Reflection on the Idea of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury - Essay Example

A Review of Fahrenheit 451 Fahrenheit 451 is no doubt one of the most significant novels in the present time that is derived from pulp fiction, which Ray Bradbury has transformed into one of the most influential in the society to date. An excellent piece of literature that talks about the future of the society, that is, one where being ignorant is more important than being knowledgeable, this book talks about how a what happens to the society whose people are deprived of their rights to be learn through books. The book is an excellent source of literature that would enlighten any of its readers about how technology has deprived humanity of obtaining the great power of reason by the burning of books. One of the reasons why this book is worth reading is the complexity of the characters that Bardbury had presented in the novel. Each character in the story closely represents every individual in the society at the moment, who by the way, is far from being perfect. The protagonist himself, Guy Montag, is unusually flawed. Like any member of the community, he does his job the way he thought he does it in the most responsible way, the way his supervisor, Captain Beatty, told him to. He used not to question his role as a fireman who burns houses of people who were found to own books. Although, not until the time when he thought everything seemed no longer normal as they should after meeting the young and carefree Clarisse McClellan, who unlike her wife asks a lot of questions and enjoys having conversation with people. In fact, it was after that unusual conversation with the young Clarisse that the main character was suddenly able to see the world in a different perspective. The revelation that Montag himself has been stealing books from the houses they burn and hiding them in a safe place shows how the person he was before has transformed into somebody his job basically was against. His weakness as the main character in the story was more evident when Montag came to a point where he burned his supervisor, Beatty, to death when the latter found out about his secret of keeping books. Instead of burning his house where he was found to be of possession of books, which is in fact a criminal offense, he burned Beatty. The plot of Fahrenheit 451 is in itself controversial. Ironically, firemen burning people and houses, and the government depriving its people of gaining knowledge – these are the basically what the book was about. Although these ideas may seem too bizarre to happen in the society nowadays, the novel presents more concrete representations of the society than this. There are too many ironies in the story that are in fact happening in what used to be the future when Bradbury wrote the novel. Instead of protecting the people, which is basically the main purpose of the government and the people with authority, they are but the reasons why individuals get hurt. All this is because of the sole reason that people were found to possess books in their homes. Published only six decades ago, this novel was able to predict the future of the society. It may not be the twenty-fourth century yet, though, if the society now is observed closely by everyone, there is in fact more similarities it has with the picture Bradbury created in Fahrenheit 451. Ignorance and knowledge are the essential issues that are presented as the theme in Bradbury’s book. The burning of books in the novel draws us into the idea that the government could only care less about the welfare of its people so long as they remain ignorant and incapable of creativity and imagination that books could bring. The books simply illustrates what kinds of people the society in the future would have – dumb and powerless. How much would humanity sacrifice in the future in order to liberate himself from the deprivation of acquiring knowledge and improving imagination? No other novels could present as much similarity to the world today as this novel by Bradbury. Television is, undoubtedly, the most valuable possession in every home nowadays. In each corner of the house, there is the television. They are not only found in the living room nowadays, but in the bedroom, in the kitchen, and even in the toilet. People would not mind spending hundreds of dollars for bigger television sets for better viewing experience. Just as the Fahrenheit 451 has predicted in the story, people have become more absorbed in watching television, which limits their imagination and shuts them out to the world that is made more colorful of the various proses and proems that enlightened authors composed in the past and present, who see it in a different perspective. People would rather not give time to read books anymore for such act is but a waste of time, yet they spend hours sitting in from of the television, without bothering to talk to the next person sitting right next to them inside the same house within the family. Bradbury brought out several symbolisms in the story that were essential in the interpretation of the novel. One of the most significant though was the kerosene used by the firemen to burn houses. In his conversation with Clarisse, he told the young woman that he never washes it off completely (Bradbury 1996). It has become like a drug that makes them feel good about themselves when ones olfactory nerve senses it. Just as one embraces sin or guilt, nobody realizes how letting it go by washing oneself off it would lead to the awareness of its consequences. By destroying people’s properties as well as live by burning them with kerosene, this situation is an illustration of how inhuman such acts could be. If buying a huge television set and learning something from the shows watched in it are worth every cent that is spent on it, the experience in reading Fahrenheit 451 is way more satisfying. The novel enlightens us of the various issues that the society is facing now. It provides various essential information in understanding the social issues that concerns censorship of information, which supposedly should not happen for it is a natural common right of every individual to gain access to any information one hopes to acquire. Work Cited: Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Random House, 1996. Print. Read More