young friend Clarisse who is now dead, but her response was that she hated school and everything about it, the kids, the classes, everything. With books it would be better. A final reason why books should be allowed in this society is because it would give people something to do after school. Rather then killing each other at the local fun parks, and injuring one another, " I'm afraid of children my own age. They kill each other" (Bradbury 27). Kids will be more safe, less bored, with something to do. Clarisse has taught me a lot while she was alive and I think all of the problems that she has faced can be solved with books. I've learned that, "everyone must leave something behind when he dies"(Bradbury 149). So before I die, I would like to read a book, for Clarisse and to Clarisse so that I can show her that our society has changed, like she's always wanted. If anyone else is reading this and you want books back in this society, then write the president a letter, just like mine. If he gets enough letters there might be a good chance that books will come back in our society. Let us read! From, Guy Montag
Books have become extinct in our society for years now. People have forgotten about the thought that there are books and don't like to educate themselves. But some people still love their books, some don't. Recently, I've witnessed a woman burning herself alive because I burned her books. So that got be thinking. Maybe there is something special in those books? As I flipped through those pages, I was truly amazed. And that got me thinking, why do we burn books? We should start to bring them back. For years, people have lost the hope of gaining knowledge because their books are getting taken away. People are less interested in getting an education because they don't really have that many reliable things they can learn from. And since that day I opened a book for the first time, I saw potential. Ok yes, I definitely understand that once we bring back books, people have to learn from them, but I think that's the best part about bringing back books. Ever since books were taken away, our world has turned upside down and now all we do is "go to the Fun Park to bully people around, break windowpanes in the Window Smasher, or wreck cars in the Car Wrecker place with the big steel ball."(Bradbury 27) because we have nothing better to do. Maybe if we actually start to bring back books, people will have something better to do rather than doing all these useless things. Later I met someone named Granger and he said that "but even when we had the books on hand, a long time ago, we didn't use what we go out of them."(Bradbury 156). We don't try to understand what we get out of books and the true meaning of them. Many inspirational people have helped me learn that it is good to think about the past and to appreciate the wonderful things about it. I also learned to "not judge a book by its cover."(Bradbury 148). I do know this is a popular saying but I never really thought about it until someone said it. Books are very valuable and if we brought back books, I strongly believe that our world is going to change massively. Thanks for taking the time to read my letter, and I hope you consider bringing back books.
I remember my first memory. I remember laying down on the soft cloth of the Giver's bed, his hands placed lightly on my back, a sort of cold flowing through them as the memory came. I "could see, though [my] eyes were closed. [I] could see a bright, whirling torrent of" (Lowry 81) what I then knew, somehow, to be snow. Quite beautiful it was, really. The snow, that is. But not only the snow. Everything. Everything around me was beautiful. And with color, the Giver called it. Color: this amazing sight that I could not possibly put into words, it just....was. Oh, Elders, it was so lovely! Why would you—why did you—destroy such beauty for something as boring and dull as Sameness? Without Sameness—in the past—everything and everyone was unique. There was nature. There was color. There was choice.
Without Sameness, the world was such a beautiful place. There were "many birds...soaring overhead, calling," and one could "look with wonder at wildflowers," or "merely watch the way wind shifted the leaves in the trees" (Lowry 172). In all of your years in this Community, have you ever "felt such simple moments of exquisite happiness" (172)? And do any of you know what love is? I do, and it is the most spectacular feeling I have ever felt in all of my life. But you do not know of feeling, either. I feel such love for my friends, my family, but "they [can] not feel it back, without the memories" (Lowry 135). With Sameness.
Yes, the memories may come with pain, but that pain will make us appreciate what we have even more; it will stop us from making the same mistakes as those of the past. I understand that there is more order this way, but is it worth it? What is the point of living a safe, healthy life if it doesn't feel like living at all? The Giver says that the Receiver is permitted to give the Elders advice, so please—oh, please, Elders—take mine. We should get rid of Sameness, and go back to the way things were! There was such beauty in the world once, Elders, there can be again! I know I have left, but it is for a reason. For "if [I] had stayed,...[I] would have lived a life hungry for feelings, for color, for love," (174) just like you all ignorantly do in Sameness. So please, Elders, listen to what I have to say.
I really love the quotes you used. The imagery they add to your letter just make it breathtaking. I really did think for a second that I did live in that world, and if I did, I would definitely be by your side.
Dear Elders, It has been a year since I have been assigned receiver of memory. I remember "for the first time in [my] twelve years of life, [I] felt separate, different"(65). I was informed by my friends and family that this was a big honor. When I became receiver, I saw many memories of past lives. I saw and felt both bad and good things I never did before. But I'm glad I did and I want the world to be the way it was. Some people might say that sameness is good because there are no tough decisions to make. However, when every decision and option is made for us, we loose our individuality. Everyone in this community should be able to have options presented to us so we can explore our personalities. When I was running away from you I was weak from no food. I had never been in contact with the freeing cold snow. I remembered it but I had no knowledge of how bad it would be. It was hard to move but I had to keep going. But it was the givers memory of love that gave me hope. I began to "suddenly, to feel happy. [I] began to recall happy times. He remembered his parents and his sister. [I] remembered [my] friends, Asher and Fiona. [I] remembered The Giver"(178). That it what gave me the strength to continue when I was at my weakest. If people had the option to love, they they could get through hard times that they face. It was only until I "had seen a birthday party, with one child singled out and celebrated on his day, so that now [I] understood the joy of being an individual, special and unique and proud"(121). If people were given the chance to be individual, it would take time, but, they would love it.
Dear Mr. President, Books have caused so many problems with our society, the more people talk about books the more violence and deaths occur. There have been problems for my husband, the teenage girl who once lived next door and for the friends of my husband. There was a women who died for her books, Montag had to burn the house that she was in and he was very effected by this he started going crazy "His hands have been infected, and soon it would be his arms. He could feel the poison working up his wrists and into his elbows and his shoulders, and then the jump-over from shoulder blade to shoulder blade like a sparking leaping gap. 38." Montag felt so bad for this woman he couldn't sleep at night, he didn't know how to respond so he decided to discover the truth about books, which lead to more of a mess. Obviously, with all this violence and confusion surrounding me I knew I had to tell someone about Montag's books, I didn't want to betray him but I'd rather have him alive and in jail than having him be killed for starting a rebellion. When I ran out of the house before it was being burned I was scared how Montag would think of me but I did it for his own good. "She saw everything. She didn't do anything to anyone. She just let them alone..."Mildred came down the steps,running, one suitcase held with a dreamlike clenching rigidity in her fist, as a beetle taxi hissed to the curb. 108." The books caused a whole rebellion that would make the world hateful and scary, war would start again and we won't be standing as society anymore. We will fall like everywhere else in the world. When Montag turned on our city, he left the place in ashes. This wouldn't have happened if he never knew about the books. "Montag turned and glanced back. What did you give to this cit, Montag? Ashes. What did the others give to each other? Nothingness. 149." Yes without books out world had no love and knowledge and nothing good but when Montag did get a piece of love and knowledge he couldn't handle the knowledge and he went ballistic. This is why we should continue to not have books. Our society can't handle it.
Dear fellow Elders, This is your reciver speaking, now i feel that people need change and that sameness is not the best thing for our soceity. Sameness sqaushes indivduallity and everyone is the same. This s not ok. People have no clue about what feelings and emotions are. When i was asking my parents about love and what they feel and they responded "Jonas. You, of all people. Precision of language, please"(Lowry 127). They responed like this because they did't know what love even was. Also, i feel as that people really should have a choice of what there family should be. Right now family are strictly "Two children, one male, one female, it's written very clearly in the rules" (Lowry 8). People should be able to choose there family and how many children they want. Further more, when i felt my first memory of a holiday called christmas i felt "warmth... And happiness.. And family,"(pg 123). Many people should be a ble to feel this love. I do understand that some people do like having everything chosen because it causes people less stress on major decisions, but when you make a big decision you normally come at more happy because you chose what fit for you instead of what someone thought for you. Elders, if this letter get dis-approved then i will start a petion and get a rebelion going i want change and so dont many people. Thank you, Jonas
As you know, every book in your country has been banned. I believe it should stay that way. Sure, books give ideas that are special, but what they say is depressing. They cover topics such as "suicide and crying and awful feelings." (Bradbury 97). Who wants to read things like that? Books also contains content that hurts many people for many reasons. For example: "Someone written a book on tobacco and cancer of the lungs? The cigarette people are weeping? Burn the book," (57). Not only does it hurt people trying to make money, but it also hurts people of mixed races. "Colored people don't like Little Black Sambo. Burn it," (57). We as a community do not want people to be offended and dislike what we stand for. Therefore, getting rid of books was a good decision because it keeps people from depressing content and hurting them.
Recently, my husband, Montag, has been hanging around this strange girl, and is now preaching books as some sacred item, saying that they should be legalized. However, books are "a loaded gun in the house next door"; a ticking bomb, a threat ( Bradbury 56). Is it to safe allow bombs into our society? Should we allow the people to roam around with weapons? Books should, most definitely, be continued to be banned as it's a threat to our society, is a complete waste, and is completely false! I will have you know, that not only my husband is full of nonsense, but books are as well. How did a beloved fireman become this way? Books. Books are full of complete gibberish that no one can understand; they “...say nothing! Nothing you can teach or believe. They’re about nonexistent people, figments of imagination…” (59). Why should we read them if they’re nothing but lies? Not only the words in books aren’t real, but the people; the characters. You see, the parlor walls are full of people and life. “ ‘Books aren't real people. You read and I look around, but there isn't anybody...My ‘family’, is people. They tell me things; I laugh, they laugh’ ” (69)! Blocks of paper aren’t talking with me, laughing with me. Afterall, it’s paper! Nothing else! So, “ ‘why should I read? What for’ ” (69)? With the parlor walls, they read to me. Why must I waste time on reading it myself? Sitting in silence while staring at a book, benefiting me with nothing at all! And with, “ ‘technology, mass exploitation, and minority pressure...you can stay happy all the time, you are allowed to read comics, the good old confessions, or trade journal’ ” (55). Books aren’t necessary, and are taking up valuable space in our society! There’s comics; stories that are intentionally fictional. Stories that aren’t being masked by a fake image.
Recently, my poor, silly husband decided to read a poem to my dear friends. Who does he think he is?! Literature has done nothing but harm in our society, creating misery and sadness. Isn’t that why it was banned in the first place? Books contain “ ‘silly words, silly words, silly awful hurting words. Why do people want to hurt people’ ” (97)? It’s a known fact that “ ‘coloured 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’ ” (57). Burn books, burn them all! We must save ourselves from danger; the danger that literature causes. Why must we upset the minorities? They haven’t done wrong! Why must we upset people with these stacks of nonsense? If everyone was happy, no harm would be done; if nobody read books, no harm would be done. My husband has made claims that “ ‘maybe the books can get us half out of the cave. They just might stop us from making the same damn insane mistakes! I don’t hear those idiot bastards in your parlor talking about it’ ” (70). Although he may be right, and that reading books may prevent us from making the same mistakes again, I believe in learning from your own mistakes—growing. We shouldn’t have someone else to dictate our life, let alone a book. Therefore, Mr. Leader, we must keep books banned! The future of our society will be threatened if we even consider legalizing books! If anything, we should hire more firemen, burn the books! Create more mechanical hounds, catch the criminals! Get rid of books…
Dear Mr. Winston Noble: I remember the time when people paused in their life to smell the roses, when people did not hurry to go to work. When books brought happiness and knowledge. But ever since the new law was put in its place, all of the pleasure of reading, has been lost. My life has not been the same after you passed this new amendment. I do realize that there are minority groups out there who hate certain types of books. However they can do everyone, including themselves, a favor by just simply not reading the types of books rather than burning the books down. While my career as the English Language Arts professor was very brief. I can clearly remember the kids cheerfully opening up their textbooks to read and to learn. Sooner or later I would see all of them wearing graduation robes and hats to receive their diplomas. After your proceeders burned down our libraries,there were no children left in school because most of them were killed in gun shootings or car crashes! You even jailed an man for 2 days just because "he drove at 40 miles an hour"(Bradbury 6.) to try to keep himself safe! Do you want all the people in the country to die due to easily preventable accidents? Books on the other hand allow the people to know how to respect and cherish the lives of those around us, so they won't kill each other. But before the citizens knew what was going on, you brainwashed them to think "books aren't real" (Bradbury 80.) When they had nothing to do, they would just "listen to the walls" (Bradbury 78.) all day long! You never gave the people freedom in choosing whether to burn or not to burn. Just like the fact that you never gave us the freedom to do anything but what you wanted. I think that in order to save our society, we need to bring books back. These books have taught humanity love, peace, joy, and to learn from the past. I do believe that with every new generation, we will be able to pick up more and more people that want to have books in society and raise up a new nation like the one you destroyed where love and peace are an essential part of our daily life. (Bradbury 156) Sincerely, Faber
Dear President Noble, I loved the scent of nutmeg and spices. It was all around me; the pages were drenched with the aromatic smell, the air hung heavy with its flavor, and the scent would fill the room as I flipped through the book. I dreamed that I was in a foreign land. But that was a long time ago, when books still lived. The citizens in our town are debating on whether or not we should bring books back. The truth is, our society is hollow, and the knowledge in books is what will help us rebuild it. It is without a doubt that they should be allowed in our society.
The society in which we live is messed up, to say the least. Nowadays, we spend almost all of our time watching TV because "'it is immediate, it has dimension. It tells you what to think and blasts it in. It must be right. It seems so right'" (Bradbury 80). Although the parlor walls do seem to be real, they are not. We use them to immerse ourselves in the televisor's soothing voice, to purposely ignore how our lives are incomplete and deprived of joy. In fact, the parlor walls have replaced our true family. I know a man whose wife doesn't even love him anymore. Do you know why, President Noble? It's because "'she listens to the walls'" (78). Some even say, "'no one in his right mind, the Good Lord knows, would have children'" (92). It is astonishing how women distance themselves from their children. Their very own children. Where is our love? Where is our compassion? We are losing sight of our human side! Evidently, our society is in ruins.
In light of this, I propose a solution. Books. We have blindly led ourselves to believe that "'books say nothing,'" while in actuality, they hold all the knowledge in the world (Bradbury 59). Have you heard of "'the legend of Hercules and Antaeus, the giant wrestler, whose strength was incredible so long as he stood firmly on the earth? But when he was held, rootless, in midair, by Hercules, he perished easily'" (79). We are Antaeus. We are so confident in our strength, our utter perfection, that we become oblivious of our weaknesses! Furthermore, the books tell of a bird called a Phoenix, who burned himself up. Yet, somehow, the bird would always come back to life (156). Despite how we are engulfed in flames, I believe mankind has the power to rescue itself from the ashes. I know this, because of the books, and the stories they have told me. Now, I have told them to you. Where would we be if books did not expose us to reality like so? If they did not root us firmly to the ground, or extinguish the flames for us? The knowledge in books is definitely irreplaceable, and by learning from the brilliant lessons that they teach us, we will be able to save our society.
There is no denying that books are a critical part of our lives. Not only that, but they are the only thing that can change this empty world that we live in, and change it for the better. Now is the time to stop burning them. Books must be allowed, for the good of mankind.
I really love your lead! It really drew me in and I wanted to read more. Also, the way you created Faber's character was 100% believable. I love how you showed him, in a way, hatching again. I feel like this could be the epilogue to the book!
Dear Elders, I believe we should get rid of sameness and bring back what made this town unique. The first memory I remember was when the giver placed his hands on my back and I remember visualizing "many birds...soaring overhead..." and anyone could "look with wonder at wildflowers," or "merely watch the way wind shifted the leaves in the trees"(Lowry 172). In all of your years in this Community, have you ever "felt such simple moments of exquisite happiness"(172)? And do any of you know what love is? I do, and it is the most spectacular feeling I have ever felt in all of my life. I feel such love for my friends, my family, but "they [can] not feel it back, without the memories" (Lowry 135). With Sameness. Why would you destroy such beauty for something as boring as Sameness? Without Sameness in the past everything and everyone in our community was unique. There was nature. There was color. There was freedom. And especially there was choice. The Giver says that the Receiver(me) is permitted to give the Elders advice. We should go back to what things were in the past. And I suggest to you that we should get rid of sameness and give this town some color, literally. So I speak directly to you. Get rid of sameness, and listen to what I had to say.
Please keep an open mind, just imagine having your own choices seeing colors everyone being happy we don't need to be under your spell any more. We can choose our own jobs and be free to meet anyone we want. Every morning when you wake up seeing a landscape of color. Just imagine sameness
I couldn't imagine waking up and seeing a barren landscape of gray and white. " I put his hands on Asher's shoulders, and concentrated on the red of the petals, trying to hold it as long as he could, and trying at the same time to transmit the awareness of red to his friend"(99). Jonas was trying to show his friend what it was like to finally feel free by seeing all the colors. People think they are happy in this place and I know what real happiness is and these people aren't experiencing it. You guys don't let anyone feel real love or happiness you make them take stirrings. "Couldn't quite get the word for the whole feeling of it, the feeling that was strong in the room. 'Love', the Giver told him"(Lowry). It's not fair to these people that they don't get to experience love and feeling close to some one. You don't let people even chose their jobs some people don't like their jobs but they don't say anything just because they don't want to go thru your appeal process. Yes if we let people in on these secrets they would erupt with anger from keeping these secrets for so long but they would accept it after time goes by. "Definitely not safe, Jonas said with certainty. What if they were allowed to choose their own fate? And chose wrong?" (Lowry). Jonas agrees with you but that doesn't mean he is right he is young and you need to tell them that you have been keeping this away from them.
Sit down and imagine a world where people care about their families, not just screen after screen. The near extinction and banishment from various classic books, has created a horrendous, dark and cold society. You just don't get it do you, without books thanks to your indifference on lives of others, look at what we have become. We have become bland, self centered, and selfish. I absolutely despise your stupidity about banning books, from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, to the long importantly detailed book War and Peace. Books are a viral part of our society, and they promise to never give up on million of lives and schools. To emphasize, they gives creativity and ideas.
I was traveling with some friends, and I realized something, books are what prevents from making the same mistake over and over again. Additionally when I actually read something to them, no they didn't just hate it, they practically had a heart attack or they felt that their in an abandoned haunted house in a horror movie, and are about to be murdered. I was sick of the rules the same awful rules of stupidity, that was where I couldn't take it. Without further hesitation, "There was this silly bird called a Phoenix back before Christ, every few hundred years he built a pyre and burned himself up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself born all over again. It looks like we're doing the same thing over and over again we've got one more damn thing that the Phoenix never had" (Bradbury 156). I am making myself very clear here, and your reign of censorship and laws,has created a generation of darkness,supernaturally, and paranoia. Furthermore, because books are unconstitutional, we can't learn from the mistakes that we make in the past, as a consequence, awful events such as war, criminals, killings, gangs and much more happen over and over again, and then they will eventually become normal. By all means, these issues in our dark society, make it so that books are important to be brought back to our land no questions asked. When I was starting to get to know my friends, they were talking about the real world and life, not just about fires, smoke, books, laws, burning books, and themselves. In fact, at that very moment, I realized that "the voices talked of everything, there was nothing they couldn't talk about" (140). Yes I understand that you're in charge of an entire city and state, but when it comes to books being banned, that's just not fair, there are millions of people who actually study books and learn new things. In a normal society, reading educates your brain to grow lots of task. Not only do you destroy people's lives by not allowing books to read, but you make it so jobs are mostly banned. It goes without saying that if books are banned, you miss out on everything, and schools, and jobs suffer so much that they can close for months or in extremely difficult cases they can close forever. My friend Granger, came up to me and he said what I would only hear once in a lifetime. "It doesn't matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that's like you take your hands away" (150). In our land, everyday is TV shows and movies. Our society can't stand up for themselves and to put their minds and imagination into a legacy. Beyond the shadow of doubt, the ban of books, may still be reigning evilly on our land. However, with your support we can end this reign of not just banned books and education. But we can make a change and live how we want to live, and speak what we want to speaking and treat others that they want to be treated.
Part 1: President Noble, Everyday, common citizens spend their free time mindlessly consuming the bland words fed to them by the parlor walls. Do they think? No. Do they feel? Do they live? No.How can we repair all these flaws? Of course, with knowledge. As someone who has read and lived with books, I believe that we should allow our society to also be able to explore knowledge and books as they please. Before you, as many others, burn this piece of paper like it is just one of many others, I want you as the president to listen. If you can't think, please listen. I have experienced a life with books and I strongly believe that others should too. Have you ever read a book? I don't mean the "comic books" or "three-dimensional ... magazines" (Bradbury 55). If the answer is no, then you cannot turn away.
Why do I bother? Why do I care? Well, after sitting in front of the parlor, for so long, you get filled up with junk. The wife of a friend of mine (a fireman, may I add) had to go to the hospital because she had consumed so many sleeping pills, well, I wonder why, and they put a snake inside of her time get rid of all of it. He told her frantically, "they filed a report on all the junk they got out of you!" (69) What the parlor walls are telling us is unimportant. What they are meant to do is what we should be thinking about. Did you ever realize that the government has never told us about the bombs and jets we hear "every hour...in the sky?" (69). We never ask! People never ask because they are too distracted by the parlor walls. Why don't you tell me "how in hell did those bombers get up there every single second of our lives!" If we actually have "started and won two atomic wars since 2022," "why doesn't someone want to talk about it!" (69)
Now, I will tell you why in hell I care and why you should too. Maybe, "the books can get us out of the cave." Please understand that "they just might stop us from making the same damn mistakes." Do you hear the idiots in the parlor talking about it? I don't (70). Many argue that books upset too many minorities to be able to exist.Although this may be a true fact, we have lived in the past with these books,in harmony. If we were able to live with this knowledge before, why not now? We should be strong enough to appreciate other sides and opinions. We should be strong enough to look into the eyes of our opposers and understand them. Whether those minorities change after seeing the other side, it does not matter. What matters is that they were strong and pious enough to live with other people with other opinions. When I first met Montag, he understood. Or at least, he would understand in the future. I dared to say the words, "I don't talk things, sir. I talk the meaning of things. I sit here and know I'm alive" (71). Did you ever really feel that security? Did you ever really know things? You can, Mr. President, you definitely can. And now, now they've bombed us. I escaped to the country, but you? I don't know whether you will tell any other city—I honestly don't think you will. Do you know what a Phoenix is? Every few years, the Phoenix "built a pyre and burned himself up...But every time he burnt himself up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself born all over again" (156). Can we, now, be birthed once again? Of course we can! But we will need your help. Now, President Noble, what will you do? Do you believe this cause is worthy enough or will you, too, believe that you are not strong enough to look into my eyes? Will you choose your weakness over what's right? Or will you do something? I ask you, as the President of so many unaware citizens, to round up your courage and make a change to your society. I ask you to invite books and knowledge into our world once again, for the good of the citizens, and for yourself. I ask you, President Noble, to remember."And on either side of the river was there a tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month; And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations" (158).
Dear Officials, Killing, houses burning down, firefighters being murderers, and children being irresponsible. Do you want to continue down this terrible road? Our society needs officials who understand what people need. Books help us understand what happened to society's before us. Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to know everything that has happened before us? Even though you let us read comic books we need to be able to read history books and books that will let us learn about past societies so we can see what worked and what didn't and take those experiences to create a better society! Children these days don't learn anything at school, "an hour of tv class, an hour of basketball or baseball or running, an hour of painting pictures, more sports, and sitting there for four more hours with the film-teacher" (27). Don't you want your kids to grow up with knowledge of how to live respectfully and diligently? Instead of "bullying people, racing cars, killing classmates, and shouting at adults"(27) your kids would be able to sit down and read history books together. They can talk to each other about important historical happenings. They could go home and talk to you like a real family. Although the you might not want people to have an understanding of the old society, you can take the achievements of the old societies and create the best society in history! How would people be able to learn about how great our society would be? BOOKS BOOKS AND MORE BOOKS! Books are not about "nonexistent people and figments of imagination"(59). They are about signified human beings who tried to make their society's the top of the heap. I hope we can all work together and live in the best society of all time.
