Fahrenheit 451: The temperature at which books burn
Fahrenheit 451 is a book that has an interesting and almost confusing futuristic side. It doesn’t revolve around flying cars or robots. It revolves around the future of books and how our society would function without them.
The main character, Guy Montag, is a “fireman.” His only job, as well as his comrades, is to burn books instead of putting out fires because books spread false hopes and information about life. As the years went on, society quickly feared books and reported anyone who had any. If so, firemen would burn down the whole house … with or without the person in it. But after meeting a seventeen-year-old girl named Clarisse, and a professor who helps him, Guy realizes what he needs to do.
The book takes place in a time where war could be declared at any moment. Even though the book has a more dystopian feel to it, it does have some futuristic features. Instead of an actual dog in the firehouse, they have a Mechanical Hound. Instead of phones, they have Seashells (sort of like earphones, but they work like a radio) that whisper to them. Houses are covered in interactive screens showing “indoor families” and the homes are “fireproof” now.
My uncle was the one who introduced this book to me. I have read it a lot as time passed and each time I was amazed. The author, Ray Bradbury, in my opinion, really showed what this book was about. I can’t even describe it. In some of the paragraphs, it felt overwhelming. It felt like Bradbury himself was yelling in your ear the more you read. Some scenes were suspenseful and some weren’t. And the story tells what I truly believe might happen if books meet the fate written in the novel, as well as what could happen to society.
Even though some of the characters did make me a little agitated, it added more to the storyline. Most of the characters were slow to face reality and it only showed what happened once books were out of the picture. They listened to the ‘family’ in their walls and I think that is what made me agitated. Since they weren’t listening to actual PEOPLE.
I liked how the book messed with my head a little bit. Some of the things in the book I had to stop and think about for a bit because they were so confusing. Like how Bradbury worded some of the paragraphs and such. But it only made the book better.
I seriously recommend this book. The whole thing reminded me of The Giver in a way and I think it’ll be a good book to read if you want a book with a futuristic and dystopian feel to it.
