Freshmen students should read this book because the appreciation towards having books will increase, it shows how and why people follow the crowd, and why censorship is important. With teens having the potential to expand their knowledge from reading it, and provide entertainment with many plot twists throughout the book.
Having a very dead society, the community of Fahrenheit 451 lacks knowledge. Without books, it has no potential for thinking or fun. As readers read through the book, they start to realize how much value is inside a book. As Montag quotes, “There must be something in books, something we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house…” ( Bradbury 51 ) Not knowing specifically why a woman would stay in a burning house, filled with books, but Montag knows there is something very special in a book. As the appreciation towards books inflicts on readers, it can also show why and how people follow the crowd.
In Fahrenheit 451, people tend to follow the crowd a lot. With everyone in the community doing the same thing every single day, it is very bland and ordinary. As readers go deeper in the book, they start to see why people in the community follows the same procedures every single day. As Beatty quotes, “The important thing for you to remember, Montag, is where the Happiness Boys. the Dixie Due, you and I and the others. We stand against the small tide of those who want to make everyone unhappy with conflicting theory and thought.” ( 66 )
Beatty tells Montag that they get rid of the “unique/evil” people that are making the community unhappy. Though the community is unhappy, it is not happy because of the “unique/evil” people, but it is the fact the government that controls their life is. No is free in this community and does not have the power to get free. With the book explaining and having examples of why people follow the crowd, it also shows why censorship is important.
The community of Fahrenheit 451 has many examples of censorship. One, being the action of burning books and libraries.