Grace, I like the quotes you used and how they backed up your claim. I also like how you wrote "sincerely, A very very very..." I liked the way you wrote this essay.
Dear Elders, I remember when I was a seven, and I asked my parents out of curiosity, "mother, why can we not pick our future career. It is for us right?" Well Jonas she said, that is the way in our community. We have no say or choice. They pick everything for us. Our job, when we celebrate our birthday, and even how we celebrate our birthday". We need to get rid of sameness in our life. All deserve to have choice in their life, being the exact same is not fair nor fun. This is because with choice we have the excitement and freedom of picking our jobs, our future, picking where we want to live and how we want to live. Now I see how it is easier and less stressful to have everything picked out for us however, it is part of life to make a decision, stick with it, and deal with the stress or problems that come your way. We all need to have this opportunity in our life. In the Giver, Jonas "wants his childhood again, his scraped knees and ball games...but the choice was not his" (122). Jonas no longer has the choice of living a childhood, like a normal child. He has been elected for an important job without any say, and that is his new life. Jonas "was certain that his Assignment, whatever it was to be, and Asher's too, would be the right one for them" (49). All in the community have no say in their future, all of their assignments are chosen for them and kept with them, happy or not. This is not fair because all should have the right of choosing what they want to do in their life, we all need the choice to be eligible to do this. Jonas wants to make a change in his community for the better, so he runs away with his brother, who was to be killed (released) the next day, and as Jonas father says "we obviously had to make the decision. Even I voted for Gabriel's release" (164-165) Jonas realizes he had to make a change and make his peers realize the opportunities they are missing out on, simply because they don't have one extraordinary important thing, called choice. I say now we get rid of this sameness rule. We now have the right to choice, our life. The way it should be. Sincerely, Jonas.
I am writing to you Mr. President to persuade you to lift the ban on books. After reading this letter, you will realize that your ban on books was wrong, and it is not what this society is about. Dear President Fahrenheit, it has come to my attention that you have made a law stating that “books are forever banned from the beginning of [your] rule to the end”. Although you may rule this country books are what make life interesting, and they give us a sense of happiness. therefore I believe and many others believe that from this day forward you should lift the ban on books. In our society a large amount of people belive books should be banned because of you, president Fahrenheit, you brainwash people with technology, making people blind from reality, where a small percentage of people including my self have realized that books are good and are dumb enough to not be blinded by technology.
Our society Mr. President is turning into a dystopia, all because of the way we are living. You have banned books from our people and are very strict with the punishment for having books. Although we are granted the freedom of speech you often send the police after the people who speak against you. I interviewed a firman named Montage he stated that "we do need knowledge”(Bradbury 82). And that's how we get knowledge, threw books. Our world is being destroyed, between the war and the lack of freedom, “it's not pleasant, but then where not in control, were the odd minority crying in the wilderness”(Bradbury 146). Although we are living In a free world we don't have any say in our government we are ignored. A man named granger told me that "'It doesn't matter what you do, so as long you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something thats like you after you take your hands away."' (Bradbury 150). People in this society no longer have a sense of creativity many don't make an effort to try and change the world. Mr. President, it's time to lift the ban on books and bring this society back to the way it used to be. If you do not sign this in agreement to lift the ban on books we will rebel against the kingdom like the nobles would have done in the Middle Ages with the Magna Carta and King John.
Dear Mr. President I would like to take this time to give you a new idea on what our society could be like. Just imagine it, a world where people actually talk to eachother. People are knowledgable about the past. They understand what's happening in the world around us and could help figure out a way to stop it. The key to all of this is books. Books are the answers to our problems and burning them doesn't help. "All we want to do is keep the knowledge we think we will need, intact and safe" and we can't do this without books (145). They help us learn and remember things much easier than we would when we don't read them. Books are also a way of entertainment and every time you burn one, you're burning someone's happiness. My friends "read the books and burnt them, afraid they'd be found (145). Wouldn't you rather people just be able to do what they enjoy and not have to hide it. Books are doing more good than bad and because we burn them, people, like them, have to hide what makes them happy. "I knew why I must never burn again in my life" right as I saw those books go up in flames (134). Technology is taking over our lives and our society is become a bad place. What about the future generations to come too? How would you like to see your kids, nieces, nephews, cousins, siblings, anyone, "bully people around, break windowpanes in the Window Smasher place or wreck cars in the Car Wrecker place with the big steel ball. Or go out in the cars and race on the streets, trying to see how close you can get to lampposts, playing 'chicken' and 'knock hubcaps'" (27). People everyday are doing these things that are putting other people's lives in danger when they could easily go inside and read a book. By doing this people will get smarter, be safer, become more sociable. These an easy fix to all these problems, Mr. President, and books are the fix.
All these problems could be resolved if you take my advice into consideration.
I really like your quotes and your explanations! You weren't repetitive in the least and got straight to the point! I like when you mention that people "bully [others] around, break windowpanes in the Window Smasher place of wreck card in the Car Wrecker place with the big steel ball" because they have no other option for "fun" excluding technology. I like how you explained that if books were allowed, there would be no violence and therefore no putting danger in people's lives. Great job!
I remember a time when I was allowed to work with great books in a classroom, as the English teacher I once was. I would shuffle through the greatest books of all time and would teach my students what to make of them. I think that books should be allowed in our society. Books should be allowed in our world because they force people to think, they teach us all something, and they open the way to communicating with eachother instead of the talking we do with our parlor walls. We should have books because they force the people of our society to think. When you open the pages to a book, no matter the genre, there is a substance within the cover. If the book contains a story or facts, people have to think about what they are reading, allowing them to think about how they story or facts relates to their everyday lives. Any book has a message that could help the readers of said book take action in their everyday lives. The firemen prevent people from taking action. A former firemen, named Montag, once told me that "if he burned things with firemen and the sun burned Time, that meant that everything burned!" (Bradbury 134). Since everything burns, because of your firemen, people will not be able to think, and will not be able to change their everyday lives. Books also teach everyone something. Mr. President, whether you like it or not, you have a society that wants to learn. Montag once told me a story about a women that let herself burn just for the knowledge that is stored in books. "Go on, said the woman, and Montag felt himself back away and away out the door." (Bradbury 37). A women wanted to learn so bad that she would rather die then not of the knowledge that books could provide her with. With books people can learn, and in this society, give the people books, and they will want to learn. The last reason why books should be allowed in this society is because they open way for people to communicate with eachother. People spend all their time with their parlor walls that will not even talk to eachother. When you ask "will you turn the parlor off?" they exclaim "That's my family." (Bradbury 46). People are so concerned about their virtual families that they do not even communicate will their real life families. So, Mr. President, turn the parlor walls off and put a book in front of the people faces and they will begin to communicate. For all these reasons, books should be not only legal, but recommended. Since books force all people to think, they teach people, and they cause people to communicate with one another, books should be legalized in our society. So, Mr. President, forget all the anti book laws you have created, and legalize books as soon as possible. Sincerely yours, Faber
Dear President Noble, My name is Clarisse. I am a 17 year old girl with a problem of how you are running this society of ours. I mean doesn't the well being of our society, “ ‘...mean anything to you?’ ”(6). I have some friends whose lives have been ruined and thrown out of balance because of the way you run this society. In order to bring back the balance and peace to this great society in Chicago, I propose that our society should bring back books because without books our society is, unhappy, more violent, and incapable of thinking for themselves.
Books allowed people to be happy, caring, and educated. It also let people find an alternative to always using technology. A firemen once told me, “ He was not happy...He wore his happiness like a mask…” (9). As you can clearly tell this firemen friend of mine is not and cannot be happy until this terrible injustice is revoked. However, not only has the loss of books affected the happiness of the people, it has resulted in major increase of violent activity. In fact, “ ‘...I’m afraid of children my own age...Six of my friends have been shot in the last year alone. Ten of them died in car wrecks…’ ” (27). The government is doing nothing about this violence. They are encouraging it. To clarify, you and the other people responsible for the well being of the citizens are established, “ ‘...Fun Park[s] to bully people...break windowpanes...or wreck cars…’ ” (27). The encouragement of violent activities must stop. By bring books back to society people will have something more to do than be violent. It will also teach citizens about caring for one another and having faith in each other. Now with all respect, I realize that books are long and introduce ideas that you may not like, however, it is the right of the people to know all the information of the past and plans for the future in full detail. So the revival of books shall bring back the idea of using our own heads to chose what we want to do. Right now the government doesn't, “ ‘...give him [(a man)] two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet give him none’ ” (58). In addition children are not learning the essential skills needed to work in the real world. They spend their time in, “ ‘...an hour of TV class, an hour of basketball or baseball or running, …another hour of...painting pictures, and more sports…’ ” (27).
As you can see, President Noble, it is crucial to implement books in our lives once again. The happiness, safety, and general knowledge of the people lie in in this decision. So please, bring back the books today! Sincerely, Clarisse
Imagine, we lived in a society where, people could make it through a day with out mindlessly killing someone, or staring at "the parlor walls all day". Imagine a world were people were smart and could make decisions all by themselves without our government breathing down their necks telling them exactly what to do. Our world used to be like this, we used to give people the freedom to know, and use their knowledge to make decisions for themselves. But to achieve this knowledge they needed a source, books. Books are what make our world worth living, they tell us mistakes from the past the we can learn from, and they teach us, and even bring us happiness. Our society can be so much better, less violence, and people can do so,etching worth while. And books are the only way to re-achieve this.
My dear friend Faber, used to be a professor teaching English. But as more people started to ignore books, and people's attention spans got shorter nobody came, and once books were banned he had been "thrown out upon the world forty years ago when the last liberal arts college shut for lack of students and patronage" (Bradbury 70-71). I used to love burning books "to see things blackened and changed" (Bradbury 1). Yes I understand the fact that you want to keep us blind to the fact that books can spark unhappiness, but after seeing an old lady willing to burn alive for her little meaningless books, changed me. I mean what could these books possibly hold within them worth dying for? I have been through a lot... I hardly escaped my city before it was blown to shreds. My friends have died, even poor Clarisse McLellan, a very nice young girl, with a large heart and an interesting personality. But she was killed for this. She had wondered the same thing I do now, why have we banned our freedom to express ourselves , why have we lost our way? She once asked me "is it true that long ago firemen put out fires instead of going out to start them." (Bradbury 6). And I couldn't honestly answer her, and now I know yes the world was once a happy place, a place where knowledge flourished and freedom was used responsibly. A very wise man told me "it doesn't matter what you do, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched into something that's like you after you take your hands away" (Bradbury 150). This really touched me and I believe it can relate to hour books, can not only touch the author, but any reader who gains knowledge or happiness from the experience.
So Mr. President, I am sitting here writing you this, a letter with my heart in my hand providing evidence proving my stance and I beg you this. Bring back the importance of books, and let us be reborn full of knowledge and common sense.
Picture a world where we made our own decisions, and see color. A world like this was once real, but it also came with a bad side, there was pain and sadness. This sameness that we have going on, it's got to stop, it doesn't let us see what a real world is like. I would really like for us to get rid of sameness. When I say this I mean, let us experience love, happiness, and the joy to see color
Every day since the day I got assigned receiver of memory, the giver has given me memories of what the world before us was like. These memories included of good, happy ones, and horrifying, never forgetting memories. Since pain is dreadful, I would only like for our community to be able to see the good ones. The memory of love would have to be the best, and first one shown "Jonas, couldn't quite get the word for the whole feeling of it, the feeling that was strong in the room. 'Love', the Giver told him"(Lowry). Love, the day I received the memory of love, I didn't know what to say, it was just a beautiful thing to feel, it brought joy to me, happiness! I think that everyone should feel happiness, even the little ones, since both Gabriel and I have pale eyes, I gave him good memories for him to hold onto. Our society is not letting us live freely, everything we do is up to The Elders, everything we say is up to The Elders. "The society we're in does not dare let people make choices of their own"(Lowry). I want to be able to make my own choices, I want to chose between colors, I want to have a hard timing knowing what to wear. "'I want to wake up in the morning and decide things! A blue tunic or a red one'" (Lowry). In the past, people made their own choices, and they were pleased with that, they liked it. This whole sameness causes everyone to not be able to see color. Colors are beautiful, they add meaning to life, but yet no one can experience them because of sameness. Jonas wanted the friends that he 'loved' to experience the amazing colors "he put his hands on Asher's shoulders, and concentrated on the red of the petals, trying to hold it as long as he could, and trying at the same time to transmit the awareness of red to his friend"(Lowry). There is only joy and beauty when showing people color. If we got rid of sameness, our community would be able to see color as well. The point that I want to prove is that if we got rid of sameness society will have the ability to, make to make their own decisions, see the beauty of colors, and have the amazing feelings of love. I wouldn't argue that there are bad memories, but they would only help bring real happiness to us.
Imagine a world where you could be unique: a world where everyone would make their own choices and do what they want in life. You could make a wrong choice, but from that wrong choice you would learn, and know not to do the same thing again. The issue at hand is whether we should continue to live our bland, predictive lifestyles, or abolish sameness and be unique. I believe that we should get rid of sameness because we would be able to make our own decisions, we would be able to see color, and we would be able to have families of our own.
We should have the ability to make our own decisions so that we aren't all the same. As our new Receiver of Memory, Jonas, says, "'I want to wake up in the morning and decide things!'"(Lowry 97). With the freedom of choice, we would learn responsibility, and be more unique. With color, we would be able to make even more choices that make us unique, such as when Jonas wonders about Gabriel, "'what if we could hold up things that were bright red, or bright yellow, and he could choose?'"(Lowry 98). With the ability to see colors, we could all be more unique and different in a good way, and have the ability to choose what we do. In addition, without sameness we would be able to have families of our own, and know the feeling of love. As Jonas says, "'I liked the feeling of love'"(Lowry 126). With families of our own and love, our lives would be more complete. In conclusion, our lives would be a lot better without sameness, with freedom of choice, colors, and families of our own.
Books have not been apart of our society for many years, ever wonder that if we had books what would change and how life would stay the same? In my opinion I think that books play a major positive part in the society. Books should be kept in the society for education, entertainment and enriching culture. My wife Mildred is addicted to her 'family' that "'I can't talk to my wife; she listens to the walls'" (Bradbury 78). My wife pays all of her attention to the walls, she doesn't care about anything but her 'family'. If book don't come back my wife is never going to stop watch TV, and I am just going to get mad at her. Another reason that books should be brought back, is so we can learn from the past. Yes, the past can hold major tragedies that people do not want to relive, but now with books being brought back into the society, people will be able to have knowledge of the past and and learn from the mistakes that have occurred. "All I want to do is keep the knowledge we think we will need, intact and safe" (Bradbury 145). Bringing books back into the world can teach many people about the past that know nothing. In future generations people will know less and less about the past. Since books disappearing the world has become very violent people "bully people around, break windowpanes in the Window Smasher place or wreck cars in the Car Wrecker place with the big steel ball" (Bradbury 27). People are being violent because they have nothing better to do so they with destroy things or they go inside and watch TV. Bringing books back will give people a other option. Please Mr. President go out and stop the firemen from burning the books, because every minute you don't something more and more books are being burned.
Probably about almost everyday, people are sending in alarms to the fire station to alert them that they have found someone with a book so that they can come and burn them. Books are always being burned. "There is nothing magical in them, at all" (79). But why are there still a few people protesting to allow books in the society? Books may bring knowledge leading to wealthier lives, but isn't it better to be aware of things and be upset rather than being unaware of anything that's going on, and happy? "You must understand that our civilization is so vast that we can have our minorities upset and stirred...people want to be happy" (56). Books will only educate us with the knowledge we do not need to know how to survive. We know how to bathe ourselves, feed ourselves, takes care of ourselves, etc. and really, theses are the only necessities to life. People don't want to dwell on the past, they want to forget all the bad times and be happy. If a loved one of yours was running in the Boston Marathon, the year of the bombings, and was killed, would you really want everything you see be about Boston Strong? It will only take longer to recover from the tragedy. So why remind ourselves of the horrible things from the past? "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 about tobacco and cancer on the lungs? The cigarette people are weeping? Burn the book. Better yet, into the incinerator. Funerals are unhappy and pagan? Eliminate them, too...let's not quibble over individuals with memorials. Forget them. Burn all, burn everything. Fire is bright and fire is clean" (57). Why should we remember the terrible things in the last? Wouldn't you be so much happier if you never remembered your loved one had died in that marathon, or wouldn't it be so much easier if there wasn't reminders telling you that they have died everywhere you went? "Suicide and crying and awful feelings" (97). When Montag read aloud the poem to Mildred's friends, they were very upset. They weren't used to being exposed to such information, causing the, to be very sensitive about it. After all, the majority of the society isn't interested in reading the books, they're all glued to their parlor walls, and for them that is all they need, so why even bother? If books were allowed all of the firemen would have to find new jobs, leaving many people unemployed. If books were allowed in the society, all that burning, damage done to people, and homes, would all have been for nothing. Books are not necessary to have in the society.
Dear Elders, Now that I see the truth about my society, going back to Sameness would put freedom further away from my reach. I remember the time when I was a young toddler, innocent, unaware of what living a life truly is. Now I am older, I want the facts, I want more. So I found the Giver. Truth is what I was told and I now believe in freedom. If we go back to Sameness, we the people, could never be free. Of course Sameness shows organization of society but a little freedom is nice as well. Every night and day we have rituals that include "the evening telling of feelings"(Lowry 4) and the "morning sharing of dreams"(Lowry 34). But if you get Sameness, you don't get freedom nor a good life. I'm taking a stand for myself Elders, to prove what I'm about. Something within me, "something that had grown there through the memories"(Lowry 128), told me "to not take the the pill"(Lowry 128). You are intimidated now, you know that I have the information. So tell the society what there once was and what there should be. Go out now and do the right thing for the society and the people within the society.
Imagine a world in which people lived meaningful lives. Imagine if actual conversations took place, instead of hours mindless activities. I am writing to you today to voice my opinion on books being banned. As the president of our nation, you do not have the same view on society as us firemen. I work with people attached to books on a daily basis. I can assure you that if you saw the people that I deal with, you would allow books in the blink of an eye. Please give me an opportunity to explain why you should stop trying to replace our family with giant walls of television and let us, the people, decide whether we want to read books.
As I was saying, I have a very interesting outlook on society due to my job. In a recent experience, a women decided to die with her books. When we attempted to confiscate her books, she "reached out with contempt to them all, and struck the kitchen match against the railing" (Bradbury 37). The women made me question everything that I had ever know, "to burn 'em to ashes and then burn the ashes" (Bradbury 6). I began to think that maybe you had been lying to us, maybe "there was something in books, things we can't imagine, to make a women stay in a burning get house... You don't stay for nothing" (Bradbury 48). My friends think we should "keep the knowledge we think we will need, intact and safe... For if we are destroyed, the knowledge is is dead, perhaps for good" (Bradbury 145). After thinking this statement over, I cannot agree any more. My friends and I could be the last people to ever have knowledge of past life. Our world would surely crumble if we could not learn from previous mistakes. Recently, my friend Granger brought a book to my attention that connected with me. He mentioned a "Phoenix back before Christ, and every few hundred years he built a pyre and burned himself up... But every time he burnt himself up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself born all over again" (Bradbury 156). As humans, we have the power to change the way this world works, which is a truly spectacular thing. Without these books, we never would have thought of the world in this way. There are so many different perspectives on the world that books provide us.
With this being said, none of this will be possible if we do not have your full support, Mr. President. Not only are books an enjoyable form of entertainment, but they are good for our minds. With books, we will learn to reconnect with the ones we love. Take it from me, I stood by and watched technology tear my marriage apart. Please Mr. President, consider my proposal and think about how you could be the man who improved society in the greatest way in a long time!
Dear President, I, Montag, think that books should be allowed in our society. Although not everyone wants to take a break from everyday technology, curious people such as I desire to retain fascinating knowledge and learn morals that can help us in daily life. Don't you, Mr.President, ever take a moment and wonder about the secrets that are hidden in novels? That you are missing out on the golden keys to life? Although it is true that books can cause varying opinions and people to be angry, it is important to consider the fact that people can be open to different perspectives and see life in a whole new way. So please, take into thought how valuable books can be and let us explore a whole new world--that is, within the marvelous works of print!
I've once heard from a wise friend of mine, with the name of Faber, that "the magic is only in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us" (Bradbury 79). By this, my friend was representing how books open people's minds to a whole new world--not only filled with knowledge, but with senses, too. One day, I took a moment in the wilderness to find myself realize that there was "a smell like pickles from a bottle and a smell like parsley on the table at home....[i] put down [my] hand and felt a weed rise up like a child brushing him" (138). After taking a slight moment and for once truly looking at the world around me, I started to inhale the authentic scents of the wilderness and feel the wild plants and much more around me. I learned something that day, and that is that technology is taking over our world. I never been through such a moment in life like this, and although those who have not been completely stolen by technology are able to see, feel, hear, and smell the world around them, they are not able to gain helpful knowledge and make their mark on the real world. Another friend of mine named Granger once told me that "everyone must leave something behind when he dies. A child or a book or a painting...or a garden planted...something [their] hand touched in some way so [their] soul has somewhere to go to when [they] die, and when people look at that tree or flower [they] planted, [they're] there" (149-150). To be able to do so, we need to retain valuable information from books that will help us in everyday life. If we can't apply morals and do good on this earth, than we won't be recognized: "...our cities [will] open up more and let the green and the land and the wildernesses more, to remind people that we're allotted a little space on earth and that we survive in that wilderness that can take back what it has given, as easily as blowing its breath in his or sending the sea to tell us we're not so big" (150). We have the choice to do good or bad, or perhaps not do anything in life, and we can lose things in life as easily as we are given them if we do not show off the good within us to the world, whether it be making a big change or small.
After hearing all that I've said, I know that you may still be doubtful. However, if you take a moment and ponder about all the wonderful things that books have to offer, you might realize something--that books are the key to enjoying and living life to its fullest. It is coming into the clear that books show people a whole new side to life.
Thank you so much for your time, and I hope you will take my words into thought and realize just how great books can be.
Dear President Winston Noble, Books were always my favorite. During my age, before you became president, I would read books during my time after school. The nice smell, the beautiful words inscribed within, the crisp sound of the pages turning, the times were enjoyable. Then you came, and took away my passion. I even became an English professor for my love of books. Your laws to take away books are unrighteous and unnecessary. There are many problems in our world. You're one of them. No doubt you manipulated the election to win. There is positively no way to win by being, "One of the nicest men ever became president" (Bradbury 93). Presidency should obviously be based on leadership skills and maintaining the lives of citizens. You only won because the opponent was, "Kind of small and homely and he didn't shave too close or comb his hair very well" (Bradbury 93). Hubert Hoag should get a fair run next election, if there is one. With your crazy laws, dictatorship seems not too far in the distance. Society has been ruined throughout a short time. Violence has overpowered the intelligent thoughts of the people. Children now, instead of reading, are having fun at, "a Fun Park to bully people around, break windowpanes in the Window Smasher place or wreck cars in the Car Wrecker place with the big steel ball" (Bradbury 27) Why are people preferring to see violence in action instead of doing activities in a civilized manner. People the age of 17 are even starting to kill each other. Getting shot, dying in car wrecks, it seems normal to children, but why? It didn't use to be like this. Back in my days, people were saved from accidents, others feeling compassionate for losses, like humans. Now it is not abnormal and is not a sad occurrence. We are like robots, similar to the Mechanical Hound. Instead of communicating and conversing with our friends, we sit in our houses, "with a one-hundred-piece symphony orchestra, full color, three dimensions, and being in and part of those incredible parlors" (Bradbury 80). Sitting at home with walls of unrealistic scenes becomes the preference of all. Even Montag's wife, Mildred, has fallen to the attraction of parlor walls. The innocent people of the society have changed and ways of life have been modified along with your ridiculous thinking.
