It is a tough question to answer whether this book is an accurate representation of events in history because this book is in a fictional setting. I guess there could be points made that agree with history, but I would say it does not reflect historic events. Montag says “We’ve started and won two atomic wars since 1990” (Bradbury, 73.) This is technically not historically correct because we are past this year in the real world, but the book was written over fifty years ago.
Bradbury shows responsibility for Montag and his boss the fire chief, Beatty. Beatty seems like he was once in the same situation that Montag is in now. The difference seems to be that Beatty thinks on his own a lot better than Montag can. Montag has always had the parlor and seashells tell him what to do like most people, but now he knows that can’t continue. He can’t seem to drop this habit because he has Faber right in his ear telling him what to do. It is weird that Beatty can see the importance of books, but still work towards burning them like a mindless fireman. The relation that Montag and Beatty have is very interesting, but Montag ends it when he burns his fire chief.
I think the author must have been influenced to write this book by seeing people losing interest in books. That is basically what causes things to change in Fahrenheit 451. I think he wanted to show that people need to remain interested in books because they offer knowledge and other things that people can’t get any other way. I guess books are technically seeing a bad time today because of technology. Books are becoming useless because of the internet, and being able to just simply download books. I am not sure that much more could have been an influence to Bradbury. He most likely just had a story to tell and a message to give.
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Ballantine, 2003. Print.
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