Laith Al Kindi

‘Farenheit 451’ is classic piece of Literature written by Ray Bradbury. The novel tackles many themes such as power, identity, technology, media and ignorance. Bradbury initially wrote this novella to showcase the power of knowledge and independent ideas is getting slowly erased from society. All though the book was only written in 1953, the novel displays issues that are present in our current society today. The novel pictures a dark future in dystopian society in 2049 in a city in America where censorship is at its all time high. Independent thought and knowledge is forbidden. Books are banned and the media displays information controlled by the goverment. The protagonist Guy Montag works as a firemen but is nowhere near what firemen do in our world today. The firemen in this society have a job which is burn down books and burn down the houses containing those books. Books are seen as deluded and dangerous to one another. Even uttering the phrase ‘’Once upon a time’’ is forbidden. Guy Montag at the beginning is proud of his job and is convinced that he is copoerating to society but throughout the novel he begins slowly realising the issues with his job and all together how corrupt the modern society functions due to many reasons. One of the reasons is his wife Mildred. Mildred is a representation of the average citizen in this society. Mildred spends majority of her day by watching interactive television and listens to Seashell radios. Mildred refuses to face reality and is unknowledgeable with the fact that a threat of an atomic war is likely. Montag himself begins to question if he really loves Mildred after meeting a young 17 year old girl called Clarisse. Clarisse is another one of the reason Montag begins questioning his job of a firemen as Clarisse herself is very curious of reality. She is constantly spotted by Montag walking and literally doing nothing which is not a norm as most people in this society spend their hours watching interactive television. Clarisse mentions to Montag how Firemen would take out fires instead of cause them. This is unknown to Montag and begins questioning himself. Montag also meets a former professor called Faber who talks to him about the importance of values and ideas and together him and Montag gather a plan to take down fire station by planting books into fireman’s houses. The book was written in 1949 at the height of the Cold War at a time in America where books containing communist ideas were being burned and country’s like Russia are under a fully dictatorship rule. The book has also stated many predictions which are correct such as short attention spans. An example is shown when people drive extremely quickly in Their Jet cars. This is shown in the present time where now people expect faster food delivery, faster transport and internet. Another prediction stated In the novel is lack of direct of socialization between people. This is shown where Mildred is described to spend all her day watching through her interactive television. This is shown in the present time where the average person spend around 5 hours a day on the TV. The novel overall has many other predictions and messages displayed in the novella. I think ‘Fahrenheit 451’ is a fantastic book however it is not the easiest of reads as it is written in a confusing which is seemed to be done intentionally as it portrays the constant ramblings of a man descending into madness. If you are a fan of books about dystopian society I deeply recommend this to you.