Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a novel published in 1953. It is the recipient of numerous awards, including the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature, the Commonwealth Club of California Gold Medal in 1954, and Hall of Fame Award from Prometheus in 1984. It is a must-read and remains relevant to our modern-day society.
The story is set in a futuristic America, where the society suppresses an individual’s progress by inhibiting the possession of books that can feed a person’s mind with knowledge of history and development. Instead, houses have huge television screens that provide shallow entertainment and means of communication among families.
The protagonist, Guy Montag is a fireman. However, his job is not to stop fires but to start them up to burn books and the houses where these books are hidden. Complacent with his job and his married life with Mildred, he never questions anything until he meets Clarisse, a teenage girl with many subversive ideas.
Following Mildred’s attempt to kill herself and Clarisse’s sudden disappearance, Montag starts questioning his own ideals and happiness. Looking for answers, he begins reading and keeping books in secret until he finds someone to help him in the person of Faber. In Montag’s search for answers, his work captain, Beatty learns about his defiance. Beatty confronts Montag and forces him to burn his own abode, but Montag burns him with a flamethrower instead.
Subsequently, Montag runs away to escape from the authorities’ mechanical hound. Faber instructs Montag to make way for the countryside and find exiled booklovers. The authorities fail to catch him, so they pretend to have caught Montag and burn his double on live television. Meanwhile, Montag finds the exiled booklovers. This proves to be a new chapter in his life.
People believe that the post-war era and invasion of black and white TV sets have fueled Bradbury to write Fahrenheit 451 to explore the impact of technological development on one's ideals and perceptions. This is not so far from today’s current trends, where everyone is all about innovations and the latest technological developments. In the process, we have forgotten the essentials of life – to have quality time with family instead of being buried in gadgets; to communicate with friends personally instead of using social media; and to assess one’s self without the need for validation through likes and comments.
Based on what Bradbury wrote, I think the message is that we should become Montag, who was able to look deep in his soul, save what was left, and live his life with a sense of purpose. Bradbury, on the other hand, is a good writer. While the overall novel is short at under 300 pages, the plot is still very comprehensive. I believe that Bradbury was able to deliver what the readers were supposed to grasp after reading the story.
All in all, Fahrenheit 451 is an excellent book!
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