Fahrenheit 451 shows that Bradbury has a strong value for books. Books are a large part of the story with many symbols. The main character, Montag, reads books in a sense of revolt and knowledge. He is revolting against his occupation and the law. It is illegal to read books, and his job is to burn them. He has seen during his life and his work that people who read books are much different than others. When Montag has to burn a woman’s house that is holding books, he tries to help the woman get out of there. She refuses to leave and actually starts the fire herself. Montag wants to understand how something could cause a person to have no fear of death. He starts to read books, and he wants a sort of revolution to come.
The author also shows his attitude of the future. He actually showed how it is possible for this story to become reality. It was written over fifty years ago and it has not happened yet, but is a somewhat practical idea. It was the people that stopped reading books. Bradbury says that people soon stopped educating themselves. This then got to the point where books became completely illegal. The book is also realistic in the wars. Montag says “We’ve started and won two atomic wars since 1990” (Bradbury, 73.) The year must not be far from 1990 by the way he says it. They also go into another war shortly after. Bradbury must have really believed that atomic wars were not only going to be imminent, but soon a constant repetition that does not end. I do not think this type of society will ever actually happen, but I believe that education can deplete over generations and that atomic wars are possible. People will not be so easy to give up books and meaningful knowledge as long as they are instilled with how important knowledge is. Everyone needs to be taught this like Clarisse, and then it will not be a problem.
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Ballantine, 2003. Print.
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