My simple fix to the large unknown problem is books, also known as knowledge. This knowledge can show us the past of human lives, when people thought of the components that could improve society. Where peace and calm override the darkness. Books in the world can allow us to grow from our past mistakes. Although ignorant people like Beatty say, "What traitors books can be! you think they're backing you up, and they turn on you. Others can use them, too, and there you are, lost in the middle of the moor, in a great welter of nouns and verbs and adjectives" (Bradbury 104), his thoughts are wrong. Books are simply creating the potential for the readers to think themselves, other than see the ideas of others. The contradiction and confusing books are not to make people angry, it is to make them intelligent, leading to a better society. Beatty is missing the real use of books and thinks of them as blank, conflicting, words. Firemen used to be firefighters fighting fire and saving all important books, and now they are striving to create fire. Trying to manipulate the thoughts of citizens, you called one of the earlier presidents, Benjamin Franklin, a fireman. It is surely not true, but the people influenced by television believed you. I learned about him at my age. He was a good leader that had many great ideas, unlike yours. He deserved to be president, he did not burn any books, but even wrote some. These now illegal books, are stored ideas, great ideas that could revolutionize the world. Books contain the special thoughts of people, even warnings. One book had the story of the Phoenix written in it. "every few hundred years he built a pyre and burned himself up... But every time he burnt himself up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself over and over" (Bradbury 156). The people from the past sent a hidden message, that we might become unthoughtful like the Phoenix and go through the same painful cycle over and over. It has now occurred to us, but people are just like the Phoenix, they unknowingly put themselves through the same life lasting struggle every day. With my thoughts kept in mind, I hope you soon lift the law of burning books. The sooner the better, and if not possible for you, let a person with more potential become president. With hope, Faber
President, What would the world be like without color? Without imagination? Creativity? Humans created art, music and all the amazing things that were in this world. A world without thought is a world without life. Books open eyes to see things that the reader never knew were there. You may ask what I'm trying to say. Literature is only one of the many things we are currently missing in our lives. A good start to a better life style in this city would be to not ban books, but encourage reading. Reading and story telling is something that has been around since the beginning of the human race and is something we need to continue. I can understand the point of view that people can get caught up in a book and not communicate with others, however, if you haven't noticed, nowadays, people communicate even less when they have their electronic devices. My neighbor, Guy Montag has been telling me about his wife, Mildred, who constantly talks to people who aren't even real, rather than communicating with her own husband! "The parlor was dead and Mildred kept peering in at it with a blank expression" (Bradbury 67). Mildred would rather sit in front of a screen and silently hope it turns on than do something good for her mind. Many people believe that "Books, so the damned snobbish critics said, were dishwater" (55). The truth is, no one ever bothered to find out for themselves what was in books. They just listened to what other people had to say. A book can be filled with magic and wonder. But I guess no one will ever get to experience that magic and wonder because almost all the books are burned! Lastly, books have the power to make people feel emotion. Many citizens feel scared or confused by the feelings they get from books and poems, "'I've always said, poetry and tears, poetry and suicide and crying and awful feelings, poetry and sickness'" (97). The people who aren't used to beautifully written poems and stories don't know how to react to them. They don't know how to react to feelings at all. Their lives exist only in a screen with people that aren't real. Books would bring them back to life, back to realization. They would make people happy, sad and human! That would be a place where humans thrive. Where humans can interact and do things that humans do! President, please, stop the nonsense of burning precious books. For the sake of humanity, give your citizens a place where they can be free and imaginative. Not a place where they are brain washed! So stop burning books!
Mr President, I have given this topic a great deal of thought and have come to the difficult, yet confident, conclusion that books were a very important part of our society and we need to put all of our resources and efforts into bringing books back to every house hold. Now is a perfect time for all this, our city had been burned to ashes, and we need to rebuild. Let's not rebuild a society that has some obvious flaws, but let's rebuild one that is the best we can make it. Did you know that books are a great for our society and can make the difference between a bunch of cavemen and human. It is astounding that we have made it this long without reading books and it is clear that we need to bring them back. If we think about what really makes us human, our actions and how we treat others, we will see that one of the most important aspects of being human is to acknowledge our common past and learn from it. Books are a great way to learn about our common history. They hold information that is too difficult to remember and pass from generation to generation. Although books may sometimes be boring, there is no pleasure in life without them. Think about all that they could teach us about how we ended up the way we are. History teaches us how we got to the present. So I urge you to come on down to our city and any other city and see how bad life really is. Nobody talks to each other and technology has taken over nearly everything. So, if there is any goodness left in your heart, get working on this pressing matter to bring books back.
Dear Mr. President, There I was, strolling down the corridors and through the stacks, touching books, pulling out volumes, and drowning in all the literature that are the essence of all libraries. I had fallen in love with each and every one of them. After all, all books, no matter what genre or year they were written in, transported me to a new place. They soothed me and made me clam. They opened the door to creativity, and allowed me to imagine a place far away, to imagine places I will never see. The first time I opened a book, I instantaneously knew that it would become part of my life, a part that I wouldn’t be able to live without. However, my books were suddenly ripped from my hands and burned, leaf by leaf. People, who were once avid readers, started to ignore the knowledge books contained. It is only within a matter of time that they will be gone, forever. Books are vital to our society. Not only do they provide leisure and enjoyment, but books can spark creativity and help us to understand the reality and quality of our lives. In our society, everything is super-fast paced. Due to the creation of technology, we have shorter attention spans and crave for instant gratification. People no longer wanted to spend their time reading books, for it just simply takes too much time to get to the end. Sure, we may have lots of time, but do we use time to digest information or to just enjoy life? No. Our lives revolve around television because it “is immediate, it has dimension. It tells you what to think and blasts it in” (Bradbury 80). Even my mentor believes that television “rushes you on so quickly to its conclusions that you mind hasn’t time to protest” (Bradbury 80). By restoring books, we can once again “explore the sources and celebrate the achievement of the human imagination” (Bradbury 168). We can laugh from deep inside and cry when we truly feel sad, as long as we bring back the books. Apart from the happiness can provide, books can also allow us to think of our own ideas and opinions. Why should we conform to government decisions and believe in everything the government says? Instead, let us all depend on each other. Let us rebel, philosophize, and form groups with one another. Let us “feel alive for the first time in a year” by speaking up for what our heart desires to do (Bradbury 125)! We need creativity, and books can help us with that. Lastly, reading shows us the imperfections and the cracks of our society. Currently, our city is “all wrapped up in its own coat of a thousand colors” (Bradbury 145). Rarely do most people know the true side to their society, for everyone is too obsessed over the airbrushed, seemingly-perfect society portrayed on television. The reason why books are so hated and feared is that the books show us the imperfections in our world. Because of the lack of books in our society, we are “living in a time when flowers are trying to live on flowers, instead of growing on good rain and black loam. Yet somehow, we think we can grow without completing the cycle back to reality” (Bradbury 79). We forget how “close the wilderness in the night (is) and how terrible and real life can be” (Bradbury 150). Thus, the printed word is “far more real” and shows us what our society is truly like (Bradbury 167). Books are only “one type of receptacle where we stored a lot of things we were afraid we might forget. There is nothing magical in them, at all” (Bradbury 165). The magic is that what the books say and how they affect us humans. Even though some may claim that books cause strong opinions towards minorities, but they are also what influence our ideas on improving our society. They represent what our humanity is, so literature is as precious as life. To burn books is to “burn the author, and to burn the author is to deny our own humanity” (Bradbury 169). Together, we must “preserve the forbidden literatures that define” and show us what it’s like to be human (Bradbury 183).
Dear President, become the president who changes our society for the better! Be the president who will bring back literature! Be the president that will go down in history as the president who made the best decision of all time! I believe in you, for only YOU are capable of doing so. What are we waiting for? The time to act is now!
I think that we need to get rid of sameness. I think if we didn't have sameness people would feel a lot better. Things would finally go back to the way they were before. Before sameness, I remember from the memories, I was outside, playing with my friends, I was without a bike, I was on a scooter, and I can remember it was blue. Oh how I adored blue. The day was nice and warm, the sky was a beautiful light blue with very little white clouds. They looked fluffy like I could jump on them. The scooter I had was brand new. Earlier that day I had gone to the toy store with my parents and picked it out myself. I can under stand why one might want our community members restricted. What a community wants for its people is safety and all we are trying to do is protect and regulate our people, but, the small things like color can really matter to some people, taking that away is like taking the identity out of something. "Jonas learned... names of colors; and now began to see them all, in his ordinary life (though he knew it was ordinary no longer, and would never be again)"(Lowry 97). Especially a young boy named Jonas, he and I are both against sameness, we think that we as a community deserve some options and independence. It "'isn't fair that nothing has color!'... If everything's the same, then there aren't any choices! I want to wake up in the morning and decide things!'...'But it's all the same, always'"(Lowry 97). Do you know what you people have done to our community over the years?! All the kids of this time will never get the full experience of color or even feelings! For instance, Jonas "had experienced countless bits of happiness, things he had never known before"(Lowry 121). Jonas is a receiver of memories in training, this means he gets a lot more memories than an average kid and Jonas isn't even getting that much of an experience. But, he is smart, he is realizing that "the joy of being an individual, special and unique and proud"(Lowry 121). Being different is what truly makes us, us! And we need to change it up now! So please, change the rules, for our children and their future. For our future.
Funny, how the past few weeks I have actually started to live. That's the funny thing. I am this old and I've never fulfilled my thought so much. I call that living personally. It may concern you that I'm reading books, but let me tell you, I'm not the only one. These treasured items depict our strength. Why forget them when they were meant to be kept? Right now our heads are empty and useless. We live everyday without knowing what really happened yesterday. We live our lives unconcerned of our mistakes, even if we think that we don't make them. We do. Our bare hands and feet cannot replace the strength our heads can bring. The books. They have the key to whatever we are looking for. The state of mind we don't possess at the moment. Right now I am on my way to do what's better for us. We have the will to do it. Why would you keep us from that? I take my priorities and I am doing the right thing. I have a dream that one day the sun will rise to a whole new generation. A superior one where everyone has the ability to make a change. Our inspiration? My inspiration? Simple. The books.
The walls. My Millie. All of her friends. Drenched in the unreal lie of our so called knowledge. How is learning a mistake over and over making us better. We have to remember that always "books are to remind us what asses and fools we are!" (Bradbury 82). The things we do are to learn aren't what we think, for all we ever learn from are parlors are nothing. The parlor is portrayed as the truth when in reality all we actually need "is nothing but four plaster walls" to help us learn(80). Just maybe in the future we "might pick smaller cliffs to jump off of" because all people consider is the height, the higher the better, not the damage it is doing to us (82). Book are everyone's last thought these days, our sole enemy. We are taught to embrace the darkness even if we thought it was the light. We were taught to burn the things that brings us the aspects of not being perfect, but being human. Our religions have faded away and "the whole culture's shot through" (83). There is no denying that we are capable of much more. Us firemen "provide a circus now......it's but a small sideshow indeed, and hardly necessary to keep things in line"(83). Why do we have to help in creating such a fake society, a fake identity in order for everything else to work out? You are hiding everything that has ever meant anything to us.
Now and then I realize that "we are all bits and pieces history and literature and international law" (145). We are the future. We are just waiting for the day before you realize that too. I am taking the path untraveled. My new world with books. Nothing is ever lost. We do need books in our lives, and I hope you realize that (145). This is my new future. The one I have decided to take.
Dear President, What would you do if the world changed dramatically and quickly in an odd way? Like the technology we use on a daily base is no longer existent. This has happened it instead to technology, it happened to books, a resource that we need deeply. We need the literature and knowledge I. Our daily lives. I bet you will say that it is useless but it has affected us a lot. Think about this way, have you noticed how we have communicated with people nowadays, they are constantly on their electronic devices and barely or never speak to others. One person I know, Guy Montag, has a wife that talks constantly to her friends who aren't real. "The parlor was dead and Mildred kept peering in with blank expression" (Bradbury 67). We can change this by restoring books and then we can "explore the sources and celebrate achievement of the human imagination"(Bradbury 168)! If you think it only changes our communication, you are wrong, it helps our knowledge too! Faber is a friend of mine who is an English professor and yes he and a lot of other people agree with me. According to him he says that "the magic is only in what the books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us" (Bradbury 79). That is proven by how far we advanced with knowledge. Right now look at us, look right at yourself in the mirror and see yourself, do you think we are smart anymore, we are dumb! Without all of these books we are doing things we shouldn't be doing in the first place, burning down houses instead of preventing them, speeding down streets instead of having a precaution and preventing an accident, it is just stupid. Please president, listen to the people, be the president that we all love and have a world a great place.
Books are composed of leather, paper and ink, yet composed of ideas, thoughts, imagery, and morels. Books contain elements of literature and creativity. Many tales of woe leak through the ink of books, but are books really that bad? I believe that not having books is a disgrace from which man once started. We must bring back the books to teach the past so we can fix our future. Our society goes day to day without knowing the past. People should be filled of wonder and not keep questions bound to them. Mr. Noble we can both agree that the public stopped reading to their own accord and are having fun, but they're committing suicide and even worst murdering each other(83). Mr. Noble you know and I know that you don't want to die, yet you burn the very books that can save your life from these murders. Mr. Noble you say that you want to give people happiness, yet some people are "'not happy and wear there happiness like a mask'"(9). You can say that "'books can be beaten down with reason'"(80), however "'do you know why books are so important? Because they have quality'"(79). Mr. Noble here's a question "'Is it true, the world works hard and we play? Is that why we're so hated so much?...Maybe the books can get us half out the cave. They just might stop us from making the same mistake!'"(69-70). We need more questions like that, I remember when Clarisse spoke "'we never ask questions, or at least most don't; they just run the answers at you'"(Bradbury, 27). Everyone has a fear of asking a wrong or bad question, however you can't silence them, and asking a question will get people wondering about anything. Everything that you kept from the people made your own self destruction, now look around you nothing but ruins and the shell from which man was in. So, Mr. Noble, I want you to let the books come back, let the knowledge flow free again. We need this information to abolish this ignorance and weakness, and to replace it with intellect and strength.
My name is Jonas. (Although you probably already know that). I'm the receiver in training. I'm writing this letter to you to discuss an issue that has been affecting the lives of the people of our community for even longer than my parents have been alive. You've thrown our people into sameness. They probably don't even know what that word means. This is what you're doing to our people. You're robbing them of everything that makes them human. You've taken away their rights, their freewill, their ability to decide things for themselves, their feelings, the list goes on and on. And yet, they still have no idea what you're doing. They haven't the slightest clue. But that's how you want it. Ignorance is bliss, as some would say. You have them living their lives, not knowing anything about who they are, or the world around them. Every step they take is determined by you elders. Is that any way to live? Having no choices? Would you like to live this way? How would you feel, if you woke up one morning and discovered that everything that you enjoy was taken from you? You might think this is the right way to be living, but "if everything's the same, then there aren't any choices! I want to wake up in the morning and decide things! A blue tunic, or a red one?" But it's all the same. I can't express myself all because of you. But that's not all. No one can feel things. They don't even know what feelings are. I can't enjoy beautiful weather like sunshine and snow. We're living there monotone lives hat are planned out for us. I remember the words the giver once spoke to me, "Listen to me, Jonas. They can't help it. They know nothing." And that couldn't be more true. You people truly don't know a thing about these beautiful lives we were blessed with. Instead of living fully and doing the things we want to do, we waste our time. We let everyday go by, living life like we're all reading a script. Like we're your puppets or something. Well guess what? We are human being and you can't do this to us. You've even taken all the other organisms that used to surround us in everyday life. Our children can't enjoy a little puppy bouncing around with them while they giggle happily. They can't enjoy sitting around a fire with their grandparents while they happily sing songs. I asked by sister Lily if she knew that animals used to actually exist, but she replied with ignorance, "Right. Sure, Jonas." They're missing out on so much. Their lives are so bland. It's all they've ever know. And it's all your fault. Yes, I do understand that you could argue that it's much safer this way. But "I was thinking; what if we could hold up things that were bright red, or bright yellow, and we could choose? Instead of the sameness." But you elders think, "We might make the wrong choice." But you can't change that. It's the inevitable. Human beings make mistakes, and that's the way it's supposed to be. We're supposed to learn new things everyday, but also stumble and fall. We learn from these things, we gain wisdom with each footstep we take. Just because it's easier to make all the choices for everyone so that you're sure nothing will go wrong, doesn't mean it's right. You're taking away our right to human. We're supposed to be figuring out our way for ourselves and make new discoveries, but instead, we've got our life picked right out for us. We need to do something about this. It's not too late. The children are our future, so stop brain washing them. Teach them good things. Improve their characters. Show them that it's okay to make mistakes, it's ok to fall and mess up sometimes. We get back up and move along. That's what it means to be human. So give us our colors, give us our weather, give us our families, give us our feelings, but most of all, give us our choices.
The imagination, the creativity, the knowledge. The ability to obtain all of this with a simple flip of a page. Thinking back, I remember being able to walk the long halls of the libraries, looking at the future generation studying, reading. Oh, the joy it gave me. Sir, today I am writing to you regarding my biggest concern for our society. I ask that you read this entire letter, no matter your thoughts on the issue. As a citizen who has lived in the time where books had been allowed and available for everyone, I strongly feel that books should be allowed in our society. We need to put a stop to this horrendous action of book burning to make our society great again. Life now is not how it was before. Now, we live life in a blur with the fast pace. We even had to "stretch the advertising out so it would last" because "cars started rushing by so quickly" (Bradbury 7). Our society is quickly advancing with all of this new technology and we are getting lost in it. We do not realize what is going on around us, we are losing sight of what is really important. We need these books to "feel alive for the first time in years" (Bradbury 125). All people in this society are engrossed in their parlor walls, believing that these fake people are their actual families. We cannot get anymore disconnected from our real family than we already are. "Who are these people?" (Bradbury 43), who even are the people talking on these screens? With this technology, we have no knowledge of anything. People claim that "that's my family!" (Bradbury 46), because they are obsessed with their virtual families. With books allowed in our community, people will step away from their screens and actually enjoy things in life. Although some would say books can upset many and create bad thought, people will be able to come up with new ideas that will help our lives as a whole. It's not the books that will benefit us, but what is in the books that will. Our society needs the ideas in books to help us live as best as we can. Mr. President, I strongly advise you to consider this matter with great care. It is a very important matter to think about and it will benefit us tremendously. We need books for knowledge and knowledge for successful lives. I know you will handle this matter considerately and I thank you on advance.
All my life I had thought that it was a pleasure to burn. I enjoyed seeing things blacken, and I loved the fresh smell of kerosene that lingered in the air. I specifically remember the day when I had turned the corner around the fire station, and Clarisse McClellan, my new neighbor, was standing there. But soon did I realize that Clarisse would change my life completely. As I conversed more and more with Clarisse, my point of view of society began to change. I noticed that I strongly disliked my job as a fireman, for I was one of the people who burned beautiful pieces of literature and made society the way it was. I, Guy Montag, believe that literature and history should not be prohibited from society. Books allow for the citizens to be aware of the events that occur in the real world, and cause them to understand the true meaning of happiness. Furthermore, literature causes people to think intellectually and insightfully.
Firstly, books provide knowledge about life in reality. Books hold information and truthfulness about the events that occur in the real world. As my good friend Faber said, " The things you are looking for are in the world, but the only way the average chap will ever see ninety- nine percent of them is in books" (Bradbury 82). Clearly, books are vital, because they teach people about the problems and imperfections faced in life. In other words "they show the pores in the face of life" (Bradbury 79). Therefore, people will have a sense of appreciation. The people will have an understanding of what it means to have pure joy. Yes, I know that some citizens are perfectly happy living without books in society, however they are totally unaware and know nothing about how the real world functions. For example, my wife Mildred enjoys her life, but is totally unknowledgeable and illiterate. She does not understand that our society is ridden of precious knowledge that people like you, President Noble, are hiding from us.
These days, everyone watches their "families" on the parlor comedy shows. People are glued to watching their unimportant screens. Although the television parlor "is an environment as real as the world" and are more lively than books, they do not contain any substance at all. The walls fill people's brains with nothingness and they do not use any bit of brain power to watch or understand. My friend said that "the same infinite detail and awareness [that are in books] could be projected through the radios and televisors, but are not" (Bradbury 78). In fact, the people have stopped thinking with meaning altogether. People drive cars at extreme speeds, do not have discussions with each other, and spend their time at crazy Fun Parks. Everybody's minds are full of rubbish. Can't you see what our society has become President Noble? Nobody bothers to ponder anymore. On the other hand, books contain matter and require deep concentration. They are the only source that cause people to think about the world in which they live in.
Without a doubt, all bright and clever minded people would agree that writing and literature should be allowed in society for its many benefits for the citizens. These include thinking with importance instead of with thinking with nonsense, and being knowledgable about the problems faced in reality.
With hope of changing the law of the restriction of novels,
There is a glorified line in The Declaration of Independence that states, "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is immoral to force people to give up books and with it their right to knowledge and happiness. These are rights given to us by nature, not the government, so it should not be a possibility for people of a higher ranking to control them. Without books it is unrealistic to expect your citizens to form connections, and make logical choices that will progress the society. It may be entertaining to waste your life away watching the parlor walls, but it doesn’t truly engage the brain and give it the exercise it needs. Without this mental exercise that books provide, people do not have the knowledge they need to know when a situation could be harmful to them. People in our society commonly, “go out in the cars and race on the streets, trying to see how close you can get to lampposts” (Bradbury 27). If anyone in power at the present time cared at all about their citizens, they would educate them, so they could avoid dangerous situations like this. People also need to be educated, so that they can have deep thoughts that they can share with others. In sharing these thoughts people will form bonds, which will make their lives not only more cheerful, but also more meaningful. At the present moment, “no one has time for anybody else” (Bradbury 21). But if we continue on the path we are headed down, the world will be destroyed. A cavern of sorrow and simplicity with all of humanity, “wondering what happened and why the world blew up under them” (Bradbury 148). I truly believe that bringing books back, is the way to advance and improve our society. Technology has advanced a lot in our world, but we haven't given people means of advancing their minds. In addition, I think we have decreased our value to the planet, since no one has been educated on the proper way to live. People in our society live without thoughts or ideas, which can only hurt us and our planet in the long run. In order to fix this crisis, you must repeal the law against books and require schools to incorporate them into the curriculum. We can always change the rules, but the way we are headed, we might not have very much time to change the future.
It has recently come to my attention that this society, our society, is not reaching it’s full potential. I believe that we are missing one of the most vital parts of being human. I would like you to imagine what your life would be like if talking and enjoying the company of other people was considered fun. A world where fire wasn’t the solution to every problem and technology wasn’t used as a distraction from reality. This world would be very different. Some may say it is terrifying and that they would never want to live that way; Even you may feel that way, but please hear me out. My boss “always said, don’t face a problem, burn it” (Bradbury 115). For a long time I believed this statement to be true, but now I see that the solution is the exact opposite. We must face our problems in order to solve them. Burning the world has created only violence and chaos. My friend, Clarisse, knows six friends who “ have been shot in the last year alone.” She knows ten more who, “died in car wrecks” ( Bradbury 27). These deaths occurred because “fun” to kids and even adults, is to wreck and smash things, making the whole community more violent. Books can help teach us what real fun is, what life could be like, and most importantly what life should be like. Books should no longer be a banned part of society. Books should not be banned because they provide so much vital knowledge. They can help us learn the true meaning of life, and can be a way to escape reality without using technology. Life may seem normal, and okay to those who have not read books. But once you have, many realize that their life is not the proper way to live. Sitting around watching the walls all day is not how your time should be spent. Knowledge helps to build the brain and build character. I know that ever since I have read my first book, I have changed so much. My friend Faber, a retired professor, agrees that watching the parlor walls “rushes you on so quickly to its conclusions that your mind hasn’t time to protest” (Bradbury 80). Technology has helped in many ways but the parlor walls have only drawn us farther from not only books, but each other. Books, such as the bible, have many important ideas that can tell us the meaning of life and how we should spend our days on earth. Instead of watching the parlor walls all day you could read books. This way you are keeping yourself entertained but also working your brain in a way that can improve your health. In the past, many mistakes and errors have been made. Books are a great resource that can help teach people of all ages about the past. If we ignore what has already happened, who is to say we won’t just make the same mistakes again. So Mr. President, please dismiss the law stating that books are banned and any found will be burned. This law is no longer appropriate and instead of making our society better it is only holding us back from the great accomplishments we could achieve. Books will be used as a learning tool in school to help kids learn not only about the past, but the future. They shall be encouraged rather than discouraged. Books are the only way to save our society from the dark path it is headed.
