Knowledge vs. Ignorance: a Deeper Look Into Beatty's Statement and Faber's Retort

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Fahrenheit 451, a novel written by Ray Bradbury, looks at a twisted dystopian society in the future, and creates two long, deep exchanges held by the characters Beatty and Montag, and Faber and Montag. These discussions are referred to as Beatty's Statement and Faber's Retort, and take up an extensive part of the novel. One of the main themes of this novel is knowledge versus ignorance, which both Faber and Beatty's conversations with Montag contribute to. In these conversations, it is obvious Faber and Beatty have differences in their views of the society as a whole, the purpose of the firemen, and what people really need. In the novel, Fahrenheit 451, Captain Beatty and Professor Faber both have lengthy conversations with Montag, which illustrate their different views on and contribute to the primary theme, knowledge versus ignorance. As it is learned quickly after Beatty and Faber are introduced, they are two very different people, and their discussions with Montag represent that in their differing views on multiple issues in their twisted society. Despite their many differences, it is found out that both have a rich history with literature and have a wide variety of knowledge on the subject. However, their main difference is that while Faber uses his knowledge to teach others, Beatty uses it to keep his power and to scare others from learning too much. It is these differences that lead to their thoughts on what people really need in their life. "Ask yourself what do people want in this country above all? People want to be happy, isn't that right", Beatty asks Montag (59). In Faber's Retort, in part two, Faber explains that people are missing three things in their life: quality of information, leisure, and the right to carry out actions based on what is learned from the interaction of the first two. There is a huge difference in what they say, for one
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