Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury's highly acclaimed dystopian classic, Fahrenheit 451, depicts the gruesome tale of a futuristic American society in which books are outlawed. Instead of putting out fires, firemen burn all hidden books and imprison their owners. The novel follows Guy Montag, a fireman who loves his life, and has never questioned his career. When Guy meets a seventeen-year-old girl named Clarisse, however, he begins to challenge his happiness, job, and the entire life he has led. In the days after Guy's newfound realization about the world around him, he is called out to a house where an old woman has been hoarding a stash of books. When ordered to leave her house, the women refuses and instead lights a match and lets the house burn around her. Stunned, Guy is unable to fathom why a person would be willing to die for some old books. Ultimately enthralled, Guy steals a book from the old women's house and smuggles it home. In the days following Guy's thievery, his wife is disgusted by the collection of books that Guy has secretly built up over the course of a year. Alone and confused, Guy seeks out the help of Faber, an old professor who teaches Montag about the importance and necessity of literature. At this point, not only is Guy repulsed by the society he lives in, but subsequently, the fire chief becomes aware of the crime Guy has committed. When Guy's colleagues arrive at his house to burn both it and his beloved books, Montag must runaway in order to preserve the knowledge and rebellion brewing within.

First and foremost, I have to say that I absolutely love the concept behind this novel. Although it is a dystopian story, the elements of the dystopia are not overpowering. The story almost seems as if it is believable or could potentially occur. This was likely due to the fact that there were a large number of diverse connections between this fictitious society and the real one we live in today. There is a striking resemblance between family structure, modern technologies, and general attitudes within the novel and among the current population. The reality of the novel could also have been created by the fact that the story took place in a futuristic American setting. Many references were made to modern cities, historical figures, etc, which made the overall ideas of the novel easier to connect with.

I will say that I discovered one vise within the novel, and it revolved around the fact that the story was slightly confusing. I found myself struggling, at times, to keep up with the rapid pace of the novel. This was probably due to Bradbury's use of futuristic technologies that do not exist. Perhaps the greatest confusion of all, however, was the constant references to the "parlor families." Although I had a pretty good idea of what a parlor family was by the end of the story, the strange terminology and lack of any comparable system within our own era made this futuristic invention hard to grasp. Ultimately, it was difficult to obtain a solid idea regarding what exactly a parlor family was.

Despite the quick pacing of the story, I ultimately thought Bradbury created a nice flow within the book. Because it was extremely fast-paced, there was never time to lose interest in the sometimes-tedious events of the story. Subsequently, I enjoyed the feeling of suspense that carried throughout the novel. The book was nearly the antithesis of predictable, and I felt that I never truly knew what Guy was going to do next. Finally, I thought that the most shocking element of the story was the astounding resolution and Guy's speedy departure. Although I normally feel that a book should have a definite ending, the slightly open-ended resolution truly worked well within this novel. I actually enjoyed the somewhat unresolved culmination for a change. Despite the slight confusion within the novel, I thought Fahrenheit 451 was astounding. I have never felt so personally affected by the subject matter within a book before, and I feel that Bradbury's story truly hit a soft spot inside of me. I would give special recommendation of this book to people who are true book-lovers and passionate about literature, for Fahrenheit 451 definitely breached an important subject surrounding the censorship of books.