I am going to write a longer summary than needed because I want to go over the story again, as I found it very interesting and exciting. In short, the book Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, is about a dystopian future where books are outlawed. It focuses on a man named Montag, who is a fireman that burns books. Montag begins to realize how numb society is and recognizes reality after multiple encounters and events over the course of the story. He begins a quest to read and eventually rebels against his fire chief. He works with a man named Faber and meets a group of people who are also interested in reading. These people work to memorize great literary works. When he is with these people, he watches the city get obliterated by enemy bombers. Montag feels that is important to leave a legacy and remembers all the people he lost.
*Longer summary...
For my final reading this year, I chose to read Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury. This novel focuses on a dystopian future where books have become outlawed and firemen burn them when they are found. The time period of this book is not mentioned exactly, but it is likely in the late 21st century. The people in society are very unaware of history and their lives are fairly meaningless. The main character in the book is a man named Guy Montag. He is a fireman who pours kerosene on books and burns them daily. A fireman's role has been completely reversed by this time, and many people are completely unaware that they once worked to put out fires, rather than start them. Montag is fairly satisfied with his life until he meets a girl named Clarisse McClellan, who opens his eyes to reality. Montag is very disturbed by what Clarisse is telling him, which causes him to realize the ingenuity in his life. He feels that his wife Mildred is not as much his wife as he once thought, and fails to even remember how they met. Montag becomes increasingly disturbed as he learns that Clarisse died and he watched a woman burn herself to death over her books. Montag is having a lot of trouble with his life and he starts to read books. Montag begins reading, but Beatty, who is his fire chief, warns him that firemen sometimes grow curious and are allowed to take a book for 24 hours, but if it is not destroyed, the firemen will come to destroy it. Beatty is very knowledgeable about books and talks to Montag about how they disrupt society and cause issues.
Montag continues to read, despite the warnings. He eventually confides in Mildred, who is reluctant to support him. Montag recalls a man named Faber who he once met. He thinks he may be able to get help from him. Faber is reluctant to meet with Montag because as far as he knows, he is out to burn his books. Faber is an English professor who enjoys books. He and Montag plan a scheme to change the idea of firemen and books in society. As Montag prepares for this, he sets up a communication device in his ear so that Faber can listen and guide him. Montag goes back to his home, where Mildred and her friends are. He gets angry at these women as they discuss politics and other subjects which he doesn't agree with. Montag begins to read a poem, which makes Faber a bit nervous. One of the women starts crying and the other gets angry at Montag. Mildred helps Montag play it off as a rule that firemen can take books and show them to their families for a day, but these women leave. After this, Montag goes to see Beatty so that he can return one of the books he has, but Beatty clearly has a strong suspicion about Montag. Beatty confuses Montag by throwing many quotes at him and making him feel nervous. Faber is still in Montag's ear, but Beatty has really caught on.
There is a fire alarm and the firemen proceed as usual. Montag is very surprised to see that the alarm has been called on his house. He sees Mildred leaving and realizes that she reported him. Montag is ordered to burn the house himself, which he does. He is then arrested, but escapes and kills Beatty with the flame thrower. He grabs a few books that he left in his backyard and eventually heads to Faber for help. At this point, the town is after Montag as he is considered an extreme danger. The chase is televised and Montag leaves Faber's house and makes it to a river to hide his scent from the search hounds. Montag finds a group of men sitting around a fire who have been expecting him. They have a TV set up as they watch the hounds kill a man they accuse to be Montag, but is not really him. From here, Montag learns that these people he met memorize great literary works to try and preserve what has been lost. They are a part of a large group of people around cities that don't agree with society and understand the importance of books. Montag talks with these people for a bit and eventually, enemy bombers fly over the city and obliterate it. This is a turning point for Montag, as he remembers the people he has lost and finally remembers where he met his wife. Montag continues on his new, free life.
*End of summary
I found the setting and the portrayal of the future to be one of the most interesting things in this story. It is close to the current state of the world, as this book is depicting a period of time near the current date.
As I mentioned earlier, the story takes place in the 21st century. The book was written over half a century ago and portrays a time period around where we are living now. The description of the world is fairly close to the reality today, aside from the evil firemen arsonists. Still, it represents many events occurring today. The story is set in the United States, but the government is one of the big differences from today's society. The story portrays a more authoritarian government and a different America that is more separated from the rest of the world. Bradbury portrays relationships as very dry and simple. As the story was written before the advent of social media and the internet, it is very interesting that this book portrays the lack of emotional connection largely because of technology. People travel quickly on the highway, often ignoring their surroundings. The world is very intense and fast paced which similar to how many see the current world. I would say that the book has a message about people losing their connections to their culture, knowledge, and to each other. The characters are overwhelmed with the new technology and fail to recognize what is actually going on around them. People mindlessly watch TV and listen to music while going through the motions of their simple life. Literature is not as important and we focus a lot more on technology and desires rather than our reality today. The lack of emotional connection in the book is not as extensive as it is now, as we still are deeply connected to one another, but there is a powerful message about technology in society and the advancement of the human race.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone with an interest in futuristic novels or science fiction. Even if the story doesn't seem all that interesting to you, I would encourage you to give it a chance. Going into this story, I was not so sure that I would enjoy it, but I genuinely thought the story was amazing. I learned a lot about how our society compares to the past and found it very interesting how our world has developed. The story itself also was very well put together. The plotlines were clear and the entire book felt intense and interesting.
