Book burnings

One of the major themes in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is that of book burnings. Almost as long as there have been books, there have also been book burnings. Some people have always felt so provoked by the written word or judged certain statements to be so dangerous that they wanted to set these issues aflame.

Book burnings are a sign of cultural warfare. They also expose the fear of those who burn them: They fear that certain thought-provoking ideas in the books might challenge their position of power. Book burnings also stand for the suppression of certain intellectual attitudes and are therefore also a sign against freedom of expression.

One famous example of book burnings was carried out in Germany by the National Socialists in 1933. At ...