Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451 The book Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, takes place in an unnamed futuristic city sometime in the twenty-fourth century. The environment is unimaginably modern, for technological evolution has changed society into a fantasy land. Doors are programmed to announce visitors before they even arrive. Books are illegal, as is any true thought. Mankind has become lazy and ignorant because of the extreme advances in technology. In actuality, the people no longer know how to perform simple, every-day chores that we do, because a machine has been invented to do anything and everything mankind needs. Although the city seems completely disconnected from our society, there are some familiar things, like neighborhoods, cars, and trees. However there are also many fictional creations, like the Mechanical Hound, a robot designed to search for and kill those who infringe on the law once it has been programmed with their scent. Houses are so well made that there are never fires so firemen start fires rather than extinguish them. Houses also have built-in alarms that ring when someone has a book in his or her possession, alerting the firemen to go there and begin the burning, for books are absolutely against the law and are immediately burned when found. There are so many suicide attempts that doctors are always on hand to pump stomachs or tend to self-inflicted wounds. Even within the confines of this odd society, it is comforting to find that certain things like making your bed and eating breakfast still exist. The main character in this story, Guy Montag, is a fireman. He obeyed the laws, as most of the people did, for all of his life until now. He met an odd young girl, Clarisse McClellan who strangely enjoyed simple things from nature such as flowers and birds. Because everyone in this society listens to everything their government tells them and the people rarely have any spontaneous thought, this girl causes Montag to see life slightly differently. Montag now has to decide whether the life he has been living is the correct way to live or if he should rebel against the way of life taught to him as a child. The way the book is written immediately pulls the reader into the story. Bradbury's word choice makes the futuristic, imaginary environment seem realistic. I really liked how much the story changed as the book progressed. Montag went from being one person, to being the extreme opposite. For example, Montag was a fireman who, without question, enforced and obeyed the law. By the end of the book Montag was forced to hide and live outside the city with others of his caliber in order to live. For they were all most-likely being pursued by the Mechanical Hound for possession of books as well as a murder Montag committed just before he fled from the city. The book, overall, was excellent. However, I did not enjoy it as much as I would have if the book was not as depressing. It tells much of what Montag was thinking. Montag seemed to have a bit of a guilty conscious so he was constantly pondering the decisions he has made or is itching to make. He often realized a possible negative outcome. He spent the whole book hiding his thoughts, actions, and new beliefs about life and the society he lives in. The novel was, for the most part, an easy read. Although the style of writing was abstract, it was understandable. I suggest this book to anyone who enjoys fictional reading.