The role of books in both novels is slightly different, but both come back to a general theme that is used in both novels. In both novels, the authors use books as something that provides knowledge to a community but the government is trying to suppress this knowledge.
In “The Book Thief” books play a role in several different ways. Liesel steals a book which then helps to teach her how to read and write. This makes her very interested in reading new books. Liesel then starts to steal more books; this eventually leads her to steal a book from a pile of burning books. These books were being burned because they were deemed, by Hitler, to not represent the ideas of Nazism. The books that were burned by the government so that the community could not access this information. The citizens at this time were told that the books were a disease “We put an end to the disease that has been spread through Germany…” …show more content…
To most citizens in Montag's futuristic city books are seen as something to fear, something that no one should own. However, to educated people books are seen as a source of information that is being withheld from the community. The creators of the community felt that in order to make everyone happy that people could feel inferior to others that have read more. They also did not want the community to get any kind of idea to rebel against them, the government wants all of the citizens to be the same “The comfortable people want only wax moon faces, poreless, hairless, expressionless” (Bradbury 79). Books are a sign of rebellion in this community, if you own books you are rebelling against the government. The firefighters in this society are there to prevent information from spreading. They find people who own books and destroy them using fire. This relates to “The Book Thief” when Liesel witnesses a book burning. During that time, books were also burned for almost the same
In “The Book Thief” books play a role in several different ways. Liesel steals a book which then helps to teach her how to read and write. This makes her very interested in reading new books. Liesel then starts to steal more books; this eventually leads her to steal a book from a pile of burning books. These books were being burned because they were deemed, by Hitler, to not represent the ideas of Nazism. The books that were burned by the government so that the community could not access this information. The citizens at this time were told that the books were a disease “We put an end to the disease that has been spread through Germany…” …show more content…
To most citizens in Montag's futuristic city books are seen as something to fear, something that no one should own. However, to educated people books are seen as a source of information that is being withheld from the community. The creators of the community felt that in order to make everyone happy that people could feel inferior to others that have read more. They also did not want the community to get any kind of idea to rebel against them, the government wants all of the citizens to be the same “The comfortable people want only wax moon faces, poreless, hairless, expressionless” (Bradbury 79). Books are a sign of rebellion in this community, if you own books you are rebelling against the government. The firefighters in this society are there to prevent information from spreading. They find people who own books and destroy them using fire. This relates to “The Book Thief” when Liesel witnesses a book burning. During that time, books were also burned for almost the same