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The Republic vs. Fahrenheit 451–Lily Caswell

So censorship is a pretty big deal in today’s society, right? IMDB is the website my mom always goes to when she’s unsure of whether or not a movie is alright for my 12 year old sister to watch. In high school, I had to read a very interesting book called Fahrenheit 451, which happens to be one of the most interesting books I’ve ever read. It describes a futuristic American city in which books are forbidden and subsequently burned by “firemen”. The reason books became banned is because authors stopped putting controversial opinions in their books and it got to the point where books were banned altogether to keep people from getting offended. Sounds kind of similar to today, doesn’t it? Also in Fahrenheit 451, it talks about how children eventually are taught when they are in cribs so they can be taught what society wants them to be taught. 


In The Republic, Socrates says that guardians should “From childhood on, let them pattern themselves after men who are—among other things—courageous, temperate,reverent, and free.” (Plato, 92-93) While Socrates does not get as far to the point that Fahrenheit 451 does about censorship and raising children, he does say that censoring certain things is a good thing. I have to agree with Socrates on this. When I marry and have kids, there are certain things that while they will need to know, I won’t tell them until they are either old enough to understand or because my hand is forced and I have to tell them. I want to keep my younger sister from learning about certain things because while eventually she may find them out, I want her to stay as innocent as she can. Isn’t that what every sibling wants?


So while I don’t agree with the censorship in Fahrenheit 451, I think Socrates was onto something in his views of censorship. It should be more of a filter than a muzzle and should be used to weed out the bad things instead of just simply brushing the bad things under the rug.


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Comments

  1. Rachael GregsonSeptember 28, 2020 at 8:00 PM

    Lily, I loved how you compared Socrates to a protective parent wanting the best for their kids. In this case, the kids being the guardians. I think it is safe to say that a common ground exists between being too censored and then not enough censored and that steps should be taken so that neither one is crossed over.

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  2. Braylan StringfellowSeptember 28, 2020 at 8:02 PM

    I agree with your mom on how she looks out for bad things in movies to protect your sister. I definitely agree with you on how censorship should be a filter not a muzzle. I think what Socrates was getting at with censorship was to indoctrinate the youth about how the felt certain things should be, not how things really are.

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