Fahrenheit 451

The novel, "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury, focused on censorship. Throughout the novel, the characters were shielded from books to prevent them from being anything more than what society brought them up to be. The protagonist, Guy Montag, was a fireman who instead of putting out fires, set them to a blaze. As a fireman, his duty was to find books and burn them. Guy Montag was content with his job, until a woman was burnt alive with her books. His mind began to wonder what was written in these books that was worth dying for. He no longer wished to vanquish the evils which lie on the pages within the books, but to learn from them. By doing this, he puts his life in danger because society censors the mind and does not encourage knowledge learned from books.

"Cram them full of noncombustible data, chock them so full of damned 'facts' they feel stuffed, but absolutely 'brilliant' with information" (61).
This quote emphasizes the theme of censorship, which is very significant to the novel. In this quote, Beaty explained to Montag about how controlled the minds of society really were. They only have knowledge of what they have been taught, and what they had learned is harmless information. Beaty uses the word "noncombustible" to describe the information each person received. They cannot ignite any issues because they do not have the superior knowledge to make them want to do otherwise. All in all, the people are made the feel smart when in reality it is not the case.

I did not enjoy reading this book. It seemed too far fetched and it bored me. It did not seem believable that a whole society could turn on books when they are so relied upon today. I found it hard to follow also. I had to re-read passages to understand where the author was going with it. The ending also ended too swiftly and I was at a loss. Science fiction is not my choice in novels as well, so that could also be the case as to why I did not enjoy this book.