Phillip Godel
Book Rational
Fahrenheit 451
By Ray Bradbury
Summary
The story takes place in a bleak future. Life has become fast paced and TV, a
very important part of the home now, replaced family and friends. Books, when found,
are burned by workers known as firemen. Montag is a fireman who feels that there is
something wrong about the life he’s been living. When he meets Clarisse, she makes him
think and he begins to look around at the world and see how desolate it is. When Clarisse
disappears, he begins to question everything he always knew about society and starts to
read books. Faber, an old college professor, takes Montag under his wing and begins to
teach him about life before firemen. Montag, who has been stealing books for a while,
questions his boss, Beatty, about books and the history of the fireman. Beatty tells him
that society didn’t want anybody offended and the only way to keep everybody happy
was to remove books, the item that made people think and question. Beatty warns
Montag to bring back the books he’s taken or else the hound, a mechanical killing
machine, will be sent for him. The next day, Montag returns one of the many stolen
books to be burned. Unfortunately his wife calls the fire department and reports that
there are books in the house and then leaves. Beatty once again threatens Montag and
tells him to burn his house and books, but instead Montag burns and kills Beatty and
escapes. On the run now, he goes and visits Faber for the last time to get supplies.
Montag is able to avoid the hound and leaves the city. Outside the city, he meets up with
others like himself who love books. They too burn books because it is dangerous to have
them, but they also memorize parts of them so that the knowledge isn’t lost forever.
Purpose
Science fiction is an important genre for students to read because there is no way
of truly foretelling the future, but many science fiction novels have foretold the future
(10,000 Leagues Under The Sea, From The Earth To The Moon, etc.). The reason this
novel is so important and should be taught to students is because it depicts what life may
be like if society did away with books, free speech, and free thinking. It tells us that we
should think for ourselves and question what society does because what society thinks
isn’t always right. This novel really points out the importance of reading.
Potential Problems
The largest problem with this book is that some people may find it objectionable
because it depicts horrid scenes of violence. Montag kills Beatty by burning him to
death, the hound chases somebody down and kills him, etc.