Fahrenheit 451

December 17, 2009 nicoleuhl

Imagine a world without books. Imagine a world where education and reading are not encouraged, yet alone banned. Banned by the very own governmennt. Backwards? Maybe. Strange? Possibly. Wrong? Definitely.

Fahrenheit 451 tells the struggle of Guy Montag, a firefighter. However, he isn’t your typical firefighter. Instead of extinguishing fires Montag ignites them. Yes, you heard me right, he starts them. What is he burning you may ask? The firefighters in this in this community burn books along with the houses in which they were hidden.

Montag never seemed to have a problem with his job. He never questioned burning the books, or the houses they were in. He never felt guitly about any of it. As a matter of fact, he felt pleasure by doing this, as we know, awful act. He never questioned this until he met Clarisse. She told him of a time when books flourished. Will Montag stay with the ways of his past? Or will he seek a new life? A life where books are.

I wasn’t a huge fan of Fahrenheit 451. I felt that the story was strange. The Mechanical Hound? Just plain weird, I thought. Even the story line itself was weird. I never really connected with the story or the characters. And the one character I did feel somewhat of a connection with, Clarrise, was only in the picture for a limited time.

One positive that I did like about Fahrenheit 451 was Bradbury’s use of symbolism and metaphors. I will admit, some of them went totally over my head, but the ones I was able to pick up on really hit home. Books were portrayed as a symbol of knowledge but also freedom, which I really liked.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the book. 2 out of 5 stars.