Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Completion Date: 7/10/2009
Rating: <3
Number of Pages: 165

My Most Memorable Quote: This book was chalk full of awesome sauce quotes. This one is just kind of explaining the government's reasoning and frame of mind.

"If you don't want a house built, hide the nails and wood. If you don't want a man unhappy politically, don't give him two sides of a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet, give him none. Let him forget there is such a thing as war. If the government is inefficient, topheavy, and tax-mad, better it be all those than people worry over it."

Fahrenheit 451 is rather 1984-esque. Society has made people thoughtless and narrow minded. This America is filled with lawlessness. Everything is set up for the very purpose of entertainment. Don't worry, be happy. Forget war, forget knowledge, forget anything that causes you to worry, be bored, or to think.

Montag, the protagonist, is a fireman. Not one that puts out fires, but one who starts them. His job is to burn books. Anyone caught reading or possessing books is, at the minimum, confined to a mental hospital while the books are burned by the firemen. He's always enjoyed this job, but one day he meets a girl who gets him thinking about things in a new light. Clarisse McClellen makes him start asking why. Why does he burn these books? What could be in them that is worth burning? Eventually this causes him to rebel, get caught, and go on the run.

Honestly, I found this a lot easier to grasp and understand and compare than 1894. Is it because I'm pretty much disgusted at the thought of books being burned, so I payed closer attention? Possibly. But, really, I found it very easy to compare to today's society. The main comparison is that people really are looking for the greatest convenience.

It's that kind of mind frame to which people are really subjecting themselves these days. Why should I read the DaVinci Code if I can just see the movie? BECAUSE IT MAKES YOUR BRAIN WORK. DUH. Oh my land, my computer is so slow, maybe I should upgrade so that I can get to different facebook pages quicker! GO OUTSIDE AND LIVE, YOU PANSIE! Oh, why should I care about politics? BECAUSE IT'S YOUR COUNTRY, YOUR TAXES, YOUR FUTURE. BE AWARE OF IT.

I feel like my generation is underestimating the importance of learning and thinking! People spend way more time watching Spongebob than reading books. People don't need to write letters anymore, they have e-mail. There's no need for face to face communication, we have texting. What is it that the smartest, most talented people are trying to develop these days? More convenience. Trying to make things easier and more "fun." But how can you learn the same amount when you're working so much less?

I think this book really depicts this problem very well. Ray Bradbury writes very clearly and eloquently, and though it went over my head once or twice, I feel like I got some good things out of it, and people really need to read this book. It's fantastic. :)

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