Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

“The magic is only in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us.” 

Fahrenheit 451 is a science fiction dystopian story about a world that has banned books. The world has become increasingly superficial. People are discouraged to think and ask questions. Television shows stimulate the senses and body rather than the brain. The protagonist is a firefighter, someone who burns books for a living. In the beginning, he is content in his life. But as he meets a very curious and unique seventeen-year-old girl, he begins to critically analyse. Through the course of the story, he starts to understand the importance of books in passing knowledge, philosophy and presenting to us both the good and bad in life, society and us.

Bradbury’s work for me was more of a poetic essay. A very short read, a very linear and simple plot but one that is heavily based on philosophy. A complete contrast to the world it presents in the book.  It shows that content ignorance, a world with no controversies, doesn’t lead to a happy life. As we see through the suicidal tendencies of Guy’s wife. Human relationships are also much more superficial, as people became shallower. So, while I agree with a more egalitarian society we cannot let political correctness and fear of offending, stop us from being critical or placing self/society imposed censoring on controversial pieces of work.  

I am personally a part of this problem...

I do sometimes prefer to live in ignorance or in my ‘bubble’. And I think that is sometimes okay. Living a life of constant preoccupation for the world and its people leads to a sufferable life. But it is important to reach a middle ground. It is important to at least be aware of things. And with that, we can do small actions to improve issues that we are passionate about. Because solving all the world’s problems at once is impossible, but if we can at least find one way to live our mark, I would say that is a great achievement.

But most of all this book shows the importance of always asking ‘why’ and ‘how’. And in our world of innovation this is very important and a moral that I live by. From home life to school to work always be critical and open to adaptation. Reading is a great pathway into new ideas and opening our minds to new worlds. It is also the best way to share our ideas and our questions. When authors write they do not need all the answers, they just need some questions. Indeed, it is probably in books that ask questions that readers get the most benefit from reading. This is the reason this blog post is a bit different to others. I realise I have not linked directly to the story. Instead, I made a personal decision to answer (and just go on a bit of a ramble) and discuss all the questions and issues that I got from my initial reading of Fahrenheit 451.

Bradbury presents a very possible reality or proximity to reality. With the shift of journalism from investigative journalism and newspapers to click-bait social media articles what we decide to read will impact the content that is released. So for every celebrity article you read, throw in some global politics or something that challenges your views.