I ask for you to close your eyes and imagine your idea of a perfect society. Did it involve children killing each other for fun? Did it include varied freedom and rights belonging to you being taken away? Probably not. Although our society is certainly not the idea of perfect, I believe that it is never too late to change it. The answer to a better society is so simple as well. The key is to stop banning books. Taking away books is like taking away part of people’s right to better understand the past, and to use their imagination. Anyone could easily say that technology is taking over the lives of not only the youth but almost every generation alive. TV families are replacing actual families. Since the TV is all most people have, there is no choice than to believe in what they tell you. As a man I once knew once said, “Why? The televisor is ‘real’. It is immediate, it has dimension. It tells you what to think and blasts it in. It must be right. It seems so right. It rushes you on so quickly to its own conclusions your mind hasn’t time to protest, ‘What nonsense!’” (Bradbury 80). By not allowing people to read or own books, you are taking away their right to make their own decisions and choices. What happened to conversations? Very rarely do you hear two people sit down and just talk to each other. There is hardly any communication! I once heard that “there used to be front porches. And people sat there sometimes at night, talking when they wanted to talk, rocking, and not talking when they didn’t want to talk. Sometimes they just sat there and thought about things, turned things over.’” (Bradbury 60). Honestly, I cannot remember the last time that I sat down with my husband and just talked. Of course, we have the time. All of the time spent watching TV could actually be spent talking to one another, but it seems we both lack the ability to keep conversation, for nothing spectacular ever happens in our lives. Yes, banning books can help save materials for items that people will buy, and it gives the society more equality, however it causes the attention-spans and mindset of people to become the same, therefore not allowing diversity and conversation. A large reason that I blame for my husband and I not being able to communicate with each other is our lack of knowledge of subjects. We both watch the same shows and know the same history. Books could help change that. I once heard, “the magic is only in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us” (Bradbury 79). There is a type of magic to books that people should be allowed to experience if they would like to. So, I believe that you should stop the banning of books because not only should it be the people’s choice if they want their lived consumed by technology or not, but reading would help benefit not only the individuals but the society as one.
I personally think that books are great and we should have them in our society so people who like them can read freely, and people who haven't heard of books can discover what's behind the cover. Imagine a world were people love their family more than their tv. Were people talk to each other everyday. Were people can read freely. Were people learn at real schools. Were people don't murder out of stress. Were people don't crash their cars for fun. Were people don't enjoy violence. This could be OUR world, this something WE can accomplish if you legalize books. Did you know? That my wife is so distant, so blank, that she didn't remember me? Our bland society has turned her into an unknown, a street face, a newspaper image, and it's so wrong (Pages 40-54). You have done an extremely good job keeping books banned in our city but if you keep them banned while you're still in office and the people in our society figure out that you have been lying in their faces, by an anonymous source. Their are going to revolt against you with everything they have learned from your doing. A man named Granger once told me that, "'It doesn't matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something thats like you after you take your hands away."' (Page150) This shows that since everyone is on their tv if we change it up a bit, like maybe legalize books people would care about the world more. Books are from the past, after all, and the sun burns time, burns the past, burns those books that could help fix ourselves (Page 134) Books could fix us dude. Without a doubt you should really consider legalizing books or I'll continue to break the rul-, I mean follow the rules... Please don't kill me😅.
Love, Guy Montag
P.s Please don't hunt me down or anything I was just joking about reading books...
Picture a society where people die and are filled with feelings like pain and sadness. A place like this would exist if we get rid of Sameness. Although, Sameness keeps up blind from the good memories of life it helps us not know what pain and sadness is. My claim is for our Community to keep the people safe from pain and sadness. Definitely we should keep Sameness because it makes our lives a lot easier because of the choices they make for us instead of letting us make choices for ourselves. Without a doubt, Sameness keeps our lives less stressful and painful because they get to make our choices.
Every December Ceremony the twelves get their assignments on what they are going to do for the rest of their lives. It makes everyones life easier because they don't have to choose what job they want. You elders do a great job picking the jobs for the twelves based on what community hours they do while they are eligible for it. "There are very rarely disappointments, Jonas" (Lowry 17). Sameness is great for us because the elders take great consideration in choosing jobs and families for everyone in the community. Sameness also helps us not know what pain and sadness is. "Restlessly he moved one arm, bending it, and felt a sharp pain in the crease of his inner arm at the elbow" (Lowry 86). With Sameness no one knows about pain and feelings. If I had the choice to have no pain or colors I would pick no pain. Pain is a feeling like no other and no one would want. Another thing about pain is our community doesn't have to suffer through warfare. Warfare is the worst pain of all. When you see it you feel like you are dying inside because that is what pain feels like. "Overwhelmed by pain, he lay there in the fearsome stretch for hours, listened to men and animals die, and learned what warfare meant" (Lowry 120). I feel think no one in the community should feel that pain ever in their life time. For sure we should definitely keep Sameness. Yours truly, Cam
Dear Community of Elders We of the community have been less then pleased with the new receiver of memory, it think it might a young lad named Joan's? Well what ever his name is it doesn't matter, but what does is the rules that the giver gave him. Page 68 From this moment you are exempted from rules governing rudeness. You may ask any questions of any citizen and you will receive a answer." He is exempted from rudeness that is unforgettable, everyone is noticing that he was raising his voice to everyone in the community everyone is requesting from his immediate release. This is why we have to go back to sameness. These fake memories are impairing our decisions. Page 68 " From this you forbidden from sharing your dreams." You must share your dreams with your family unit, this help keep family units connected. Page 68 " You may lie", that is something any of us should be able to do. Do you know what these memories taught us that only blood shed comes from lies. If we have some people who lie then that might lead to our total destruction. So please elders release the boy named Joan's.
Don't just stand there! It's a big issue whether we should be completely equal or not. Let's get rid of sameness! This society needs some serious improvement, we should be able to make our own decisions! Yes it keeps things more organized, but everyone has no freedom in th community. For example, my job is terrible! Receiver of Memory? REALLY??? I feel bad. I remember when "the feeling of a terrible pain clawing its way to an emerging cry." If we are not equal we cannot expose ourselves to the world! We want freedom! Also we are forced to take these stupid things called "stirring pills" which are so annoying. What is even the point? Why can't we just live our lives like we wanted to? I hate it when mom says "JONAS ARE YOU READY???? DID YOU TAKE YOUR PILL?????" I cannot take this community because of this. It's extremely annoying and it needs to be taken away. Lastly I kind of want things to be friendly where we can hang out with other people. I mean really? Why do I have to be alone? I know that it says that "his training would be alone and apart" This quote proves that it feels weird that I am not of the community because I am separated and alone! I just want the community to improve OK? Make it happen!
I am a well educated man when it comes to books. I have read many works of literature throughout my life. Books introduce new concepts and ideas. This is not something that would be ideal for our society. By keeping the population ignorant look at how much work we can get done! Nobody is upset at our decisions. Like I always say "if you don't want a man unhappy politically, don't give him two sides to a question to worry about; give him one. Better yet, give him none(58)." Do you really want to have people arguing over who can get married and who can't? If the public gets access to books then their going to start questioning what the government does. The only reason why we can get away with all the "activities" we are doing is because the public is so dumbed down that they don't even care to know what we do and why we do it. One of my co workers, Guy Montag, started questioning the government. He said things such as "Did you hear them, did you hear these monsters talking about monsters? Oh God, the way they jabber about people and their own children and themselves and the way they talk about their husbands and the way they talk about war, dammit, I stand here and I can't believe it!" Montag is upset about the way our society is set up. See how angry he is? We don't need that kind of thinking in our lives. Mrs bowels is a friend of Montag's wife and she is our ideal citizen. Because she has never read books and all she does is listen to the media she is ignorant, emotionless, and naive. These type of people wouldn't even think to rebel against us at all. She has said things such as "Caesarians or not, children are ruinous; you're out of your mind," said Mrs. Phelps. "I plunk the children in school nine days out of ten. I put up with them when they come home three days a month; it's not bad at all. You heave them into the 'parlour' and turn the switch. It's like washing clothes; stuff laundry in and slam the lid." Mrs. Bowles tittered." She shows no emotion in loving her child. She has no emotions because of our cultural practices. If we keep continuing this then we can satisfy the public by making no one unhappy and we can continue on with our political practices.
did you know, in 2010 it was estimated that 76% of the human population owned at least one book. Sadly, since then that percentage has decreased 10% every decade until now where only 2% of the population owns a book. After pondering very deeply and careful for many days, I have ascertained that books should be a vital part of every society. Books carry important information that change the way that we visualize life. I have a very well educated buddy who once told me, "the things you are looking for are in the world, but the only way the average chap will ever see ninety- nine percent of them is in books" (Bradbury 82). As you can see, books possess interesting, knowledgable information that us citizens can use to our advantage. After reading even one book, your mind set changes. Maybe only slightly or maybe you change greatly because of a book but all book hold either messages, facts, or just relax the reader. Maybe they'll have the reader on the edge of their seat wanting to read more. Readers can, "explore the sources and celebrate achievement of the human imagination"(Bradbury 168). Books have the ability to make readers use their imagination and create questions and predictions. Books don't have be forced upon an individual. If you legalize books, only people who want to read them need to and other can carry on with their boring, unintelligent, lifeless lives. Mr. President I bet you don't know why books are important, "because they have quality"(79). Books are better than movies. Books create conversations and make people feel relevant and make people who have read the same book have a strong connection. Humanism will increase greatly after we legalize books. Although books create mixed feelings, books educate and entertain individuals. Mr. President I urge you to legalize books.
Dear, ... I actually don't know who runs this country. That is also a problem, but I will address it at a later time. My identity must remain anonymous for the sake of my health. The health where I stay alive. I believe that you have made a terrible mistake with this world, or at least continued to make the mistakes other people did. You have decided to continue banning books. But, this is wrong, very wrong. When looking at our world, what do you see? Happiness? Joy? I see none of the above, I just see fake joy and fake happiness. They think their "family" is people" (Bradbury 80). Those screens aren't real, people hardly know real life anymore. They cannot touch or feel the screen and have a deeper connection with glass. With books, you hold it, you can feel the pages. The pages where someone had written down a simple phrase, or a complicated mind game. How people could live without books, I will never know. When I had, I wasn't living, I was breathing. I had come to realization that. "I care so much I'm sick" (Bradbury 83). I realized I was never happy in my life, I could think I was with those walls. But, that was because my eyes were opened. I came to a realization when I saw that woman die for her books. She died for the sake of words on a page. So I decided to investigate. I kept asking myself why. But now I understand why. She died for the knowledge that this place lacked. For the empathy that is teached. For the look into some else's mind. Sure, bringing back books will confuse the country, putting them in panic. But, it would die down again. Life would be so much better. Either you change the law, or everybody questions you once I show them the truth. But only "when we reach the city"(Bradbury).
Mr. President, How would you feel living in a world without books? Books are an important part of society, enriching culture and allowing people to learn about historical events. Yes, books may have not been popular to some people, but are needed to enrich lives of others. The time is now to bring books back! So voice your opinion and make books legal. Many people say, "books, so the damned snobbish critics said, were dishwater" (55). But this is not true in reality. We learn from our mistakes during big historical events and not knowing our history will insure that we will make the same mistakes again. In all honesty, "the magic is only in what the books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us" (79). This means that we need books to unite us and all have a common pleasure. Without books we stare at TV screens all day, and do not work our brains and can barely keep a train of thought. If we had books, people would know about things that are more important. I have learned from experience that "there was something in books, things we can't imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house ... You don't stay for nothing" (48). If books were full of empty content, they wouldn't have been worth staying in a burning house for nothing. Obviously books mean something to the world and without them we are missing half of life itself. Words that touch you are contained in books, and you can make real connections to books. In our society we need books to make it whole, so please consider allowing them. Sincerely, Guy Montag
I am a concerned citizen and I feel that we should have books again in our nation. I feel books should be allowed in our society because, to people that have sneaked books, like me, think that books bring happiness, knowledge, and wisdom. I know that books are bringing knowledge about the past and you are trying to hide it but, books bring happiness to people and I notice that some people are realizing that they aren't happy without books. Books are so fun to read that people who have them wont give them up like this woman who said "you cant ever have my books" (pg 35). That woman loved books, thought they were good, and filled her life. "It took some man a lifetime maybe to put some of his thoughts down, looking around at the world and life..." (Pg 49). So why ban something that people work long and hard to make. Someone "planted a book in a fireman's house" (pg 125) because, they also want the books burning system out. So, get down there and change the law from no books to yes books. From, A concerned citizen
Dear mr. President,
ReplyDeleteImagine a world where people talk with one another, learn from their mistakes, and care about their family more than tv. The absence of books in our society is keeping us from the important aspects of being human. If we do not keep books, then our society's issues will continue to grow and negatively affect us all. I strongly think that books are a vital part of our society which promote the practice of thoughtful conversation and unique and creative ideas.
While traveling with a group of friends, I have realized that books are what prevents us from making the same mistakes over and over again. My friend once said that man is like a phoenix, every hundred years, the phoenix would burn itself and start over, but "'we've got one damn thing the Phoenix never had. We know the damn silly thing we just did. We know all the damn silly things we've done for a thousand years and as long as we know that and always have it around where we can see it, some day we will stop making god damn funeral pyres'" (Bradbury 156). Because people no longer read or talk to one another, we can't learn from our past mistakes, thus causing the same terrible events to happen over and over like the many wars we have had. This issue certainly makes it vitally important to have books. When I first connected with my new friends, they where having a meaningful conversation about the world and life. At that moment I realized, "'the voices talked of everything, there was nothing they couldn't talk about'" (Bradbury 140). Even though many people believe books cause strong opinions and arguments, they are what also influences meaningful conversation and gives people the chance to differentiate themselves from one another. People no longer have creativity and many do not strive to change their world for the better. A man named Granger once told me that, "'It doesn't matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something thats like you after you take your hands away."' (Bradbury 150) Because people are constantly interested in tv, they do not have the drive to truly put their heart into something and leave a good legacy. Without a doubt, books are necessary for the positive changes our society needs to be successful.
With hope,
Guy Montag
Dear Council of Elders,
ReplyDeleteWith the knowledge I have gained from becoming the receiver of memories, I think sameness should be changed. People need to make their own choices, make mistakes made and learn from their mistakes. "The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It's the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared." (Lowry). Just think if you had to live your life everyday doing the exact same thing, not knowing any better, not seeing colors, not experiencing love, or hate, or pain. Would you like that? Not being able to make your own decisions like deciding whether you wanted to wear a "blue tunic, or a red one?" (Lowry). Although when everyone is the same. The community is saving people from making mistakes, and getting hurt. "Definitely not safe,' Jonas said with certainty. 'What if they were allowed to choose their own mate? And chose wrong?" (Lowry). But at the same time it is depriving the people of making their own choices, picking their own jobs, picking their spouses, and so much more. With sameness no one can make mistakes or learn from their mistakes, or experience different things, after the ceremonies when you get your assignments what you do the first week or so will be what you're doing for the rest of your life just over and over again. If you want to not see the beautiful colors of the rainbow, and choose your own jobs, and experience the feeling of love, not just "Do you enjoy me? The answer is 'Yes" (Lowry). There so many other things people are missing out on by having sameness. This situation needs to change, the receiver of memories are the only people who are able to go through these things, more people need to be able to have these memories. So sameness needs to go change.
Sincerly,
Jonas, Reciever of Memories
Dear Mr. President,
ReplyDeleteFor many years of my life, I have been a fireman. I used to accept the government's reasoning for burning books, but a recent experience has changed my ways; a woman who was willing to die for her books. She burned right in front of us. Her dedication to her ashen volumes of literature was inspiring, moving, even as a fireman. Now, I feel that books may be the part of life that people in my society are missing. I am writing to you now, Mr. President, asking you to reconsider the policies against books; books contain the kind of creative freedom of thought that we truly need to bring our society back to life.
I know many people who believe that books are burned for good reason. They tell me that books are dishwater, no wonder they stopped selling, that technology, mass exploitation, and minority pressure carried the trick. But is it really so good? No. We have been deprived of too much with the destruction of books; I have even lost my own wife, Mildred. She is so soaked up in her 'family' in the parlor that she barely remembers the day we met; in fact, when I asked her, she told me that it didn't matter. Do you know how that hurt me, Mr. President? That my wife is so distant, so blank, that she didn't remember me? Our bland society has turned her into an unknown, a street face, a newspaper image, and it's so wrong (Pages 40-54). My old friend, Faber, has been turned into a coward. He is a creative man capable of extraordinary things, but the restrictions of society have dragged him into a spiraling lifetime of fear and guilt. Worst of all, one of my only friends, Clarisse McLellan, was shunned because she used her capability to think actual thoughts about important things like freedom, nature, happiness, and the past; in fact, she inspired me. She's dead now, Mr. President. The smartest, most unique girl I have ever met in my life is dead, and does anyone care? Other than me, no. Beatty told me it was better for "odd ones" like her to be weeded out of our seemingly perfect society.
I guess the problem is that people don't want books because they simply don't know. All they do is stare at their phones and click on their keyboards, saying, just burn the books, we don't need the books, but why is this? They aren't familiar with the freshness of a thrilling story, the wonder and inspiration that books provided long ago. So it's time, Mr. President. It's time to regain the kind of creative freedom of thought that we truly need to bring our society back to life.
Hopefully this will open your eyes and you will decide to make the right decision for your society.
Sincerely,
Guy Montag
Great job, Fiona! I am very convinced, just by reading this - and hopefully Mr. President will be too :)! I love the way you keep repeating "Mr. President" to engage the reader. Very nice!
DeleteI like how you used three different characters and how books have impacted them as support for your letter. I agree with Isha; repeating "Mr. President" does engage the reader. :)
DeleteDear elder's,
ReplyDeleteImagine a world with hope, decisions, and color. A world like this once existed, but it also came with terrible cruelty, hatred, and pain. The sameness in our society makes us blind to all the good things there once was. My proposal is that we eliminate sameness. The benefits would be; happiness, love, and to be able to see color etc. The point is get rid of sameness, bring in the good memories, and leave out the bad.
Every day after the ceremony of twelve I would journey to the annex room to receive my training from the Giver. Sometimes I would receive horrid dreadful memories, yet there was always the good ones. My idea is to show everyone the good memories and not the bad. The first memory I would show everyone is the memory of love. Jonas, " couldn't quite get the word for the whole feeling of it, the feeling that was strong in the room. 'Love', the Giver told him"(Lowry). The day I received the memory I felt a joy and happiness I never have felt before and I yearned to share it with everyone. I wanted everyone to know what sameness was doing to them. Secretly I transmitted memories to Gabe but he had pale eyes. Which is a genetic mutation in the sameness. Because only a handful of people had pale eyes they were the only people who would find these memories. The people should be to make there own decisions as well. In our society the elder's make all of our decisions. The society we're in does not," dare let people make choices of their own"(98). The elder's just say that if they are the ones making the decisions in our community we will all be fine. But I want to make my own choices. I saw in a memory of the past that when people made their own decisions, they ended up being happy. Yes you can make wrong decisions but my solution for that is to run it through a committee and see what they think. If it's good they pass it. And for whatever reason if they think it's bad then we can block it. As long as it is a good reason. Sameness caused everyone to have no choice in what they do, but with sameness gone they will have a say. I can see colors. And my wish if for other people to see colors as well. Colors are magnificent, yet no one can see them because of sameness. Jonas tried numerous times to show colors to people and once he, " put his hands on Asher's shoulders, and concentrated on the red of the petals, trying t hold it as long as he could, and trying at the same time to transmit the awareness of red to his friend"(99). There is no harm in showing people colors. There is only the joy and beauty of them. If the sameness was gone then the people in the community would be able to see them as well. And feel the joy he did when he saw the magnificent colors. Overall, if we got rid of sameness our society would have the ability to see color, make their own decisions, and feel love. Yes there is bad in memories from the past but I would only allow the good to come back.
When I first talked to my neighbor, I wasn't sure what to think of my world at first, but I decided. Books shouldn't be banned because they provide valuable insight into the past and give us information that could help us not repeat our mistakes. Yes, all the people in our society are happy, but are they truly happy? I decided that I wasn't happy with the world, after my neighbor asked me that question, or something like that (Bradbury 9). I then talked to my neighbor again, about more things of this society, and how people "head for a Fun Park to bully people around", and I slowly realized that this society won't "stop us from making the same damn insane mistakes!" (Bradbury 26, 70). Books are from the past, after all, and the sun burns time, burns the past, burns those books that could help fix ourselves (Bradbury 134). We should unban books before the past is burnt from us, like how the sun burns time!
ReplyDeleteDear Elders,
ReplyDeleteI believe the community should get rid of sameness because people need freedom and be able to make their own choices to be a human. All intelligent people would be able to realize that getting rid of sameness would be the best thing for the community so everyone could make their own decisions and do what they want. "Two children, one male, one female, it's written very clearly in the rules" (Lowry 8). Clearly in this quote you can tell people are being very restricted to what they can because they have specific rules for just things like how many kids you can have and what gender. "And this year you get your assignment" (Lowry 41). Obviously you can see in this quote it is unfair that they do not get to decide their own job, you elders have to choose our jobs from us it is not fair. Yes, keeping sameness will protect people from making bad decisions but people should be able to learn from mistakes to make better choices later on. "Jonas? Are your ready? Did you take your pill?" (Lowry 41). Now you also have to make rules about pills we have to take? It is so dumb that you have to make us take a certain pill. We have no say in anything. So, now is the time to get rid of sameness forever in the community.
Love,
Jonas
Dear Elders,
ReplyDeleteImagine running through the flowers, laughing, singing, and having fun. Oh wait, we can't do that, because of your sameness. As the new receiver of memory I have realized things have to change. This sameness needs to stop. Individuality is what keeps people interesting and different. We have lost so many good memories from this sameness. Some memories are bad, however we need those to live and grow. I remember a memory of something called Christmas. When I recieved it I felt "warmth... And happiness.. And family,"(pg 123). This feeling was amazing. Why would you take that away from the people? You ask the giver for information on a crisis, but if everyone knew the past, you would know it already. You "don't dare to let people make choices of their own," (pg 98). Are you scared to let people make their own choices? You know, people can make good choices on their own. Human life is valuable, and you can't keep killing children if they are different or kill one twin if they are identical. I watched the tape of the release, and my father "killed it.. Father tidied the room. Then he picked up a small carton that lay waiting on the floor, set it on the bed, and lifted the limp body into it,"(pg 150). Kids cannot be killed. Even if they looked a like you can put them in something to tell them apart, and they would have different names. You, as the elders, need to change this sameness to give people back their individuality and life.
Sincerely,
Jonas (Reciever of Memory)
Good job, Lexus. Although I read Fahrenheit 451, I am convinced that you want sameness to be removed from "your" society. I like the way that you integrated the quotes in to make sense and to add warmth to your say. Great job!
DeleteLove your lead! :D Great way of showing the 'Elders' your side of things!
DeleteDear mr. President,
ReplyDeleteThink about a world where kids actually learned about what happened in the past. They need to know about the past to prevent history from repeating itself. These children also need to stop watching their parlor walls it gives them the impression that their real family can be replaced by a tv. Their family can't be replaced by a tv. They also don't need to be punished for wanting to know about the past it's just wrong.
So mr. President what do you think would you want people to know the truth of do you want to keep lying right to their faces. The fire fighters are forced to burn the only real information that they have "" The books, Montag!" The books leapt and danced like roasted birds"(Bradbury110). This is destroying society because people don't know what really happened with important events in history. My wife Millie was content with her life of watching her family on the parlor walls. Millie thinks that her life is fine and it couldn't be better "I'm not happy I'm not happy I am Mildred mouth beamed. "And I'm proud of it"(Bradbury62). My wife is content because she doesn't know better. People are so interested in their tv's "'It doesn't matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something thats like you after you take your hands away."' (Bradbury 150). No body feels like making a change and changing these laws to get us back our information about the world in the past.
It's important that we get real information at once to make up for all those years of misleading information. So give us back our books so we can learn the real information.
