Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a classic dystopian book and one most people read in school. Unlike the proliferation of poor dystopian books today, Fahrenheit 451 demonstrates a very clear point and is written quite well.
I read Fahrenheit 451 for English in 9th grade and rather enjoyed it. The point of the book is the importance of freedom in regard to what books we read (451 degrees Fahrenheit is the temperature at which paper burns). It is therefore ironic that Fahrenheit 451 has been censored in many libraries.
Summary
At the beginning of the book we meet a man named Guy Montag who is a fireman at some point in the future. Where and when is never explained.
Although firemen as we think of them are people who set out fires, in Fahrenheit 451 firemen burn the possessions of people reading outlawed books.
Montag is pretty much as deeply entrenched in this book burning business you can get, being a fireman and everything. However, he meets a girl named Clarisse who makes him start to reconsider his life.
Not long after, Montag’s wife Mildred overdosing on sleeping pills, but wakes up fine the next morning without memory of the incident. He keeps talking to Clarisse, but one day she disappears.
Montag’s worldview has been challenged enough that while burning a house he secretly steals one of the books. The woman in the house refuses to abandon her books and instead dies with them. Montag also realizes how little he really knows about his wife and much people are distracted by the TV screens all around.
Montag begins to consider quitting his job, and Captain Beatty, the fire chief, talks with Montag. He explains how books are not good for the new pace of life. He also knows that Montag took the book but says that every fireman does it and it’ll be fine as long as he burns it.
Montag only becomes more disillusioned from his talk with Beatty and reveals to his wife that he has been collecting a stash of hidden books. At first she is astonished to tries to burn them, but they decide to read them together to see if anything worthwhile is contained in them.
Montag realizes that he’ll need help to understand the books and enlists the help of an old English teacher named Faber. He takes to him a rare copy of the Bible, and Faber gives Montag an earpiece communicator so they can chat.
Montag continues getting more into books and at work is shocked when he drives at work to burn his own house. Mildred has reported him and is now leaving him for his interest in books. Beatty forces Montag to burn his own house down, but he also burns Beatty.
Montag is hunted by mechanical dogs and helicopters for his life. Will he manage to escape, or will he be torn to shreds? Has the world completely done away with books, or are there still book lovers left, waiting will society suffers?
Review
Fahrenheit 451 is a really well written and easy to understand book. The other lesson other than the importance of books is the negative impact of the distraction that all the TV and media can have on our lives. Definitely a timely message.
This book was written at a time when a lot of books where being censored. Even today many schools censor books, and this book has even been censored more than once.
Any book lover will love of course love reading about the value of books and how important they are to society. I also think this is a good one to read for people who don’t already have such an appreciation of books to help them develop it. Not for reluctant readers, but definitely good for those whose reading interest level is indifferent or above.
The best age range for this book is probably 8th to 10th grade. This book means to communicate a clear message. I only wish all dystopian novels were like this.
I’ll have to check this out. I enjoy a good dystopian book. I think it’s cool to think of alternate worlds.