The theme of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 can be viewed from several different angles. First and foremost, Bradbury's novel gives an anti-censorship message. Bradbury understood censorship to be a natural outcropping of an overly tolerant society. Once one group objects to something someone has written, that book is modified and censorship begins. Soon, another minority group objects to something else in the book, and it is again edited until eventually the book is banned altogether. In …showed first 75 words of 421 total…

…showed last 75 words of 421 total…the idea that men should think for themselves, not let the government or the television do their thinking for them. The easiest way, Bradbury argues, to think for oneself is to expand one's knowledge of history and politics and religion. This can only be achieved through the study of books. Though this study may cause discomfort, all in all, it is necessary for any society that doesn't wish to repeat the mistakes of the past.