Sincerely
Guy Montag
Dear Mr. President
ReplyDeleteI really am sure we need books in this world because everybody needs knowledge of the past and will be smarter and will make the world a better place to live in. Not having books is driving insane. I was a fireman and realized how cruel and harsh we are. People have died because of not having there books. They lost there lives because of the rules that you, the government, have made. If we didn't have books I understand that people would keep on going with there life that they semi enjoy. But people need to enjoy there life and the time they have. So take action and please make this society and this world to be better and make it like it was years ago.
Your fellow citizen
-Montag
Dear elders,
ReplyDeleteClearly, I think that we need to make a change and get rid of sameness. This boring old community needs some light, some sparkle, some pop. To be human you need to be able to make your own decisions and to do that you can't just have the sameness then you make no decisions but with different things to do you have more decisions. "Two children, one male, one female, it's written very clearly in the rules" (Lowry 8). This is showing that you have rules for everything, they have no freedom to have there own kids and that should be there decision not the yours. Have you ever thought about waking up eating the same breakfast, eating the same lunch and dinner people don't like this they want to eat what they want to eat. What about us, you choose all our job and that can be the most important of our lives. "And this year you get your assignment". This is showing how you assign all are jobs and we can't pick or choose any thing and I think that is important. Yes, keeping sameness is good so people don't forget but don't you want to make your own decisions and make mistakes but fix them. In our community we can't even pick who marry just the same old marrying who you guys pick by the way thx😉. I won't to pick who I marry that is very important for your later life. Jonas? Are your ready? Did you take your pill?". Why do we have to take a pill why? So I think after this letter you need to go and change everything.
Ps : please
Love Ryan
Dear, government
ReplyDeleteBooks have been eliminated for generations, the society has changed dramatically since the ban of books. But is it worth it? Books are very vital for learning information, sharing ideas, and helping people to feel empathy. Back in the day, people helped each other learn information. People nowadays learn the basic facts and then never use it. Through books, people will learn a whole new world in which people use the information in everyday life. People can share ideas through books. Yes, you can share ideas through mouth and other means, but if you pay attention, you will notice a weird trend. The government, or whoever is in charge of the parlors, force opinions on the viewer. There is no controversy of opinions. Books were a way to share views on topic with one another, People saying this is better or worse. That gives room for etiquette discussion conversation. People are not social and do not care what happens. People could talk with family, friends, or enimies to discuss controversies with people. Books, fictional books especially, are very good at showing you a world not like the one you live in. It shows the character going on an adventure and the reader is feeling what they feel, they see what they see. Books are not just for facts, they are also great for feeling empathy. Like stated before, you feel what the character feels, something people don't do anymore. People have grown ignorant, unfeeling, unloving, and homicidal for their own entertainment. They can't feel what others may be going through, and therefore don't care for them. Books help people to feel empathy for others and the world around them. Without books, the world fell into despair, but it is not too late. The government still has a chance to turn things around, educate people. In a few years, people will be intelligent, social, empathetic beings. Please take yes into consideration.
From,
A concerned citizen
Dear Mr. President,
ReplyDeleteI remember when I got my helmet numbered 451. I remember when I burned my first book. I remember how I was doing what I was told to do, and not thinking. I remember how "[my] hands tore the flyleaf and then the first page then the second page" (Bradbury 84). I remember how people committed suicide for their books. I remember how so many people were so unhappy with having no books, and how so many were absolutely carefree. I remember everything. And I also remember how I felt after I met this girl, who had a whole different view on life. Clarisse. I remember how bad I felt to burn books after talking with her. Now I feel, and strongly stand, for the fact that our society should have books because it provides us with education and knowledge, and can help our society to become less violent, more social, and more happy.
Throughout the last couple weeks, I have realized that we are living in a dystopia. Kids "bully people around, break windowpanes in the Window Smasher place or wreck cars in the Car Wrecker place with the big steel ball" (Bradbury 27). This is the way people have fun. Murdering and hurting others and hurting yourself. There is no respect for each other at all. No one is happy when most of the city's population is mean and unfriendly. I learned that "everyone must leave something behind when he dies" (Bradbury 149), so why not make it good. We should remember the work they did to make everyone happy, the good intentions they brought to mind, not the number of people they hurt or the amount of cars and windows smashed. Books can help bring good to one another, and even to a society, because it can help us to not repeat the past, and create a better future. A man named Granger told me that "there was a silly damn bird called a Phoenix back before Christ [...] but every time he burnt himself up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself born all over again. And it looks like we are doing the same thing, over and over" (Bradbury 156). By keeping the past as history, we are doing ourselves a favor by improving the ways of living. Everyone will be happy and social, and those parlor walls, all they do is distract people from their priorities. Yes, most people think that books are a thing just to confuse others and that "the books say nothing! Nothing you could teach or believe" (Bradbury 59). However, that is not true. Many, and possibly the most wise men of all, agree that " we do need knowledge. [...] The books are to remind us what [...] fools we are" (Bradbury 82). We as a whole need to focus on happiness. And happiness can be found by firemen stopping fires instead of starting them to burn books. Also, the Hound should have a more valuable purpose, that is if we need it. To add on, we need better schooling systems so that children, with the help of books, can learn important information. With all of these changes, our society is bound to improve dramatically.
Sincerely, and with hope for a better future,
Guy Montag
I really like how you used an anecdote for your lead to effectively draw the reader in.
DeleteDear Council of Elders,
ReplyDeleteI remember the first time I started to see color. It frightened me at first, but now I've started to love it. It's amazing to see everyone's hair color. But, I've come to notice something. Everyone has the same color hair, eyes, skin, even the same way of living. People also are unable to make any mistakes living like this, and thus are unable to learn from these errors and do something better the next time they attempt. Even though The Giver and I are the only ones who can notice this, people still should be able to see what they have in common and what is not similar between one another. That is why you should get rid of Sameness. Everybody deserves to experience the diversity of people's lives in their own, and by having Sameness, people are not able to experience this beautiful diversity.
Before I became the Receiver of Memory, I could have cared less about the way people looked. But now, with the knowledge bestowed upon me by The Giver, I have decided that it is time to bring Sameness to a stop. These civilians living under the Sameness rule may appear to be happy, but they have no idea what some of the best feelings in the world are, such as love. When I asked my parents about love, they just replied with "Jonas. You, of all people. Precision of language, please"(Lowry 127). Two of the most important people in my life don't even know what true love feels like. Love is a beautiful feeling, and everyone deserves to experience it. People also need to be able pick their own jobs, they are all perfectly capable of doing so. I don't understand why you "don't dare to let people make choices of their own" (Lowry 98). Do you think that you know what's the best for everybody? Or are you afraid of the fact the people can decide things on their own? Well it's not the proper way to live. I can't live in these conditions any more, that's why I've taken my Father's bicycle. Why didn't I take my bicycle? Because "it was necessary because it had the child seat attached to the back" (Lowry 166). I'm taking Gabriel with me. "Why am I taking a newchild with me?" you may ask yourself. Well, I learned that he's been filed for release, and I now know what happens when one gets released. I don't want that to happen to little Gabe here. So I'm running away. Good luck trying to get me to come back, because I'm not coming back until you get rid of Sameness.
- Jonas
Dear Mr. President,
ReplyDeleteBefore books were banned, more people graduated from high school and ended up attending college. There were also a smaller amount of murders in the society because people were so fascinated and interested into reading books, compared to looking for a fight in the local fun park. It's a win-win, people are more safe and also more intelligent while alive. Some people think that books should be banned, but really they're wrong. Books let people think for once and actually use there imagination. Books give people hope and motivation to do something good in there lives. I, Montag, think that books are very useful for learning and they also let people in this society use there imagination, therefore they should be allowed in our society. One reason why books should be allowed in our society is because they allow people to use there imagination for once. Everybody nowadays is so attached to there technology, that nobody looks at the world anymore and just imagines life in a different way, "I can't talk to my wife; she listens to the walls" (Bradbury 78). My wife doesn't listen to me at all, she's attached to what she calls her "family", which is basically her TV's that she spends with everyday. Honestly if books aren't allowed in our society soon, my wife and I are going to have a lot more arguments going on. A second reason why books should be allowed in our society is that more children will graduate high school and attend college. Books give people more knowledge in general and reading increases your GPA and SAT's. Reading books will also help kids enjoy school more, and will motivate them to do good in school, "Why aren't you in school?" (Bradbury 26). I asked this question to my young friend Clarisse who is now dead, but her response was that she hated school and everything about it, the kids, the classes, everything. With books it would be better. A final reason why books should be allowed in this society is because it would give people something to do after school. Rather then killing each other at the local fun parks, and injuring one another, " I'm afraid of children my own age. They kill each other" (Bradbury 27). Kids will be more safe, less bored, with something to do. Clarisse has taught me a lot while she was alive and I think all of the problems that she has faced can be solved with books. I've learned that, "everyone must leave something behind when he dies"(Bradbury 149). So before I die, I would like to read a book, for Clarisse and to Clarisse so that I can show her that our society has changed, like she's always wanted. If anyone else is reading this and you want books back in this society, then write the president a letter, just like mine. If he gets enough letters there might be a good chance that books will come back in our society. Let us read!
From,
Guy Montag
Dear Mr.President,
ReplyDeleteBooks have become extinct in our society for years now. People have forgotten about the thought that there are books and don't like to educate themselves. But some people still love their books, some don't. Recently, I've witnessed a woman burning herself alive because I burned her books. So that got be thinking. Maybe there is something special in those books? As I flipped through those pages, I was truly amazed. And that got me thinking, why do we burn books? We should start to bring them back. For years, people have lost the hope of gaining knowledge because their books are getting taken away. People are less interested in getting an education because they don't really have that many reliable things they can learn from. And since that day I opened a book for the first time, I saw potential. Ok yes, I definitely understand that once we bring back books, people have to learn from them, but I think that's the best part about bringing back books. Ever since books were taken away, our world has turned upside down and now all we do is "go to the Fun Park to bully people around, break windowpanes in the Window Smasher, or wreck cars in the Car Wrecker place with the big steel ball."(Bradbury 27) because we have nothing better to do. Maybe if we actually start to bring back books, people will have something better to do rather than doing all these useless things. Later I met someone named Granger and he said that "but even when we had the books on hand, a long time ago, we didn't use what we go out of them."(Bradbury 156). We don't try to understand what we get out of books and the true meaning of them. Many inspirational people have helped me learn that it is good to think about the past and to appreciate the wonderful things about it. I also learned to "not judge a book by its cover."(Bradbury 148). I do know this is a popular saying but I never really thought about it until someone said it. Books are very valuable and if we brought back books, I strongly believe that our world is going to change massively. Thanks for taking the time to read my letter, and I hope you consider bringing back books.
With hope,
Guy Montag
*in the 5th sentence, it's supposed to say 'me' instead of 'be'
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ReplyDeleteI remember my first memory. I remember laying down on the soft cloth of the Giver's bed, his hands placed lightly on my back, a sort of cold flowing through them as the memory came. I "could see, though [my] eyes were closed. [I] could see a bright, whirling torrent of" (Lowry 81) what I then knew, somehow, to be snow. Quite beautiful it was, really. The snow, that is. But not only the snow. Everything. Everything around me was beautiful. And with color, the Giver called it. Color: this amazing sight that I could not possibly put into words, it just....was. Oh, Elders, it was so lovely! Why would you—why did you—destroy such beauty for something as boring and dull as Sameness? Without Sameness—in the past—everything and everyone was unique. There was nature. There was color. There was choice.
ReplyDeleteWithout Sameness, the world was such a beautiful place. There were "many birds...soaring overhead, calling," and one could "look with wonder at wildflowers," or "merely watch the way wind shifted the leaves in the trees" (Lowry 172). In all of your years in this Community, have you ever "felt such simple moments of exquisite happiness" (172)? And do any of you know what love is? I do, and it is the most spectacular feeling I have ever felt in all of my life. But you do not know of feeling, either. I feel such love for my friends, my family, but "they [can] not feel it back, without the memories" (Lowry 135). With Sameness.
Yes, the memories may come with pain, but that pain will make us appreciate what we have even more; it will stop us from making the same mistakes as those of the past. I understand that there is more order this way, but is it worth it? What is the point of living a safe, healthy life if it doesn't feel like living at all? The Giver says that the Receiver is permitted to give the Elders advice, so please—oh, please, Elders—take mine. We should get rid of Sameness, and go back to the way things were! There was such beauty in the world once, Elders, there can be again! I know I have left, but it is for a reason. For "if [I] had stayed,...[I] would have lived a life hungry for feelings, for color, for love," (174) just like you all ignorantly do in Sameness. So please, Elders, listen to what I have to say.
I really love the quotes you used. The imagery they add to your letter just make it breathtaking. I really did think for a second that I did live in that world, and if I did, I would definitely be by your side.
Delete
ReplyDeleteDear Elders,
It has been a year since I have been assigned receiver of memory. I remember "for the first time in [my] twelve years of life, [I] felt separate, different"(65). I was informed by my friends and family that this was a big honor. When I became receiver, I saw many memories of past lives. I saw and felt both bad and good things I never did before. But I'm glad I did and I want the world to be the way it was. Some people might say that sameness is good because there are no tough decisions to make. However, when every decision and option is made for us, we loose our individuality. Everyone in this community should be able to have options presented to us so we can explore our personalities. When I was running away from you I was weak from no food. I had never been in contact with the freeing cold snow. I remembered it but I had no knowledge of how bad it would be. It was hard to move but I had to keep going. But it was the givers memory of love that gave me hope. I began to "suddenly, to feel happy. [I] began to recall happy times. He remembered his parents and his sister. [I] remembered [my] friends, Asher and Fiona. [I] remembered The Giver"(178). That it what gave me the strength to continue when I was at my weakest. If people had the option to love, they they could get through hard times that they face. It was only until I "had seen a birthday party, with one child singled out and celebrated on his day, so that now [I] understood the joy of being an individual, special and unique and proud"(121). If people were given the chance to be individual, it would take time, but, they would love it.
Mildred's p.o.v
ReplyDeleteDear Mr. President,
Books have caused so many problems with our society, the more people talk about books the more violence and deaths occur. There have been problems for my husband, the teenage girl who once lived next door and for the friends of my husband. There was a women who died for her books, Montag had to burn the house that she was in and he was very effected by this he started going crazy "His hands have been infected, and soon it would be his arms. He could feel the poison working up his wrists and into his elbows and his shoulders, and then the jump-over from shoulder blade to shoulder blade like a sparking leaping gap. 38." Montag felt so bad for this woman he couldn't sleep at night, he didn't know how to respond so he decided to discover the truth about books, which lead to more of a mess. Obviously, with all this violence and confusion surrounding me I knew I had to tell someone about Montag's books, I didn't want to betray him but I'd rather have him alive and in jail than having him be killed for starting a rebellion. When I ran out of the house before it was being burned I was scared how Montag would think of me but I did it for his own good. "She saw everything. She didn't do anything to anyone. She just let them alone..."Mildred came down the steps,running, one suitcase held with a dreamlike clenching rigidity in her fist, as a beetle taxi hissed to the curb. 108." The books caused a whole rebellion that would make the world hateful and scary, war would start again and we won't be standing as society anymore. We will fall like everywhere else in the world. When Montag turned on our city, he left the place in ashes. This wouldn't have happened if he never knew about the books. "Montag turned and glanced back. What did you give to this cit, Montag? Ashes. What did the others give to each other? Nothingness. 149." Yes without books out world had no love and knowledge and nothing good but when Montag did get a piece of love and knowledge he couldn't handle the knowledge and he went ballistic. This is why we should continue to not have books. Our society can't handle it.
ReplyDeleteDear fellow Elders,
This is your reciver speaking, now i feel that people need change and that sameness is not the best thing for our soceity. Sameness sqaushes indivduallity and everyone is the same. This s not ok. People have no clue about what feelings and emotions are. When i was asking my parents about love and what they feel and they responded "Jonas. You, of all people. Precision of language, please"(Lowry 127). They responed like this because they did't know what love even was. Also, i feel as that people really should have a choice of what there family should be. Right now family are strictly "Two children, one male, one female, it's written very clearly in the rules" (Lowry 8). People should be able to choose there family and how many children they want. Further more, when i felt my first memory of a holiday called christmas i felt "warmth... And happiness.. And family,"(pg 123). Many people should be a ble to feel this love. I do understand that some people do like having everything chosen because it causes people less stress on major decisions, but when you make a big decision you normally come at more happy because you chose what fit for you instead of what someone thought for you. Elders, if this letter get dis-approved then i will start a petion and get a rebelion going i want change and so dont many people.
Thank you,
Jonas
Dear Mr. President
ReplyDeleteAs you know, every book in your country has been banned. I believe it should stay that way.
Sure, books give ideas that are special, but what they say is depressing. They cover topics such as "suicide and crying and awful feelings." (Bradbury 97). Who wants to read things like that?
Books also contains content that hurts many people for many reasons. For example: "Someone written a book on tobacco and cancer of the lungs? The cigarette people are weeping? Burn the book," (57). Not only does it hurt people trying to make money, but it also hurts people of mixed races. "Colored people don't like Little Black Sambo. Burn it," (57). We as a community do not want people to be offended and dislike what we stand for.
Therefore, getting rid of books was a good decision because it keeps people from depressing content and hurting them.
Sincerely,
A concerned citizen
Dear Mr. Leader,
ReplyDeleteRecently, my husband, Montag, has been hanging around this strange girl, and is now preaching books as some sacred item, saying that they should be legalized. However, books are "a loaded gun in the house next door"; a ticking bomb, a threat ( Bradbury 56). Is it to safe allow bombs into our society? Should we allow the people to roam around with weapons? Books should, most definitely, be continued to be banned as it's a threat to our society, is a complete waste, and is completely false! I will have you know, that not only my husband is full of nonsense, but books are as well. How did a beloved fireman become this way? Books. Books are full of complete gibberish that no one can understand; they “...say nothing! Nothing you can teach or believe. They’re about nonexistent people, figments of imagination…” (59). Why should we read them if they’re nothing but lies? Not only the words in books aren’t real, but the people; the characters. You see, the parlor walls are full of people and life. “ ‘Books aren't real people. You read and I look around, but there isn't anybody...My ‘family’, is people. They tell me things; I laugh, they laugh’ ” (69)! Blocks of paper aren’t talking with me, laughing with me. Afterall, it’s paper! Nothing else! So, “ ‘why should I read? What for’ ” (69)? With the parlor walls, they read to me. Why must I waste time on reading it myself? Sitting in silence while staring at a book, benefiting me with nothing at all! And with, “ ‘technology, mass exploitation, and minority pressure...you can stay happy all the time, you are allowed to read comics, the good old confessions, or trade journal’ ” (55). Books aren’t necessary, and are taking up valuable space in our society! There’s comics; stories that are intentionally fictional. Stories that aren’t being masked by a fake image.
Recently, my poor, silly husband decided to read a poem to my dear friends. Who does he think he is?! Literature has done nothing but harm in our society, creating misery and sadness. Isn’t that why it was banned in the first place? Books contain “ ‘silly words, silly words, silly awful hurting words. Why do people want to hurt people’ ” (97)? It’s a known fact that “ ‘coloured 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’ ” (57). Burn books, burn them all! We must save ourselves from danger; the danger that literature causes. Why must we upset the minorities? They haven’t done wrong! Why must we upset people with these stacks of nonsense? If everyone was happy, no harm would be done; if nobody read books, no harm would be done. My husband has made claims that “ ‘maybe the books can get us half out of the cave. They just might stop us from making the same damn insane mistakes! I don’t hear those idiot bastards in your parlor talking about it’ ” (70). Although he may be right, and that reading books may prevent us from making the same mistakes again, I believe in learning from your own mistakes—growing. We shouldn’t have someone else to dictate our life, let alone a book. Therefore, Mr. Leader, we must keep books banned! The future of our society will be threatened if we even consider legalizing books! If anything, we should hire more firemen, burn the books! Create more mechanical hounds, catch the criminals! Get rid of books…
DeleteSincerely,
Mildred
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ReplyDeleteDear Mr. Winston Noble:
DeleteI remember the time when people paused in their life to smell the roses, when people did not hurry to go to work. When books brought happiness and knowledge. But ever since the new law was put in its place, all of the pleasure of reading, has been lost. My life has not been the same after you passed this new amendment. I do realize that there are minority groups out there who hate certain types of books. However they can do everyone, including themselves, a favor by just simply not reading the types of books rather than burning the books down.
While my career as the English Language Arts professor was very brief. I can clearly remember the kids cheerfully opening up their textbooks to read and to learn. Sooner or later I would see all of them wearing graduation robes and hats to receive their diplomas. After your proceeders burned down our libraries,there were no children left in school because most of them were killed in gun shootings or car crashes! You even jailed an man for 2 days just because "he drove at 40 miles an hour"(Bradbury 6.) to try to keep himself safe! Do you want all the people in the country to die due to easily preventable accidents? Books on the other hand allow the people to know how to respect and cherish the lives of those around us, so they won't kill each other. But before the citizens knew what was going on, you brainwashed them to think "books aren't real" (Bradbury 80.) When they had nothing to do, they would just "listen to the walls" (Bradbury 78.) all day long! You never gave the people freedom in choosing whether to burn or not to burn. Just like the fact that you never gave us the freedom to do anything but what you wanted.
I think that in order to save our society, we need to bring books back. These books have taught humanity love, peace, joy, and to learn from the past. I do believe that with every new generation, we will be able to pick up more and more people that want to have books in society and raise up a new nation like the one you destroyed where love and peace are an essential part of our daily life. (Bradbury 156)
Sincerely, Faber
Dear President Noble,
ReplyDeleteI loved the scent of nutmeg and spices. It was all around me; the pages were drenched with the aromatic smell, the air hung heavy with its flavor, and the scent would fill the room as I flipped through the book. I dreamed that I was in a foreign land. But that was a long time ago, when books still lived. The citizens in our town are debating on whether or not we should bring books back. The truth is, our society is hollow, and the knowledge in books is what will help us rebuild it. It is without a doubt that they should be allowed in our society.
The society in which we live is messed up, to say the least. Nowadays, we spend almost all of our time watching TV because "'it is immediate, it has dimension. It tells you what to think and blasts it in. It must be right. It seems so right'" (Bradbury 80). Although the parlor walls do seem to be real, they are not. We use them to immerse ourselves in the televisor's soothing voice, to purposely ignore how our lives are incomplete and deprived of joy. In fact, the parlor walls have replaced our true family. I know a man whose wife doesn't even love him anymore. Do you know why, President Noble? It's because "'she listens to the walls'" (78). Some even say, "'no one in his right mind, the Good Lord knows, would have children'" (92). It is astonishing how women distance themselves from their children. Their very own children. Where is our love? Where is our compassion? We are losing sight of our human side! Evidently, our society is in ruins.
In light of this, I propose a solution. Books. We have blindly led ourselves to believe that "'books say nothing,'" while in actuality, they hold all the knowledge in the world (Bradbury 59). Have you heard of "'the legend of Hercules and Antaeus, the giant wrestler, whose strength was incredible so long as he stood firmly on the earth? But when he was held, rootless, in midair, by Hercules, he perished easily'" (79). We are Antaeus. We are so confident in our strength, our utter perfection, that we become oblivious of our weaknesses! Furthermore, the books tell of a bird called a Phoenix, who burned himself up. Yet, somehow, the bird would always come back to life (156). Despite how we are engulfed in flames, I believe mankind has the power to rescue itself from the ashes. I know this, because of the books, and the stories they have told me. Now, I have told them to you. Where would we be if books did not expose us to reality like so? If they did not root us firmly to the ground, or extinguish the flames for us? The knowledge in books is definitely irreplaceable, and by learning from the brilliant lessons that they teach us, we will be able to save our society.
There is no denying that books are a critical part of our lives. Not only that, but they are the only thing that can change this empty world that we live in, and change it for the better. Now is the time to stop burning them. Books must be allowed, for the good of mankind.
Warmly,
Faber
I really love your lead! It really drew me in and I wanted to read more. Also, the way you created Faber's character was 100% believable. I love how you showed him, in a way, hatching again. I feel like this could be the epilogue to the book!
