Imagine yourself in a United States where books are illegal to read. And the firemen, instead of stopping fires, start fires. The government sends firemen to burn houses of people who read books. What would happen if one of these firemen was caught owning, reading, and memorizing books? The result was Ray Bradbury's popular Fahrenheit 451.
In an interview, Bradbury (who passed away in 2012) said that he discovered 451 Fahrenheit is the temperature at which books burn. This is how he came up with a title for his book.
SUMMARY
It is the 24th Century. In the USA, books are forbidden. Readers are introduced to fireman Guy Montag, who has the job of starting fires. The laws were clear: books (and the houses in which they were hidden) were meant for burning.
Montag enjoys his job...that is, until he meets seventeen-year-old Clarisse McClellan. She asks whether or not he is truly happy. Montag begins to rethink his life. He realizes it is quite a mess. He burns innocent people and his wife is addicted to sleeping pills. He loves his wife (or at least believes he does...), Mildred, but their relationship is falling apart.
After work each day, he talks with Clarisse to try and discover how she can be so happy when the world has rejected her. One day, though, the young girl is not where she normally is. Her family's home (located next to Montag's) is empty.
Soon after, Montag contacts a professor named Faber. Together, they work out a plan to slowly introduce books around their city and eventually the world. Montag is soon discovered and goes on the run, abandoned by his wife.
The book leaves us with somewhat of a cliff hanger, but also with some interesting thoughts on books, philosophy, and censorship. Montag survives being chased by a monster called the Mechanical Hound and meets some homeless people who also love books. Their plan is to train future genarations (their children and grandchildren) to memorize each at least one book.
CONTENT
Fahrenheit 451 is a well-written book. Unfortunately, language appears throughout the entire novel. D*** is used many times and God's name is used just as much. There are also uses of h***, but nothing stronger than these words (though God's name is not to be used lightly).
Violence is also something to be aware of. The most violent scenes are in which houses (and even people) are burned. Montag also murders some men towards the end of the book. These scenes, though, are not too descriptive.
Mildred, as I said earlier, is addicted to sleeping pills. In one scene, Montag discovers that she has used up an entire bottle. Also, Montag frequently meets with young Clarisse McClellan, but their relationship is nothing more than friendship. I recall nothing inappropriate other than one scene where she has Montag rub a dandelion under his chin. She says that if yellow marks are left behind, he is in love. There are no yellow marks, yet Montag is married. This, of course, was not very inappropriate.
Some important themes in the book are that of knowledge, learning, and censorship. In today's age of Kindles, Nooks, and iPads, I think we are having less and less respect for the written word. I am not saying the world of Fahrenheit 451 is going to be our future, but I do think we can be more aware of things like censorship.
Although Bradbury was not a Christian, the Bible and Christianity were mentioned several times throughout the novel. I do not recall anything blasphemous, but the point of view was from an unbeliever.
The novel was on my optional 6th grade reading list. I finally got around to reading it this April and May (and also got the privelage of listening to it read by the author!). Looking back on the book, I'm glad I did not read it as an eleven-year-old. I believe that I would not have been able to get all I could out of it. I got much more out of it as I read it in high school. This book is wonderful and I can see why it was a bestseller (selling around 5 million copies). I think everyone who reads this will get a lot out of it.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Number of pages: 179
Author of book: Ray Bradbury
Published in: 1953
Primary audience: Teens, Adults (parents may want to determine whether younger children can read this book)
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