Fahrenheit 451

Title: Fahrenheit 451

Author:  Ray Bradbury

Copyright: 1951

Summary: The book is set in a futuristic world where the main character, Guy Montag, is a fireman. In his time, however, a fireman is actually a book burner. If an alarm is called in (a.k.a. somebody told the authorities that you have books and/or they suspect you of having books), the firemen come into your home and burn your books. In many cases they burn your whole house down to be sure you won’t have any books safely hidden. This world that Guy is living in is a world where books are banned. The story is about an awakening that Guy has (sort of like a Matrix moment) where he starts to realize everything he has been taught is a lie. The reader is able to see this awakening occur along with Guy’s reaction to what he sees, hears and learns.

My Opinion: I really liked the book on a few levels. (1) It was downright enjoyable to read. It is a really good story and very creative. I was happy with the ending and if I had one complaint it would be that it was too short. I would have loved to read more. I think the book is about 180 pages or so and I could have taken in another few hundred pages. (2) I think it really shows how small and simple choices, even with the best of intentions, can have far reaching and unintended consequences, whether they are choices made by the general public, by individuals or legislative choices that eventually become laws. In this book, all play a part in creating this sad future. The eventual situation and way of life probably would have sounded utterly ridiculous 100 or even 50 years before when those choices were being made. (3) The world in which the story takes place all started when people willingly stopped reading books, especially the classics. Unfortunately we as a society read way too few books and wrest the classics (including religious texts) way too much. I don’t picture a world quite like Fahrenheit 451, but it does make you wonder what consequences we will see because we are slowly sliding down the same path. (4) Lastly but most importantly, I love how there were believers in a non-believing world. In this case it was all about the books. There were people who resisted on various levels and we see in Guy Montag one reason for this. Humans have a sense of right and wrong. When he was learning the truth he wasn’t just seeing it, hearing it and learning it… he was also feeling it. Sometimes we feel it strongly and sometimes we can’t feel it much at all. But regardless of how many lies we are told, we have a way of discerning right from wrong if we really want to know the difference between the two.