DeleteDear Elders,
ReplyDeleteI believe we should get rid of sameness and bring back what made this town unique. The first memory I remember was when the giver placed his hands on my back and I remember visualizing "many birds...soaring overhead..." and anyone could "look with wonder at wildflowers," or "merely watch the way wind shifted the leaves in the trees"(Lowry 172). In all of your years in this Community, have you ever "felt such simple moments of exquisite happiness"(172)? And do any of you know what love is? I do, and it is the most spectacular feeling I have ever felt in all of my life. I feel such love for my friends, my family, but "they [can] not feel it back, without the memories" (Lowry 135). With Sameness. Why would you destroy such beauty for something as boring as Sameness? Without Sameness in the past everything and everyone in our community was unique. There was nature. There was color. There was freedom. And especially there was choice. The Giver says that the Receiver(me) is permitted to give the Elders advice. We should go back to what things were in the past. And I suggest to you that we should get rid of sameness and give this town some color, literally. So I speak directly to you. Get rid of sameness, and listen to what I had to say.
With love(I wish),
Jonas
Dear Elder's,
ReplyDeletePlease keep an open mind, just imagine having your own choices seeing colors everyone being happy we don't need to be under your spell any more. We can choose our own jobs and be free to meet anyone we want. Every morning when you wake up seeing a landscape of color. Just imagine sameness
I couldn't imagine waking up and seeing a barren landscape of gray and white. " I put his hands on Asher's shoulders, and concentrated on the red of the petals, trying to hold it as long as he could, and trying at the same time to transmit the awareness of red to his friend"(99). Jonas was trying to show his friend what it was like to finally feel free by seeing all the colors. People think they are happy in this place and I know what real happiness is and these people aren't experiencing it. You guys don't let anyone feel real love or happiness you make them take stirrings. "Couldn't quite get the word for the whole feeling of it, the feeling that was strong in the room. 'Love', the Giver told him"(Lowry). It's not fair to these people that they don't get to experience love and feeling close to some one. You don't let people even chose their jobs some people don't like their jobs but they don't say anything just because they don't want to go thru your appeal process. Yes if we let people in on these secrets they would erupt with anger from keeping these secrets for so long but they would accept it after time goes by. "Definitely not safe, Jonas said with certainty. What if they were allowed to choose their own fate? And chose wrong?" (Lowry). Jonas agrees with you but that doesn't mean he is right he is young and you need to tell them that you have been keeping this away from them.
Sincerly,
The Giver
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ReplyDeleteDear Mr. President,
ReplyDeleteSit down and imagine a world where people care about their families, not just screen after screen. The near extinction and banishment from various classic books, has created a horrendous, dark and cold society. You just don't get it do you, without books thanks to your indifference on lives of others, look at what we have become. We have become bland, self centered, and selfish. I absolutely despise your stupidity about banning books, from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, to the long importantly detailed book War and Peace. Books are a viral part of our society, and they promise to never give up on million of lives and schools. To emphasize, they gives creativity and ideas.
I was traveling with some friends, and I realized something, books are what prevents from making the same mistake over and over again. Additionally when I actually read something to them, no they didn't just hate it, they practically had a heart attack or they felt that their in an abandoned haunted house in a horror movie, and are about to be murdered. I was sick of the rules the same awful rules of stupidity, that was where I couldn't take it. Without further hesitation, "There was this silly bird called a Phoenix back before Christ, every few hundred years he built a pyre and burned himself up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself born all over again. It looks like we're doing the same thing over and over again we've got one more damn thing that the Phoenix never had" (Bradbury 156). I am making myself very clear here, and your reign of censorship and laws,has created a generation of darkness,supernaturally, and paranoia. Furthermore, because books are unconstitutional, we can't learn from the mistakes that we make in the past, as a consequence, awful events such as war, criminals, killings, gangs and much more happen over and over again, and then they will eventually become normal. By all means, these issues in our dark society, make it so that books are important to be brought back to our land no questions asked. When I was starting to get to know my friends, they were talking about the real world and life, not just about fires, smoke, books, laws, burning books, and themselves. In fact, at that very moment, I realized that "the voices talked of everything, there was nothing they couldn't talk about" (140). Yes I understand that you're in charge of an entire city and state, but when it comes to books being banned, that's just not fair, there are millions of people who actually study books and learn new things. In a normal society, reading educates your brain to grow lots of task. Not only do you destroy people's lives by not allowing books to read, but you make it so jobs are mostly banned. It goes without saying that if books are banned, you miss out on everything, and schools, and jobs suffer so much that they can close for months or in extremely difficult cases they can close forever. My friend Granger, came up to me and he said what I would only hear once in a lifetime. "It doesn't matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that's like you take your hands away" (150). In our land, everyday is TV shows and movies. Our society can't stand up for themselves and to put their minds and imagination into a legacy. Beyond the shadow of doubt, the ban of books, may still be reigning evilly on our land. However, with your support we can end this reign of not just banned books and education. But we can make a change and live how we want to live, and speak what we want to speaking and treat others that they want to be treated.
Part 1:
ReplyDeletePresident Noble,
Everyday, common citizens spend their free time mindlessly consuming the bland words fed to them by the parlor walls. Do they think? No. Do they feel? Do they live? No.How can we repair all these flaws? Of course, with knowledge. As someone who has read and lived with books, I believe that we should allow our society to also be able to explore knowledge and books as they please. Before you, as many others, burn this piece of paper like it is just one of many others, I want you as the president to listen. If you can't think, please listen. I have experienced a life with books and I strongly believe that others should too. Have you ever read a book? I don't mean the "comic books" or "three-dimensional ... magazines" (Bradbury 55). If the answer is no, then you cannot turn away.
Why do I bother? Why do I care? Well, after sitting in front of the parlor, for so long, you get filled up with junk. The wife of a friend of mine (a fireman, may I add) had to go to the hospital because she had consumed so many sleeping pills, well, I wonder why, and they put a snake inside of her time get rid of all of it. He told her frantically, "they filed a report on all the junk they got out of you!" (69) What the parlor walls are telling us is unimportant. What they are meant to do is what we should be thinking about. Did you ever realize that the government has never told us about the bombs and jets we hear "every hour...in the sky?" (69). We never ask! People never ask because they are too distracted by the parlor walls. Why don't you tell me "how in hell did those bombers get up there every single second of our lives!" If we actually have "started and won two atomic wars since 2022," "why doesn't someone want to talk about it!" (69)
Part 2:
ReplyDeleteNow, I will tell you why in hell I care and why you should too. Maybe, "the books can get us out of the cave." Please understand that "they just might stop us from making the same damn mistakes." Do you hear the idiots in the parlor talking about it? I don't (70). Many argue that books upset too many minorities to be able to exist.Although this may be a true fact, we have lived in the past with these books,in harmony. If we were able to live with this knowledge before, why not now? We should be strong enough to appreciate other sides and opinions. We should be strong enough to look into the eyes of our opposers and understand them. Whether those minorities change after seeing the other side, it does not matter. What matters is that they were strong and pious enough to live with other people with other opinions. When I first met Montag, he understood. Or at least, he would understand in the future. I dared to say the words, "I don't talk things, sir. I talk the meaning of things. I sit here and know I'm alive" (71). Did you ever really feel that security? Did you ever really know things? You can, Mr. President, you definitely can. And now, now they've bombed us. I escaped to the country, but you? I don't know whether you will tell any other city—I honestly don't think you will. Do you know what a Phoenix is? Every few years, the Phoenix "built a pyre and burned himself up...But every time he burnt himself up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself born all over again" (156). Can we, now, be birthed once again? Of course we can! But we will need your help. Now, President Noble, what will you do? Do you believe this cause is worthy enough or will you, too, believe that you are not strong enough to look into my eyes? Will you choose your weakness over what's right? Or will you do something? I ask you, as the President of so many unaware citizens, to round up your courage and make a change to your society. I ask you to invite books and knowledge into our world once again, for the good of the citizens, and for yourself. I ask you, President Noble, to remember."And on either side of the river was there a tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month; And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations" (158).
Faber
Dear Officials,
ReplyDeleteKilling, houses burning down, firefighters being murderers, and children being irresponsible. Do you want to continue down this terrible road? Our society needs officials who understand what people need. Books help us understand what happened to society's before us. Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to know everything that has happened before us? Even though you let us read comic books we need to be able to read history books and books that will let us learn about past societies so we can see what worked and what didn't and take those experiences to create a better society! Children these days don't learn anything at school, "an hour of tv class, an hour of basketball or baseball or running, an hour of painting pictures, more sports, and sitting there for four more hours with the film-teacher" (27). Don't you want your kids to grow up with knowledge of how to live respectfully and diligently? Instead of "bullying people, racing cars, killing classmates, and shouting at adults"(27) your kids would be able to sit down and read history books together. They can talk to each other about important historical happenings. They could go home and talk to you like a real family. Although the you might not want people to have an understanding of the old society, you can take the achievements of the old societies and create the best society in history! How would people be able to learn about how great our society would be? BOOKS BOOKS AND MORE BOOKS! Books are not about "nonexistent people and figments of imagination"(59). They are about signified human beings who tried to make their society's the top of the heap. I hope we can all work together and live in the best society of all time.
Sincerely,
A Very Very Very Concerned Citizen
Grace, I like the quotes you used and how they backed up your claim. I also like how you wrote "sincerely, A very very very..." I liked the way you wrote this essay.
DeleteDear Elders,
ReplyDeleteI remember when I was a seven, and I asked my parents out of curiosity, "mother, why can we not pick our future career. It is for us right?" Well Jonas she said, that is the way in our community. We have no say or choice. They pick everything for us. Our job, when we celebrate our birthday, and even how we celebrate our birthday".
We need to get rid of sameness in our life. All deserve to have choice in their life, being the exact same is not fair nor fun. This is because with choice we have the excitement and freedom of picking our jobs, our future, picking where we want to live and how we want to live.
Now I see how it is easier and less stressful to have everything picked out for us however, it is part of life to make a decision, stick with it, and deal with the stress or problems that come your way. We all need to have this opportunity in our life. In the Giver, Jonas "wants his childhood again, his scraped knees and ball games...but the choice was not his" (122). Jonas no longer has the choice of living a childhood, like a normal child. He has been elected for an important job without any say, and that is his new life. Jonas "was certain that his Assignment, whatever it was to be, and Asher's too, would be the right one for them" (49). All in the community have no say in their future, all of their assignments are chosen for them and kept with them, happy or not. This is not fair because all should have the right of choosing what they want to do in their life, we all need the choice to be eligible to do this. Jonas wants to make a change in his community for the better, so he runs away with his brother, who was to be killed (released) the next day, and as Jonas father says "we obviously had to make the decision. Even I voted for Gabriel's release" (164-165) Jonas realizes he had to make a change and make his peers realize the opportunities they are missing out on, simply because they don't have one extraordinary important thing, called choice. I say now we get rid of this sameness rule. We now have the right to choice, our life. The way it should be.
Sincerely,
Jonas.
Drew, I really like the introduction you wrote, especially the lead. It immediately caught my attention and was really interesting to read. Nice job!
DeleteDear President Fahrenheit.
ReplyDeleteI am writing to you Mr. President to persuade you to lift the ban on books. After reading this letter, you will realize that your ban on books was wrong, and it is not what this society is about. Dear President Fahrenheit, it has come to my attention that you have made a law stating that “books are forever banned from the beginning of [your] rule to the end”. Although you may rule this country books are what make life interesting, and they give us a sense of happiness. therefore I believe and many others believe that from this day forward you should lift the ban on books. In our society a large amount of people belive books should be banned because of you, president Fahrenheit, you brainwash people with technology, making people blind from reality, where a small percentage of people including my self have realized that books are good and are dumb enough to not be blinded by technology.
Our society Mr. President is turning into a dystopia, all because of the way we are living. You have banned books from our people and are very strict with the punishment for having books. Although we are granted the freedom of speech you often send the police after the people who speak against you. I interviewed a firman named Montage he stated that "we do need knowledge”(Bradbury 82). And that's how we get knowledge, threw books. Our world is being destroyed, between the war and the lack of freedom, “it's not pleasant, but then where not in control, were the odd minority crying in the wilderness”(Bradbury 146). Although we are living
In a free world we don't have any say in our government we are ignored. A man named granger told me that "'It doesn't matter what you do, so as long you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something thats like you after you take your hands away."' (Bradbury 150). People in this society no longer have a sense of creativity many don't make an effort to try and change the world. Mr. President, it's time to lift the ban on books and bring this society back to the way it used to be. If you do not sign this in agreement to lift the ban on books we will rebel against the kingdom like the nobles would have done in the Middle Ages with the Magna Carta and King John.
Thank you
Elias Salman
Dear Mr. President
ReplyDeleteI would like to take this time to give you a new idea on what our society could be like. Just imagine it, a world where people actually talk to eachother. People are knowledgable about the past. They understand what's happening in the world around us and could help figure out a way to stop it. The key to all of this is books. Books are the answers to our problems and burning them doesn't help. "All we want to do is keep the knowledge we think we will need, intact and safe" and we can't do this without books (145). They help us learn and remember things much easier than we would when we don't read them. Books are also a way of entertainment and every time you burn one, you're burning someone's happiness. My friends "read the books and burnt them, afraid they'd be found (145). Wouldn't you rather people just be able to do what they enjoy and not have to hide it. Books are doing more good than bad and because we burn them, people, like them, have to hide what makes them happy. "I knew why I must never burn again in my life" right as I saw those books go up in flames (134). Technology is taking over our lives and our society is become a bad place. What about the future generations to come too? How would you like to see your kids, nieces, nephews, cousins, siblings, anyone, "bully people around, break windowpanes in the Window Smasher place or wreck cars in the Car Wrecker place with the big steel ball. Or go out in the cars and race on the streets, trying to see how close you can get to lampposts, playing 'chicken' and 'knock hubcaps'" (27). People everyday are doing these things that are putting other people's lives in danger when they could easily go inside and read a book. By doing this people will get smarter, be safer, become more sociable. These an easy fix to all these problems, Mr. President, and books are the fix.
All these problems could be resolved if you take my advice into consideration.
Thank you,
Guy Montag.
I really like your quotes and your explanations! You weren't repetitive in the least and got straight to the point! I like when you mention that people "bully [others] around, break windowpanes in the Window Smasher place of wreck card in the Car Wrecker place with the big steel ball" because they have no other option for "fun" excluding technology. I like how you explained that if books were allowed, there would be no violence and therefore no putting danger in people's lives. Great job!
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ReplyDeleteI remember a time when I was allowed to work with great books in a classroom, as the English teacher I once was. I would shuffle through the greatest books of all time and would teach my students what to make of them. I think that books should be allowed in our society. Books should be allowed in our world because they force people to think, they teach us all something, and they open the way to communicating with eachother instead of the talking we do with our parlor walls.
ReplyDeleteWe should have books because they force the people of our society to think. When you open the pages to a book, no matter the genre, there is a substance within the cover. If the book contains a story or facts, people have to think about what they are reading, allowing them to think about how they story or facts relates to their everyday lives. Any book has a message that could help the readers of said book take action in their everyday lives. The firemen prevent people from taking action. A former firemen, named Montag, once told me that "if he burned things with firemen and the sun burned Time, that meant that everything burned!" (Bradbury 134). Since everything burns, because of your firemen, people will not be able to think, and will not be able to change their everyday lives. Books also teach everyone something. Mr. President, whether you like it or not, you have a society that wants to learn. Montag once told me a story about a women that let herself burn just for the knowledge that is stored in books. "Go on, said the woman, and Montag felt himself back away and away out the door." (Bradbury 37). A women wanted to learn so bad that she would rather die then not of the knowledge that books could provide her with. With books people can learn, and in this society, give the people books, and they will want to learn. The last reason why books should be allowed in this society is because they open way for people to communicate with eachother. People spend all their time with their parlor walls that will not even talk to eachother. When you ask "will you turn the parlor off?" they exclaim "That's my family." (Bradbury 46). People are so concerned about their virtual families that they do not even communicate will their real life families. So, Mr. President, turn the parlor walls off and put a book in front of the people faces and they will begin to communicate. For all these reasons, books should be not only legal, but recommended.
Since books force all people to think, they teach people, and they cause people to communicate with one another, books should be legalized in our society. So, Mr. President, forget all the anti book laws you have created, and legalize books as soon as possible.
Sincerely yours,
Faber
Dear President Noble,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Clarisse. I am a 17 year old girl with a problem of how you are running this society of ours. I mean doesn't the well being of our society, “ ‘...mean anything to you?’ ”(6). I have some friends whose lives have been ruined and thrown out of balance because of the way you run this society. In order to bring back the balance and peace to this great society in Chicago, I propose that our society should bring back books because without books our society is, unhappy, more violent, and incapable of thinking for themselves.
Books allowed people to be happy, caring, and educated. It also let people find an alternative to always using technology. A firemen once told me, “ He was not happy...He wore his happiness like a mask…” (9). As you can clearly tell this firemen friend of mine is not and cannot be happy until this terrible injustice is revoked. However, not only has the loss of books affected the happiness of the people, it has resulted in major increase of violent activity. In fact, “ ‘...I’m afraid of children my own age...Six of my friends have been shot in the last year alone. Ten of them died in car wrecks…’ ” (27). The government is doing nothing about this violence. They are encouraging it. To clarify, you and the other people responsible for the well being of the citizens are established, “ ‘...Fun Park[s] to bully people...break windowpanes...or wreck cars…’ ” (27). The encouragement of violent activities must stop. By bring books back to society people will have something more to do than be violent. It will also teach citizens about caring for one another and having faith in each other. Now with all respect, I realize that books are long and introduce ideas that you may not like, however, it is the right of the people to know all the information of the past and plans for the future in full detail. So the revival of books shall bring back the idea of using our own heads to chose what we want to do. Right now the government doesn't, “ ‘...give him [(a man)] two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet give him none’ ” (58). In addition children are not learning the essential skills needed to work in the real world. They spend their time in, “ ‘...an hour of TV class, an hour of basketball or baseball or running, …another hour of...painting pictures, and more sports…’ ” (27).
As you can see, President Noble, it is crucial to implement books in our lives once again. The happiness, safety, and general knowledge of the people lie in in this decision. So please, bring back the books today!
Sincerely,
Clarisse
I really like how you integrated your quotes into the sentences! Good job!
DeleteDear president,
ReplyDeleteImagine, we lived in a society where, people could make it through a day with out mindlessly killing someone, or staring at "the parlor walls all day". Imagine a world were people were smart and could make decisions all by themselves without our government breathing down their necks telling them exactly what to do. Our world used to be like this, we used to give people the freedom to know, and use their knowledge to make decisions for themselves. But to achieve this knowledge they needed a source, books. Books are what make our world worth living, they tell us mistakes from the past the we can learn from, and they teach us, and even bring us happiness. Our society can be so much better, less violence, and people can do so,etching worth while. And books are the only way to re-achieve this.
My dear friend Faber, used to be a professor teaching English. But as more people started to ignore books, and people's attention spans got shorter nobody came, and once books were banned he had been "thrown out upon the world forty years ago when the last liberal arts college shut for lack of students and patronage" (Bradbury 70-71). I used to love burning books "to see things blackened and changed" (Bradbury 1). Yes I understand the fact that you want to keep us blind to the fact that books can spark unhappiness, but after seeing an old lady willing to burn alive for her little meaningless books, changed me. I mean what could these books possibly hold within them worth dying for? I have been through a lot... I hardly escaped my city before it was blown to shreds. My friends have died, even poor Clarisse McLellan, a very nice young girl, with a large heart and an interesting personality. But she was killed for this. She had wondered the same thing I do now, why have we banned our freedom to express ourselves , why have we lost our way? She once asked me "is it true that long ago firemen put out fires instead of going out to start them." (Bradbury 6). And I couldn't honestly answer her, and now I know yes the world was once a happy place, a place where knowledge flourished and freedom was used responsibly. A very wise man told me "it doesn't matter what you do, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched into something that's like you after you take your hands away" (Bradbury 150). This really touched me and I believe it can relate to hour books, can not only touch the author, but any reader who gains knowledge or happiness from the experience.
So Mr. President, I am sitting here writing you this, a letter with my heart in my hand providing evidence proving my stance and I beg you this. Bring back the importance of books, and let us be reborn full of knowledge and common sense.
Sincerely, Guy Montag
Dear elder's,
ReplyDeletePicture a world where we made our own decisions, and see color. A world like this was once real, but it also came with a bad side, there was pain and sadness. This sameness that we have going on, it's got to stop, it doesn't let us see what a real world is like. I would really like for us to get rid of sameness. When I say this I mean, let us experience love, happiness, and the joy to see color
Every day since the day I got assigned receiver of memory, the giver has given me memories of what the world before us was like. These memories included of good, happy ones, and horrifying, never forgetting memories. Since pain is dreadful, I would only like for our community to be able to see the good ones. The memory of love would have to be the best, and first one shown "Jonas, couldn't quite get the word for the whole feeling of it, the feeling that was strong in the room. 'Love', the Giver told him"(Lowry). Love, the day I received the memory of love, I didn't know what to say, it was just a beautiful thing to feel, it brought joy to me, happiness! I think that everyone should feel happiness, even the little ones, since both Gabriel and I have pale eyes, I gave him good memories for him to hold onto. Our society is not letting us live freely, everything we do is up to The Elders, everything we say is up to The Elders. "The society we're in does not dare let people make choices of their own"(Lowry). I want to be able to make my own choices, I want to chose between colors, I want to have a hard timing knowing what to wear. "'I want to wake up in the morning and decide things! A blue tunic or a red one'" (Lowry). In the past, people made their own choices, and they were pleased with that, they liked it. This whole sameness causes everyone to not be able to see color. Colors are beautiful, they add meaning to life, but yet no one can experience them because of sameness. Jonas wanted the friends that he 'loved' to experience the amazing colors "he put his hands on Asher's shoulders, and concentrated on the red of the petals, trying to hold it as long as he could, and trying at the same time to transmit the awareness of red to his friend"(Lowry). There is only joy and beauty when showing people color. If we got rid of sameness, our community would be able to see color as well. The point that I want to prove is that if we got rid of sameness society will have the ability to, make to make their own decisions, see the beauty of colors, and have the amazing feelings of love. I wouldn't argue that there are bad memories, but they would only help bring real happiness to us.
ReplyDeleteDear Elders,
Imagine a world where you could be unique: a world where everyone would make their own choices and do what they want in life. You could make a wrong choice, but from that wrong choice you would learn, and know not to do the same thing again. The issue at hand is whether we should continue to live our bland, predictive lifestyles, or abolish sameness and be unique. I believe that we should get rid of sameness because we would be able to make our own decisions, we would be able to see color, and we would be able to have families of our own.
We should have the ability to make our own decisions so that we aren't all the same. As our new Receiver of Memory, Jonas, says, "'I want to wake up in the morning and decide things!'"(Lowry 97). With the freedom of choice, we would learn responsibility, and be more unique. With color, we would be able to make even more choices that make us unique, such as when Jonas wonders about Gabriel, "'what if we could hold up things that were bright red, or bright yellow, and he could choose?'"(Lowry 98). With the ability to see colors, we could all be more unique and different in a good way, and have the ability to choose what we do. In addition, without sameness we would be able to have families of our own, and know the feeling of love. As Jonas says, "'I liked the feeling of love'"(Lowry 126). With families of our own and love, our lives would be more complete. In conclusion, our lives would be a lot better without sameness, with freedom of choice, colors, and families of our own.
Sincerely,
The Giver
Dear Mr. President,
ReplyDeleteBooks have not been apart of our society for many years, ever wonder that if we had books what would change and how life would stay the same? In my opinion I think that books play a major positive part in the society. Books should be kept in the society for education, entertainment and enriching culture. My wife Mildred is addicted to her 'family' that "'I can't talk to my wife; she listens to the walls'" (Bradbury 78). My wife pays all of her attention to the walls, she doesn't care about anything but her 'family'. If book don't come back my wife is never going to stop watch TV, and I am just going to get mad at her. Another reason that books should be brought back, is so we can learn from the past. Yes, the past can hold major tragedies that people do not want to relive, but now with books being brought back into the society, people will be able to have knowledge of the past and and learn from the mistakes that have occurred. "All I want to do is keep the knowledge we think we will need, intact and safe" (Bradbury 145). Bringing books back into the world can teach many people about the past that know nothing. In future generations people will know less and less about the past. Since books disappearing the world has become very violent people "bully people around, break windowpanes in the Window Smasher place or wreck cars in the Car Wrecker place with the big steel ball" (Bradbury 27). People are being violent because they have nothing better to do so they with destroy things or they go inside and watch TV. Bringing books back will give people a other option. Please Mr. President go out and stop the firemen from burning the books, because every minute you don't something more and more books are being burned.
Thank you!
Montag
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ReplyDeleteDear Mr. President,
ReplyDeleteProbably about almost everyday, people are sending in alarms to the fire station to alert them that they have found someone with a book so that they can come and burn them. Books are always being burned. "There is nothing magical in them, at all" (79). But why are there still a few people protesting to allow books in the society?
Books may bring knowledge leading to wealthier lives, but isn't it better to be aware of things and be upset rather than being unaware of anything that's going on, and happy? "You must understand that our civilization is so vast that we can have our minorities upset and stirred...people want to be happy" (56). Books will only educate us with the knowledge we do not need to know how to survive. We know how to bathe ourselves, feed ourselves, takes care of ourselves, etc. and really, theses are the only necessities to life. People don't want to dwell on the past, they want to forget all the bad times and be happy. If a loved one of yours was running in the Boston Marathon, the year of the bombings, and was killed, would you really want everything you see be about Boston Strong? It will only take longer to recover from the tragedy. So why remind ourselves of the horrible things from the past? "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 about tobacco and cancer on the lungs? The cigarette people are weeping? Burn the book. Better yet, into the incinerator. Funerals are unhappy and pagan? Eliminate them, too...let's not quibble over individuals with memorials. Forget them. Burn all, burn everything. Fire is bright and fire is clean" (57). Why should we remember the terrible things in the last? Wouldn't you be so much happier if you never remembered your loved one had died in that marathon, or wouldn't it be so much easier if there wasn't reminders telling you that they have died everywhere you went? "Suicide and crying and awful feelings" (97). When Montag read aloud the poem to Mildred's friends, they were very upset. They weren't used to being exposed to such information, causing the, to be very sensitive about it.
After all, the majority of the society isn't interested in reading the books, they're all glued to their parlor walls, and for them that is all they need, so why even bother? If books were allowed all of the firemen would have to find new jobs, leaving many people unemployed. If books were allowed in the society, all that burning, damage done to people, and homes, would all have been for nothing. Books are not necessary to have in the society.
Sincerely,
A Concerned Citizen
Dear Elders,
ReplyDeleteNow that I see the truth about my society, going back to Sameness would put freedom further away from my reach.
I remember the time when I was a young toddler, innocent, unaware of what living a life truly is. Now I am older, I want the facts, I want more. So I found the Giver. Truth is what I was told and I now believe in freedom. If we go back to Sameness, we the people, could never be free.
Of course Sameness shows organization of society but a little freedom is nice as well. Every night and day we have rituals that include "the evening telling of feelings"(Lowry 4) and the "morning sharing of dreams"(Lowry 34). But if you get Sameness, you don't get freedom nor a good life. I'm taking a stand for myself Elders, to prove what I'm about. Something within me, "something that had grown there through the memories"(Lowry 128), told me "to not take the the pill"(Lowry 128). You are intimidated now, you know that I have the information. So tell the society what there once was and what there should be. Go out now and do the right thing for the society and the people within the society.
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ReplyDeleteDear Mr. President
ReplyDeleteImagine a world in which people lived meaningful lives. Imagine if actual conversations took place, instead of hours mindless activities. I am writing to you today to voice my opinion on books being banned. As the president of our nation, you do not have the same view on society as us firemen. I work with people attached to books on a daily basis. I can assure you that if you saw the people that I deal with, you would allow books in the blink of an eye. Please give me an opportunity to explain why you should stop trying to replace our family with giant walls of television and let us, the people, decide whether we want to read books.
As I was saying, I have a very interesting outlook on society due to my job. In a recent experience, a women decided to die with her books. When we attempted to confiscate her books, she "reached out with contempt to them all, and struck the kitchen match against the railing" (Bradbury 37). The women made me question everything that I had ever know, "to burn 'em to ashes and then burn the ashes" (Bradbury 6). I began to think that maybe you had been lying to us, maybe "there was something in books, things we can't imagine, to make a women stay in a burning get house... You don't stay for nothing" (Bradbury 48). My friends think we should "keep the knowledge we think we will need, intact and safe... For if we are destroyed, the knowledge is is dead, perhaps for good" (Bradbury 145). After thinking this statement over, I cannot agree any more. My friends and I could be the last people to ever have knowledge of past life. Our world would surely crumble if we could not learn from previous mistakes.
Recently, my friend Granger brought a book to my attention that connected with me. He mentioned a "Phoenix back before Christ, and every few hundred years he built a pyre and burned himself up... But every time he burnt himself up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself born all over again" (Bradbury 156). As humans, we have the power to change the way this world works, which is a truly spectacular thing. Without these books, we never would have thought of the world in this way. There are so many different perspectives on the world that books provide us.
With this being said, none of this will be possible if we do not have your full support, Mr. President. Not only are books an enjoyable form of entertainment, but they are good for our minds. With books, we will learn to reconnect with the ones we love. Take it from me, I stood by and watched technology tear my marriage apart. Please Mr. President, consider my proposal and think about how you could be the man who improved society in the greatest way in a long time!
Sincerely,
Montag
Dear President, I, Montag, think that books should be allowed in our society. Although not everyone wants to take a break from everyday technology, curious people such as I desire to retain fascinating knowledge and learn morals that can help us in daily life. Don't you, Mr.President, ever take a moment and wonder about the secrets that are hidden in novels? That you are missing out on the golden keys to life? Although it is true that books can cause varying opinions and people to be angry, it is important to consider the fact that people can be open to different perspectives and see life in a whole new way. So please, take into thought how valuable books can be and let us explore a whole new world--that is, within the marvelous works of print!
ReplyDeleteI've once heard from a wise friend of mine, with the name of Faber, that "the magic is only in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us" (Bradbury 79). By this, my friend was representing how books open people's minds to a whole new world--not only filled with knowledge, but with senses, too. One day, I took a moment in the wilderness to find myself realize that there was "a smell like pickles from a bottle and a smell like parsley on the table at home....[i] put down [my] hand and felt a weed rise up like a child brushing him" (138). After taking a slight moment and for once truly looking at the world around me, I started to inhale the authentic scents of the wilderness and feel the wild plants and much more around me. I learned something that day, and that is that technology is taking over our world. I never been through such a moment in life like this, and although those who have not been completely stolen by technology are able to see, feel, hear, and smell the world around them, they are not able to gain helpful knowledge and make their mark on the real world. Another friend of mine named Granger once told me that "everyone must leave something behind when he dies. A child or a book or a painting...or a garden planted...something [their] hand touched in some way so [their] soul has somewhere to go to when [they] die, and when people look at that tree or flower [they] planted, [they're] there" (149-150). To be able to do so, we need to retain valuable information from books that will help us in everyday life. If we can't apply morals and do good on this earth, than we won't be recognized: "...our cities [will] open up more and let the green and the land and the wildernesses more, to remind people that we're allotted a little space on earth and that we survive in that wilderness that can take back what it has given, as easily as blowing its breath in his or sending the sea to tell us we're not so big" (150). We have the choice to do good or bad, or perhaps not do anything in life, and we can lose things in life as easily as we are given them if we do not show off the good within us to the world, whether it be making a big change or small.
After hearing all that I've said, I know that you may still be doubtful. However, if you take a moment and ponder about all the wonderful things that books have to offer, you might realize something--that books are the key to enjoying and living life to its fullest. It is coming into the clear that books show people a whole new side to life.
Thank you so much for your time, and I hope you will take my words into thought and realize just how great books can be.
Sincerely,
Montag
After "Dear President", the sentence after that is supposed to start on the line below, making it a new paragraph.
DeleteDear President Winston Noble,
ReplyDeleteBooks were always my favorite. During my age, before you became president, I would read books during my time after school. The nice smell, the beautiful words inscribed within, the crisp sound of the pages turning, the times were enjoyable. Then you came, and took away my passion. I even became an English professor for my love of books. Your laws to take away books are unrighteous and unnecessary.
There are many problems in our world. You're one of them. No doubt you manipulated the election to win. There is positively no way to win by being, "One of the nicest men ever became president" (Bradbury 93). Presidency should obviously be based on leadership skills and maintaining the lives of citizens. You only won because the opponent was, "Kind of small and homely and he didn't shave too close or comb his hair very well" (Bradbury 93). Hubert Hoag should get a fair run next election, if there is one. With your crazy laws, dictatorship seems not too far in the distance. Society has been ruined throughout a short time. Violence has overpowered the intelligent thoughts of the people. Children now, instead of reading, are having fun at, "a Fun Park to bully people around, break windowpanes in the Window Smasher place or wreck cars in the Car Wrecker place with the big steel ball" (Bradbury 27) Why are people preferring to see violence in action instead of doing activities in a civilized manner. People the age of 17 are even starting to kill each other. Getting shot, dying in car wrecks, it seems normal to children, but why? It didn't use to be like this. Back in my days, people were saved from accidents, others feeling compassionate for losses, like humans. Now it is not abnormal and is not a sad occurrence. We are like robots, similar to the Mechanical Hound. Instead of communicating and conversing with our friends, we sit in our houses, "with a one-hundred-piece symphony orchestra, full color, three dimensions, and being in and part of those incredible parlors" (Bradbury 80). Sitting at home with walls of unrealistic scenes becomes the preference of all. Even Montag's wife, Mildred, has fallen to the attraction of parlor walls. The innocent people of the society have changed and ways of life have been modified along with your ridiculous thinking.
My simple fix to the large unknown problem is books, also known as knowledge. This knowledge can show us the past of human lives, when people thought of the components that could improve society. Where peace and calm override the darkness. Books in the world can allow us to grow from our past mistakes. Although ignorant people like Beatty say, "What traitors books can be! you think they're backing you up, and they turn on you. Others can use them, too, and there you are, lost in the middle of the moor, in a great welter of nouns and verbs and adjectives" (Bradbury 104), his thoughts are wrong. Books are simply creating the potential for the readers to think themselves, other than see the ideas of others. The contradiction and confusing books are not to make people angry, it is to make them intelligent, leading to a better society. Beatty is missing the real use of books and thinks of them as blank, conflicting, words. Firemen used to be firefighters fighting fire and saving all important books, and now they are striving to create fire. Trying to manipulate the thoughts of citizens, you called one of the earlier presidents, Benjamin Franklin, a fireman. It is surely not true, but the people influenced by television believed you. I learned about him at my age. He was a good leader that had many great ideas, unlike yours. He deserved to be president, he did not burn any books, but even wrote some. These now illegal books, are stored ideas, great ideas that could revolutionize the world. Books contain the special thoughts of people, even warnings. One book had the story of the Phoenix written in it. "every few hundred years he built a pyre and burned himself up... But every time he burnt himself up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself over and over" (Bradbury 156). The people from the past sent a hidden message, that we might become unthoughtful like the Phoenix and go through the same painful cycle over and over. It has now occurred to us, but people are just like the Phoenix, they unknowingly put themselves through the same life lasting struggle every day.
DeleteWith my thoughts kept in mind, I hope you soon lift the law of burning books. The sooner the better, and if not possible for you, let a person with more potential become president.
With hope,
Faber
President,
ReplyDeleteWhat would the world be like without color? Without imagination? Creativity? Humans created art, music and all the amazing things that were in this world. A world without thought is a world without life. Books open eyes to see things that the reader never knew were there. You may ask what I'm trying to say. Literature is only one of the many things we are currently missing in our lives. A good start to a better life style in this city would be to not ban books, but encourage reading. Reading and story telling is something that has been around since the beginning of the human race and is something we need to continue. I can understand the point of view that people can get caught up in a book and not communicate with others, however, if you haven't noticed, nowadays, people communicate even less when they have their electronic devices. My neighbor, Guy Montag has been telling me about his wife, Mildred, who constantly talks to people who aren't even real, rather than communicating with her own husband! "The parlor was dead and Mildred kept peering in at it with a blank expression" (Bradbury 67). Mildred would rather sit in front of a screen and silently hope it turns on than do something good for her mind. Many people believe that "Books, so the damned snobbish critics said, were dishwater" (55). The truth is, no one ever bothered to find out for themselves what was in books. They just listened to what other people had to say. A book can be filled with magic and wonder. But I guess no one will ever get to experience that magic and wonder because almost all the books are burned! Lastly, books have the power to make people feel emotion. Many citizens feel scared or confused by the feelings they get from books and poems, "'I've always said, poetry and tears, poetry and suicide and crying and awful feelings, poetry and sickness'" (97). The people who aren't used to beautifully written poems and stories don't know how to react to them. They don't know how to react to feelings at all. Their lives exist only in a screen with people that aren't real. Books would bring them back to life, back to realization. They would make people happy, sad and human! That would be a place where humans thrive. Where humans can interact and do things that humans do! President, please, stop the nonsense of burning precious books. For the sake of humanity, give your citizens a place where they can be free and imaginative. Not a place where they are brain washed! So stop burning books!
Thank you,
A deeply concerned citizen
Mr President,
ReplyDeleteI have given this topic a great deal of thought and have come to the difficult, yet confident, conclusion that books were a very important part of our society and we need to put all of our resources and efforts into bringing books back to every house hold. Now is a perfect time for all this, our city had been burned to ashes, and we need to rebuild. Let's not rebuild a society that has some obvious flaws, but let's rebuild one that is the best we can make it. Did you know that books are a great for our society and can make the difference between a bunch of cavemen and human. It is astounding that we have made it this long without reading books and it is clear that we need to bring them back. If we think about what really makes us human, our actions and how we treat others, we will see that one of the most important aspects of being human is to acknowledge our common past and learn from it. Books are a great way to learn about our common history. They hold information that is too difficult to remember and pass from generation to generation. Although books may sometimes be boring, there is no pleasure in life without them. Think about all that they could teach us about how we ended up the way we are. History teaches us how we got to the present. So I urge you to come on down to our city and any other city and see how bad life really is. Nobody talks to each other and technology has taken over nearly everything. So, if there is any goodness left in your heart, get working on this pressing matter to bring books back.
Sincerely,
Guy Montag
Dear Mr. President,
ReplyDeleteThere I was, strolling down the corridors and through the stacks, touching books, pulling out volumes, and drowning in all the literature that are the essence of all libraries. I had fallen in love with each and every one of them. After all, all books, no matter what genre or year they were written in, transported me to a new place. They soothed me and made me clam. They opened the door to creativity, and allowed me to imagine a place far away, to imagine places I will never see. The first time I opened a book, I instantaneously knew that it would become part of my life, a part that I wouldn’t be able to live without. However, my books were suddenly ripped from my hands and burned, leaf by leaf. People, who were once avid readers, started to ignore the knowledge books contained. It is only within a matter of time that they will be gone, forever. Books are vital to our society. Not only do they provide leisure and enjoyment, but books can spark creativity and help us to understand the reality and quality of our lives.
In our society, everything is super-fast paced. Due to the creation of technology, we have shorter attention spans and crave for instant gratification. People no longer wanted to spend their time reading books, for it just simply takes too much time to get to the end. Sure, we may have lots of time, but do we use time to digest information or to just enjoy life? No. Our lives revolve around television because it “is immediate, it has dimension. It tells you what to think and blasts it in” (Bradbury 80). Even my mentor believes that television “rushes you on so quickly to its conclusions that you mind hasn’t time to protest” (Bradbury 80). By restoring books, we can once again “explore the sources and celebrate the achievement of the human imagination” (Bradbury 168). We can laugh from deep inside and cry when we truly feel sad, as long as we bring back the books.
Apart from the happiness can provide, books can also allow us to think of our own ideas and opinions. Why should we conform to government decisions and believe in everything the government says? Instead, let us all depend on each other. Let us rebel, philosophize, and form groups with one another. Let us “feel alive for the first time in a year” by speaking up for what our heart desires to do (Bradbury 125)! We need creativity, and books can help us with that.
Lastly, reading shows us the imperfections and the cracks of our society. Currently, our city is “all wrapped up in its own coat of a thousand colors” (Bradbury 145). Rarely do most people know the true side to their society, for everyone is too obsessed over the airbrushed, seemingly-perfect society portrayed on television. The reason why books are so hated and feared is that the books show us the imperfections in our world. Because of the lack of books in our society, we are “living in a time when flowers are trying to live on flowers, instead of growing on good rain and black loam. Yet somehow, we think we can grow without completing the cycle back to reality” (Bradbury 79). We forget how “close the wilderness in the night (is) and how terrible and real life can be” (Bradbury 150). Thus, the printed word is “far more real” and shows us what our society is truly like (Bradbury 167).
Books are only “one type of receptacle where we stored a lot of things we were afraid we might forget. There is nothing magical in them, at all” (Bradbury 165). The magic is that what the books say and how they affect us humans. Even though some may claim that books cause strong opinions towards minorities, but they are also what influence our ideas on improving our society. They represent what our humanity is, so literature is as precious as life. To burn books is to “burn the author, and to burn the author is to deny our own humanity” (Bradbury 169). Together, we must “preserve the forbidden literatures that define” and show us what it’s like to be human (Bradbury 183).
Dear President, become the president who changes our society for the better! Be the president who will bring back literature! Be the president that will go down in history as the president who made the best decision of all time! I believe in you, for only YOU are capable of doing so. What are we waiting for? The time to act is now!
DeleteWith hope,
Guy Montag
Dear Elders,
ReplyDeleteI think that we need to get rid of sameness. I think if we didn't have sameness people would feel a lot better. Things would finally go back to the way they were before. Before sameness, I remember from the memories, I was outside, playing with my friends, I was without a bike, I was on a scooter, and I can remember it was blue. Oh how I adored blue. The day was nice and warm, the sky was a beautiful light blue with very little white clouds. They looked fluffy like I could jump on them. The scooter I had was brand new. Earlier that day I had gone to the toy store with my parents and picked it out myself. I can under stand why one might want our community members restricted. What a community wants for its people is safety and all we are trying to do is protect and regulate our people, but, the small things like color can really matter to some people, taking that away is like taking the identity out of something. "Jonas learned... names of colors; and now began to see them all, in his ordinary life (though he knew it was ordinary no longer, and would never be again)"(Lowry 97). Especially a young boy named Jonas, he and I are both against sameness, we think that we as a community deserve some options and independence. It "'isn't fair that nothing has color!'... If everything's the same, then there aren't any choices! I want to wake up in the morning and decide things!'...'But it's all the same, always'"(Lowry 97). Do you know what you people have done to our community over the years?! All the kids of this time will never get the full experience of color or even feelings! For instance, Jonas "had experienced countless bits of happiness, things he had never known before"(Lowry 121). Jonas is a receiver of memories in training, this means he gets a lot more memories than an average kid and Jonas isn't even getting that much of an experience. But, he is smart, he is realizing that "the joy of being an individual, special and unique and proud"(Lowry 121). Being different is what truly makes us, us! And we need to change it up now! So please, change the rules, for our children and their future. For our future.
Sincerely,
The Giver
Dear Mrs. President,
ReplyDeleteFunny, how the past few weeks I have actually started to live. That's the funny thing. I am this old and I've never fulfilled my thought so much. I call that living personally. It may concern you that I'm reading books, but let me tell you, I'm not the only one. These treasured items depict our strength. Why forget them when they were meant to be kept? Right now our heads are empty and useless. We live everyday without knowing what really happened yesterday. We live our lives unconcerned of our mistakes, even if we think that we don't make them. We do. Our bare hands and feet cannot replace the strength our heads can bring. The books. They have the key to whatever we are looking for. The state of mind we don't possess at the moment. Right now I am on my way to do what's better for us. We have the will to do it. Why would you keep us from that? I take my priorities and I am doing the right thing. I have a dream that one day the sun will rise to a whole new generation. A superior one where everyone has the ability to make a change. Our inspiration? My inspiration? Simple. The books.
The walls. My Millie. All of her friends. Drenched in the unreal lie of our so called knowledge. How is learning a mistake over and over making us better. We have to remember that always "books are to remind us what asses and fools we are!" (Bradbury 82). The things we do are to learn aren't what we think, for all we ever learn from are parlors are nothing. The parlor is portrayed as the truth when in reality all we actually need "is nothing but four plaster walls" to help us learn(80). Just maybe in the future we "might pick smaller cliffs to jump off of" because all people consider is the height, the higher the better, not the damage it is doing to us (82). Book are everyone's last thought these days, our sole enemy. We are taught to embrace the darkness even if we thought it was the light. We were taught to burn the things that brings us the aspects of not being perfect, but being human. Our religions have faded away and "the whole culture's shot through" (83). There is no denying that we are capable of much more. Us firemen "provide a circus now......it's but a small sideshow indeed, and hardly necessary to keep things in line"(83). Why do we have to help in creating such a fake society, a fake identity in order for everything else to work out? You are hiding everything that has ever meant anything to us.
Now and then I realize that "we are all bits and pieces history and literature and international law" (145). We are the future. We are just waiting for the day before you realize that too. I am taking the path untraveled. My new world with books. Nothing is ever lost. We do need books in our lives, and I hope you realize that (145). This is my new future. The one I have decided to take.
Dear President,
ReplyDeleteWhat would you do if the world changed dramatically and quickly in an odd way? Like the technology we use on a daily base is no longer existent. This has happened it instead to technology, it happened to books, a resource that we need deeply. We need the literature and knowledge I. Our daily lives. I bet you will say that it is useless but it has affected us a lot. Think about this way, have you noticed how we have communicated with people nowadays, they are constantly on their electronic devices and barely or never speak to others. One person I know, Guy Montag, has a wife that talks constantly to her friends who aren't real. "The parlor was dead and Mildred kept peering in with blank expression" (Bradbury 67). We can change this by restoring books and then we can "explore the sources and celebrate achievement of the human imagination"(Bradbury 168)! If you think it only changes our communication, you are wrong, it helps our knowledge too! Faber is a friend of mine who is an English professor and yes he and a lot of other people agree with me. According to him he says that "the magic is only in what the books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us" (Bradbury 79). That is proven by how far we advanced with knowledge. Right now look at us, look right at yourself in the mirror and see yourself, do you think we are smart anymore, we are dumb! Without all of these books we are doing things we shouldn't be doing in the first place, burning down houses instead of preventing them, speeding down streets instead of having a precaution and preventing an accident, it is just stupid. Please president, listen to the people, be the president that we all love and have a world a great place.
Thanks for reading,
Daniel
Dear, president Noble
ReplyDeleteBooks are composed of leather, paper and ink, yet composed of ideas, thoughts, imagery, and morels. Books contain elements of literature and creativity. Many tales of woe leak through the ink of books, but are books really that bad? I believe that not having books is a disgrace from which man once started. We must bring back the books to teach the past so we can fix our future. Our society goes day to day without knowing the past. People should be filled of wonder and not keep questions bound to them. Mr. Noble we can both agree that the public stopped reading to their own accord and are having fun, but they're committing suicide and even worst murdering each other(83). Mr. Noble you know and I know that you don't want to die, yet you burn the very books that can save your life from these murders. Mr. Noble you say that you want to give people happiness, yet some people are "'not happy and wear there happiness like a mask'"(9). You can say that "'books can be beaten down with reason'"(80), however "'do you know why books are so important? Because they have quality'"(79). Mr. Noble here's a question "'Is it true, the world works hard and we play? Is that why we're so hated so much?...Maybe the books can get us half out the cave. They just might stop us from making the same mistake!'"(69-70). We need more questions like that, I remember when Clarisse spoke "'we never ask questions, or at least most don't; they just run the answers at you'"(Bradbury, 27). Everyone has a fear of asking a wrong or bad question, however you can't silence them, and asking a question will get people wondering about anything. Everything that you kept from the people made your own self destruction, now look around you nothing but ruins and the shell from which man was in. So, Mr. Noble, I want you to let the books come back, let the knowledge flow free again. We need this information to abolish this ignorance and weakness, and to replace it with intellect and strength.
Sincerely,
Guy Montag
Dear Elders,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Jonas. (Although you probably already know that). I'm the receiver in training. I'm writing this letter to you to discuss an issue that has been affecting the lives of the people of our community for even longer than my parents have been alive. You've thrown our people into sameness. They probably don't even know what that word means. This is what you're doing to our people. You're robbing them of everything that makes them human. You've taken away their rights, their freewill, their ability to decide things for themselves, their feelings, the list goes on and on. And yet, they still have no idea what you're doing. They haven't the slightest clue. But that's how you want it. Ignorance is bliss, as some would say. You have them living their lives, not knowing anything about who they are, or the world around them. Every step they take is determined by you elders. Is that any way to live? Having no choices? Would you like to live this way? How would you feel, if you woke up one morning and discovered that everything that you enjoy was taken from you? You might think this is the right way to be living, but "if everything's the same, then there aren't any choices! I want to wake up in the morning and decide things! A blue tunic, or a red one?" But it's all the same. I can't express myself all because of you. But that's not all. No one can feel things. They don't even know what feelings are. I can't enjoy beautiful weather like sunshine and snow. We're living there monotone lives hat are planned out for us. I remember the words the giver once spoke to me, "Listen to me, Jonas. They can't help it. They know nothing." And that couldn't be more true. You people truly don't know a thing about these beautiful lives we were blessed with. Instead of living fully and doing the things we want to do, we waste our time. We let everyday go by, living life like we're all reading a script. Like we're your puppets or something. Well guess what? We are human being and you can't do this to us. You've even taken all the other organisms that used to surround us in everyday life. Our children can't enjoy a little puppy bouncing around with them while they giggle happily. They can't enjoy sitting around a fire with their grandparents while they happily sing songs. I asked by sister Lily if she knew that animals used to actually exist, but she replied with ignorance, "Right. Sure, Jonas." They're missing out on so much. Their lives are so bland. It's all they've ever know. And it's all your fault. Yes, I do understand that you could argue that it's much safer this way. But "I was thinking; what if we could hold up things that were bright red, or bright yellow, and we could choose? Instead of the sameness." But you elders think, "We might make the wrong choice." But you can't change that. It's the inevitable. Human beings make mistakes, and that's the way it's supposed to be. We're supposed to learn new things everyday, but also stumble and fall. We learn from these things, we gain wisdom with each footstep we take. Just because it's easier to make all the choices for everyone so that you're sure nothing will go wrong, doesn't mean it's right. You're taking away our right to human. We're supposed to be figuring out our way for ourselves and make new discoveries, but instead, we've got our life picked right out for us. We need to do something about this. It's not too late. The children are our future, so stop brain washing them. Teach them good things. Improve their characters. Show them that it's okay to make mistakes, it's ok to fall and mess up sometimes. We get back up and move along. That's what it means to be human. So give us our colors, give us our weather, give us our families, give us our feelings, but most of all, give us our choices.
Mr. President,
ReplyDeleteThe imagination, the creativity, the knowledge. The ability to obtain all of this with a simple flip of a page. Thinking back, I remember being able to walk the long halls of the libraries, looking at the future generation studying, reading. Oh, the joy it gave me. Sir, today I am writing to you regarding my biggest concern for our society. I ask that you read this entire letter, no matter your thoughts on the issue. As a citizen who has lived in the time where books had been allowed and available for everyone, I strongly feel that books should be allowed in our society. We need to put a stop to this horrendous action of book burning to make our society great again.
Life now is not how it was before. Now, we live life in a blur with the fast pace. We even had to "stretch the advertising out so it would last" because "cars started rushing by so quickly" (Bradbury 7). Our society is quickly advancing with all of this new technology and we are getting lost in it. We do not realize what is going on around us, we are losing sight of what is really important. We need these books to "feel alive for the first time in years" (Bradbury 125). All people in this society are engrossed in their parlor walls, believing that these fake people are their actual families. We cannot get anymore disconnected from our real family than we already are. "Who are these people?" (Bradbury 43), who even are the people talking on these screens? With this technology, we have no knowledge of anything. People claim that "that's my family!" (Bradbury 46), because they are obsessed with their virtual families. With books allowed in our community, people will step away from their screens and actually enjoy things in life. Although some would say books can upset many and create bad thought, people will be able to come up with new ideas that will help our lives as a whole. It's not the books that will benefit us, but what is in the books that will. Our society needs the ideas in books to help us live as best as we can.
Mr. President, I strongly advise you to consider this matter with great care. It is a very important matter to think about and it will benefit us tremendously. We need books for knowledge and knowledge for successful lives. I know you will handle this matter considerately and I thank you on advance.
Sincerely,
A concerned citizen, Faber.
Dear President Noble,
ReplyDeleteAll my life I had thought that it was a pleasure to burn. I enjoyed seeing things blacken, and I loved the fresh smell of kerosene that lingered in the air. I specifically remember the day when I had turned the corner around the fire station, and Clarisse McClellan, my new neighbor, was standing there. But soon did I realize that Clarisse would change my life completely. As I conversed more and more with Clarisse, my point of view of society began to change. I noticed that I strongly disliked my job as a fireman, for I was one of the people who burned beautiful pieces of literature and made society the way it was. I, Guy Montag, believe that literature and history should not be prohibited from society. Books allow for the citizens to be aware of the events that occur in the real world, and cause them to understand the true meaning of happiness. Furthermore, literature causes people to think intellectually and insightfully.
Firstly, books provide knowledge about life in reality. Books hold information and truthfulness about the events that occur in the real world. As my good friend Faber said, " The things you are looking for are in the world, but the only way the average chap will ever see ninety- nine percent of them is in books" (Bradbury 82). Clearly, books are vital, because they teach people about the problems and imperfections faced in life. In other words "they show the pores in the face of life" (Bradbury 79). Therefore, people will have a sense of appreciation. The people will have an understanding of what it means to have pure joy. Yes, I know that some citizens are perfectly happy living without books in society, however they are totally unaware and know nothing about how the real world functions. For example, my wife Mildred enjoys her life, but is totally unknowledgeable and illiterate. She does not understand that our society is ridden of precious knowledge that people like you, President Noble, are hiding from us.
PART TWO
DeleteThese days, everyone watches their "families" on the parlor comedy shows. People are glued to watching their unimportant screens. Although the television parlor "is an environment as real as the world" and are more lively than books, they do not contain any substance at all. The walls fill people's brains with nothingness and they do not use any bit of brain power to watch or understand. My friend said that "the same infinite detail and awareness [that are in books] could be projected through the radios and televisors, but are not" (Bradbury 78). In fact, the people have stopped thinking with meaning altogether. People drive cars at extreme speeds, do not have discussions with each other, and spend their time at crazy Fun Parks. Everybody's minds are full of rubbish. Can't you see what our society has become President Noble? Nobody bothers to ponder anymore. On the other hand, books contain matter and require deep concentration. They are the only source that cause people to think about the world in which they live in.
Without a doubt, all bright and clever minded people would agree that writing and literature should be allowed in society for its many benefits for the citizens. These include thinking with importance instead of with thinking with nonsense, and being knowledgable about the problems faced in reality.
With hope of changing the law of the restriction of novels,
Guy Montag
Dear Mr. President,
ReplyDeleteThere is a glorified line in The Declaration of Independence that states, "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is immoral to force people to give up books and with it their right to knowledge and happiness. These are rights given to us by nature, not the government, so it should not be a possibility for people of a higher ranking to control them. Without books it is unrealistic to expect your citizens to form connections, and make logical choices that will progress the society.
It may be entertaining to waste your life away watching the parlor walls, but it doesn’t truly engage the brain and give it the exercise it needs. Without this mental exercise that books provide, people do not have the knowledge they need to know when a situation could be harmful to them. People in our society commonly, “go out in the cars and race on the streets, trying to see how close you can get to lampposts” (Bradbury 27). If anyone in power at the present time cared at all about their citizens, they would educate them, so they could avoid dangerous situations like this. People also need to be educated, so that they can have deep thoughts that they can share with others. In sharing these thoughts people will form bonds, which will make their lives not only more cheerful, but also more meaningful. At the present moment, “no one has time for anybody else” (Bradbury 21). But if we continue on the path we are headed down, the world will be destroyed. A cavern of sorrow and simplicity with all of humanity, “wondering what happened and why the world blew up under them” (Bradbury 148).
I truly believe that bringing books back, is the way to advance and improve our society. Technology has advanced a lot in our world, but we haven't given people means of advancing their minds. In addition, I think we have decreased our value to the planet, since no one has been educated on the proper way to live. People in our society live without thoughts or ideas, which can only hurt us and our planet in the long run. In order to fix this crisis, you must repeal the law against books and require schools to incorporate them into the curriculum. We can always change the rules, but the way we are headed, we might not have very much time to change the future.
Sincerely,
Guy Montag
Dear Mr. President,
ReplyDeleteIt has recently come to my attention that this society, our society, is not reaching it’s full potential. I believe that we are missing one of the most vital parts of being human. I would like you to imagine what your life would be like if talking and enjoying the company of other people was considered fun. A world where fire wasn’t the solution to every problem and technology wasn’t used as a distraction from reality. This world would be very different. Some may say it is terrifying and that they would never want to live that way; Even you may feel that way, but please hear me out. My boss “always said, don’t face a problem, burn it” (Bradbury 115). For a long time I believed this statement to be true, but now I see that the solution is the exact opposite. We must face our problems in order to solve them. Burning the world has created only violence and chaos. My friend, Clarisse, knows six friends who “ have been shot in the last year alone.” She knows ten more who, “died in car wrecks” ( Bradbury 27). These deaths occurred because “fun” to kids and even adults, is to wreck and smash things, making the whole community more violent. Books can help teach us what real fun is, what life could be like, and most importantly what life should be like.
Books should no longer be a banned part of society. Books should not be banned because they provide so much vital knowledge. They can help us learn the true meaning of life, and can be a way to escape reality without using technology. Life may seem normal, and okay to those who have not read books. But once you have, many realize that their life is not the proper way to live. Sitting around watching the walls all day is not how your time should be spent. Knowledge helps to build the brain and build character. I know that ever since I have read my first book, I have changed so much. My friend Faber, a retired professor, agrees that watching the parlor walls “rushes you on so quickly to its conclusions that your mind hasn’t time to protest” (Bradbury 80). Technology has helped in many ways but the parlor walls have only drawn us farther from not only books, but each other. Books, such as the bible, have many important ideas that can tell us the meaning of life and how we should spend our days on earth. Instead of watching the parlor walls all day you could read books. This way you are keeping yourself entertained but also working your brain in a way that can improve your health. In the past, many mistakes and errors have been made. Books are a great resource that can help teach people of all ages about the past. If we ignore what has already happened, who is to say we won’t just make the same mistakes again.
So Mr. President, please dismiss the law stating that books are banned and any found will be burned. This law is no longer appropriate and instead of making our society better it is only holding us back from the great accomplishments we could achieve. Books will be used as a learning tool in school to help kids learn not only about the past, but the future. They shall be encouraged rather than discouraged. Books are the only way to save our society from the dark path it is headed.
Sincerely,
Guy Montag (a book enthusiast)
Dear President,
ReplyDeleteI ask for you to close your eyes and imagine your idea of a perfect society. Did it involve children killing each other for fun? Did it include varied freedom and rights belonging to you being taken away? Probably not. Although our society is certainly not the idea of perfect, I believe that it is never too late to change it. The answer to a better society is so simple as well. The key is to stop banning books. Taking away books is like taking away part of people’s right to better understand the past, and to use their imagination. Anyone could easily say that technology is taking over the lives of not only the youth but almost every generation alive. TV families are replacing actual families. Since the TV is all most people have, there is no choice than to believe in what they tell you. As a man I once knew once said, “Why? The televisor is ‘real’. It is immediate, it has dimension. It tells you what to think and blasts it in. It must be right. It seems so right. It rushes you on so quickly to its own conclusions your mind hasn’t time to protest, ‘What nonsense!’” (Bradbury 80). By not allowing people to read or own books, you are taking away their right to make their own decisions and choices. What happened to conversations? Very rarely do you hear two people sit down and just talk to each other. There is hardly any communication! I once heard that “there used to be front porches. And people sat there sometimes at night, talking when they wanted to talk, rocking, and not talking when they didn’t want to talk. Sometimes they just sat there and thought about things, turned things over.’” (Bradbury 60). Honestly, I cannot remember the last time that I sat down with my husband and just talked. Of course, we have the time. All of the time spent watching TV could actually be spent talking to one another, but it seems we both lack the ability to keep conversation, for nothing spectacular ever happens in our lives. Yes, banning books can help save materials for items that people will buy, and it gives the society more equality, however it causes the attention-spans and mindset of people to become the same, therefore not allowing diversity and conversation. A large reason that I blame for my husband and I not being able to communicate with each other is our lack of knowledge of subjects. We both watch the same shows and know the same history. Books could help change that. I once heard, “the magic is only in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us” (Bradbury 79). There is a type of magic to books that people should be allowed to experience if they would like to.
So, I believe that you should stop the banning of books because not only should it be the people’s choice if they want their lived consumed by technology or not, but reading would help benefit not only the individuals but the society as one.
Thank you,
A Concerned Citizen
I personally think that books are great and we should have them in our society so people who like them can read freely, and people who haven't heard of books can discover what's behind the cover. Imagine a world were people love their family more than their tv. Were people talk to each other everyday. Were people can read freely. Were people learn at real schools. Were people don't murder out of stress. Were people don't crash their cars for fun. Were people don't enjoy violence. This could be OUR world, this something WE can accomplish if you legalize books. Did you know? That my wife is so distant, so blank, that she didn't remember me? Our bland society has turned her into an unknown, a street face, a newspaper image, and it's so wrong (Pages 40-54). You have done an extremely good job keeping books banned in our city but if you keep them banned while you're still in office and the people in our society figure out that you have been lying in their faces, by an anonymous source. Their are going to revolt against you with everything they have learned from your doing. A man named Granger once told me that, "'It doesn't matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something thats like you after you take your hands away."' (Page150) This shows that since everyone is on their tv if we change it up a bit, like maybe legalize books people would care about the world more. Books are from the past, after all, and the sun burns time, burns the past, burns those books that could help fix ourselves (Page 134) Books could fix us dude. Without a doubt you should really consider legalizing books or I'll continue to break the rul-, I mean follow the rules... Please don't kill me😅.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Guy Montag
P.s Please don't hunt me down or anything I was just joking about reading books...
Dear Elders,
ReplyDeletePicture a society where people die and are filled with feelings like pain and sadness. A place like this would exist if we get rid of Sameness. Although, Sameness keeps up blind from the good memories of life it helps us not know what pain and sadness is. My claim is for our Community to keep the people safe from pain and sadness. Definitely we should keep Sameness because it makes our lives a lot easier because of the choices they make for us instead of letting us make choices for ourselves. Without a doubt, Sameness keeps our lives less stressful and painful because they get to make our choices.
Every December Ceremony the twelves get their assignments on what they are going to do for the rest of their lives. It makes everyones life easier because they don't have to choose what job they want. You elders do a great job picking the jobs for the twelves based on what community hours they do while they are eligible for it. "There are very rarely disappointments, Jonas" (Lowry 17). Sameness is great for us because the elders take great consideration in choosing jobs and families for everyone in the community. Sameness also helps us not know what pain and sadness is. "Restlessly he moved one arm, bending it, and felt a sharp pain in the crease of his inner arm at the elbow" (Lowry 86). With Sameness no one knows about pain and feelings. If I had the choice to have no pain or colors I would pick no pain. Pain is a feeling like no other and no one would want. Another thing about pain is our community doesn't have to suffer through warfare. Warfare is the worst pain of all. When you see it you feel like you are dying inside because that is what pain feels like. "Overwhelmed by pain, he lay there in the fearsome stretch for hours, listened to men and animals die, and learned what warfare meant" (Lowry 120). I feel think no one in the community should feel that pain ever in their life time. For sure we should definitely keep Sameness.
Yours truly,
Cam
Dear Community of Elders
ReplyDeleteWe of the community have been less then pleased with the new receiver of memory, it think it might a young lad named Joan's? Well what ever his name is it doesn't matter, but what does is the rules that the giver gave him. Page 68 From this moment you are exempted from rules governing rudeness. You may ask any questions of any citizen and you will receive a answer." He is exempted from rudeness that is unforgettable, everyone is noticing that he was raising his voice to everyone in the community everyone is requesting from his immediate release. This is why we have to go back to sameness. These fake memories are impairing our decisions. Page 68 " From this you forbidden from sharing your dreams." You must share your dreams with your family unit, this help keep family units connected. Page 68 " You may lie", that is something any of us should be able to do. Do you know what these memories taught us that only blood shed comes from lies. If we have some people who lie then that might lead to our total destruction. So please elders release the boy named Joan's.
Letter
ReplyDeleteDear Commitee of Elders,
Don't just stand there! It's a big issue whether we should be completely equal or not. Let's get rid of sameness! This society needs some serious improvement, we should be able to make our own decisions! Yes it keeps things more organized, but everyone has no freedom in th community. For example, my job is terrible! Receiver of Memory? REALLY??? I feel bad. I remember when "the feeling of a terrible pain clawing its way to an emerging cry." If we are not equal we cannot expose ourselves to the world! We want freedom! Also we are forced to take these stupid things called "stirring pills" which are so annoying. What is even the point? Why can't we just live our lives like we wanted to? I hate it when mom says "JONAS ARE YOU READY???? DID YOU TAKE YOUR PILL?????" I cannot take this community because of this. It's extremely annoying and it needs to be taken away. Lastly I kind of want things to be friendly where we can hang out with other people. I mean really? Why do I have to be alone? I know that it says that "his training would be alone and apart" This quote proves that it feels weird that I am not of the community because I am separated and alone!
I just want the community to improve OK? Make it happen!
Sincerely,
Jonas, Receiver of Memory :(
Dear president,
ReplyDeleteI am a well educated man when it comes to books. I have read many works of literature throughout my life. Books introduce new concepts and ideas. This is not something that would be ideal for our society. By keeping the population ignorant look at how much work we can get done! Nobody is upset at our decisions. Like I always say "if you don't want a man unhappy politically, don't give him two sides to a question to worry about; give him one. Better yet, give him none(58)." Do you really want to have people arguing over who can get married and who can't? If the public gets access to books then their going to start questioning what the government does. The only reason why we can get away with all the "activities" we are doing is because the public is so dumbed down that they don't even care to know what we do and why we do it. One of my co workers, Guy Montag, started questioning the government. He said things such as "Did you hear them, did you hear these monsters talking about monsters? Oh God, the way they jabber about people and their own children and themselves and the way they talk about their husbands and the way they talk about war, dammit, I stand here and I can't believe it!" Montag is upset about the way our society is set up. See how angry he is? We don't need that kind of thinking in our lives. Mrs bowels is a friend of Montag's wife and she is our ideal citizen. Because she has never read books and all she does is listen to the media she is ignorant, emotionless, and naive. These type of people wouldn't even think to rebel against us at all. She has said things such as "Caesarians or not, children are ruinous; you're out of your mind," said Mrs. Phelps. "I plunk the children in school nine days out of ten. I put up with them when they come home three days a month; it's not bad at all. You heave them into the 'parlour' and turn the switch. It's like washing clothes; stuff laundry in and slam the lid." Mrs. Bowles tittered." She shows no emotion in loving her child. She has no emotions because of our cultural practices. If we keep continuing this then we can satisfy the public by making no one unhappy and we can continue on with our political practices.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDear Mr. President,
ReplyDeletedid you know, in 2010 it was estimated that 76% of the human population owned at least one book. Sadly, since then that percentage has decreased 10% every decade until now where only 2% of the population owns a book. After pondering very deeply and careful for many days, I have ascertained that books should be a vital part of every society. Books carry important information that change the way that we visualize life. I have a very well educated buddy who once told me, "the things you are looking for are in the world, but the only way the average chap will ever see ninety- nine percent of them is in books" (Bradbury 82). As you can see, books possess interesting, knowledgable information that us citizens can use to our advantage. After reading even one book, your mind set changes. Maybe only slightly or maybe you change greatly because of a book but all book hold either messages, facts, or just relax the reader. Maybe they'll have the reader on the edge of their seat wanting to read more. Readers can, "explore the sources and celebrate achievement of the human imagination"(Bradbury 168). Books have the ability to make readers use their imagination and create questions and predictions. Books don't have be forced upon an individual. If you legalize books, only people who want to read them need to and other can carry on with their boring, unintelligent, lifeless lives. Mr. President I bet you don't know why books are important, "because they have quality"(79). Books are better than movies. Books create conversations and make people feel relevant and make people who have read the same book have a strong connection. Humanism will increase greatly after we legalize books. Although books create mixed feelings, books educate and entertain individuals. Mr. President I urge you to legalize books.
Your citizen,
Guy Montag
Dear, ...
ReplyDeleteI actually don't know who runs this country. That is also a problem, but I will address it at a later time. My identity must remain anonymous for the sake of my health. The health where I stay alive. I believe that you have made a terrible mistake with this world, or at least continued to make the mistakes other people did. You have decided to continue banning books. But, this is wrong, very wrong. When looking at our world, what do you see? Happiness? Joy? I see none of the above, I just see fake joy and fake happiness. They think their "family" is people" (Bradbury 80). Those screens aren't real, people hardly know real life anymore. They cannot touch or feel the screen and have a deeper connection with glass. With books, you hold it, you can feel the pages. The pages where someone had written down a simple phrase, or a complicated mind game. How people could live without books, I will never know. When I had, I wasn't living, I was breathing. I had come to realization that. "I care so much I'm sick" (Bradbury 83). I realized I was never happy in my life, I could think I was with those walls. But, that was because my eyes were opened. I came to a realization when I saw that woman die for her books. She died for the sake of words on a page. So I decided to investigate. I kept asking myself why. But now I understand why. She died for the knowledge that this place lacked. For the empathy that is teached. For the look into some else's mind. Sure, bringing back books will confuse the country, putting them in panic. But, it would die down again. Life would be so much better. Either you change the law, or everybody questions you once I show them the truth. But only "when we reach the city"(Bradbury).
Mr. President,
ReplyDeleteHow would you feel living in a world without books? Books are an important part of society, enriching culture and allowing people to learn about historical events. Yes, books may have not been popular to some people, but are needed to enrich lives of others. The time is now to bring books back! So voice your opinion and make books legal. Many people say, "books, so the damned snobbish critics said, were dishwater" (55). But this is not true in reality. We learn from our mistakes during big historical events and not knowing our history will insure that we will make the same mistakes again. In all honesty, "the magic is only in what the books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us" (79). This means that we need books to unite us and all have a common pleasure. Without books we stare at TV screens all day, and do not work our brains and can barely keep a train of thought. If we had books, people would know about things that are more important. I have learned from experience that "there was something in books, things we can't imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house ... You don't stay for nothing" (48). If books were full of empty content, they wouldn't have been worth staying in a burning house for nothing. Obviously books mean something to the world and without them we are missing half of life itself. Words that touch you are contained in books, and you can make real connections to books. In our society we need books to make it whole, so please consider allowing them.
Sincerely,
Guy Montag
Dear president,
ReplyDeleteI am a concerned citizen and I feel that we should have books again in our nation. I feel books should be allowed in our society because, to people that have sneaked books, like me, think that books bring happiness, knowledge, and wisdom. I know that books are bringing knowledge about the past and you are trying to hide it but, books bring happiness to people and I notice that some people are realizing that they aren't happy without books. Books are so fun to read that people who have them wont give them up like this woman who said "you cant ever have my books" (pg 35). That woman loved books, thought they were good, and filled her life. "It took some man a lifetime maybe to put some of his thoughts down, looking around at the world and life..." (Pg 49). So why ban something that people work long and hard to make. Someone "planted a book in a fireman's house" (pg 125) because, they also want the books burning system out. So, get down there and change the law from no books to yes books.
From,
A concerned citizen