Similarities Between Bradbury's World in Fahrenheit 451 and Ours Today

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a science fiction novel that warns us about a society without books and largely without knowledge. The novel provides some scary characterizations of what people have become and are becoming little by little. As our society stresses knowledge less or "dumbs down," there are striking similarities between our world and the world of Guy Montag.

First of all, Guy Montag is a fireman. Fireman in this world do not put out house fires. Houses have been fireproof for ages. Instead, fireman burn books that are found in the houses of others, and sometimes must burn people too. Guy Montag initially loves his job and comes from a long line of firemen. Books are said to make people unhappy, so society deals with that unhappiness by burning them. However, early on in the story, Montag comes home one night to find that his wife has overdosed on her pills. Instead of sending doctors or paramedics, the men who arrive are technicians trained to run machines. One pumps her stomach and the other one replaces all her blood. She is "good as new" just like any machine who has been freshly tuned up. When Montag asks her why she did it, she can't remember. She took one pill, then one more, and then who knows? It is clear that Mildred is not happy though. She puts in her "seashell radios" and zones out.

At this time, Montag meets Clarisse, who turns out to be his first catalyst. Clarisse appears out of nowhere as he is traveling home one night. She is a seventeen-year-old girl who is from one of those "strange" families that sit on the porch and talk to each other. She bubbles with energy as she talks to Montag and asks him all kinds of weird questions. However, the question that changes him is "Are you happy?" Until this moment it appears that Montag has lived his life and accepted it without questioning. He looks around at others that he knows and wonders whether they are happy either. Eventually this one question leads him to trying to read some of the books that he burns. Clarisse reminds him that there was a time when people were happier, when violence wasn't for entertainment, when people actually really talked to each other. Montag begins to question books and what part they played. Montag sees Clarisse every day and they talk as he has talked to no one else. Then, Montag steals a book from a woman whose house the firemen burn. As this goes on, the Mechanical Hound (set to specific DNAs) begins to growl at him. Montag begins to get paranoid; does Beatty (the fire chief) know that he has stolen a book; are they onto him? Then, he mentions to Mildred, his wife, that he hasn't seen Clarisse around lately. She tells him that she thinks the whole family was taken away; it had slipped her mind. For the first time ever, Montag has Millie call in sick for him, and Captain Beatty pays him a personal visit. He discusses with Montag how things got to the point they are. The world was wider once upon a time, and could allow more variety. However, books started to make people unhappy. In other words, books contradict each other and may discuss unpleasant things or things that make people think. People became unhappy. At the same time, everything had to get faster, faster, faster. People didn't want to read a book when they could read the condensed version or better yet, watch a movie clip. People lost interest in books and information so it was not hard to get them outlawed. After Beatty leaves, Montag begins to read a book. This section is called The Hearth and the Salamander (which is symbolic of the hose used to burn books).

The next section is called The Sieve and the Sand. Montag reads the book and comes away confused. He begins to think about who might be able to help him and remembers a retired English professor named Faber. He retrieves his address and goes to visit him. Meanwhile, Millie gets intrigued in yet another television program with an interactive part for her. Montag tries to memorize sections of The Bible as he goes to Faber's house, but he finds himself unable to remember or understand the information. Faber explains a lot of things to Faber but one really important thing. He tells Montag that the world needs is quality of information like that found in books, the leisure to analyze and understand it, and the right to act on that understanding. We could gain information in other ways than books, so books are not entirely to blame. Montag and Faber devise a plan to steal some books and get them to a printer friend of Faber's. Faber even gives Montag a two-way radio so they can communicate. When Montag gets home, Millie has friends over. He is so disgusted by their nonchalance and ignorance that he tries to talk about the war with them. They are unfazed even though one of them had a husband killed in the war. He ends up getting really mad at them and reading poetry. Faber knows they are in trouble and sure enough, when Montag goes to work, they answer a call at his own house.

The next section is called Burning Bright and is when Montag escapes the city after he burns and kills Captain Beatty. He escapes to a place outside the city where there are lots of people who have memorized books, led by a man named Granger. The city is blown up in the war, and it is unknown whether Granger and the other "book people" are the only ones left. Fire has now become a way for Granger and the others to gather and tell their stories.

Guy Montag is the main character, the fireman who completely changes throughout the course of the book. His wife Millie is unhappy but not able to admit it. She watches "the family" on TV and smokes cigarettes. Other major characters are Clarisse, Faber and Granger. Clarisse is the girl who leads Montag to his first epiphany. Faber is the retired English professor who develops a plan with Montag, and Granger is the leader of the book people where Montag escapes at the end. Beatty is the fire chief and Montag's boss. Montag burns him in order to escape.

I really enjoyed this book. Science fiction always has a way of making a person think, and Ray Bradbury is a master at this. Bradbury's fictional world is set at a point when books have been outlawed, and being intellectual is frowned upon. This kind of reminds me of our world. More and more, people don't read. They want the speedy solution to everything. Apathy has grown rampant. Movies and reality television are popular, and anyone can get their 15 minutes of fame on television, just like Millie's interactive script. Everyone loves action. Sitting around talking, getting to know people is boring. We must always be active. Violence has become fun as well in this novel. Teenagers go to the car wrecking place as an amusement park, and everyone drives too fast. Of course, this sounds familiar too. School is about recitation of simple facts, and everyone has only specialized knowledge. Being a well-rounded citizen is no longer valued. Again, I see a connection between Bradbury's world and our world. Everyone wants to see a direct connection between what they learn and what they can do, and the quicker, the better. Montag is a very appealing character as he is in the midst of a personal crisis trying to figure out what is truly important in life. He doesn't want to be just one of the "droneless many" and struggles to find meaning and true fulfillment. Those things are hard to find in this life or any other. Clarisse seems a little flighty but is preferable compared to Millie. Heck, a monkey at the zoo is preferable to people like Millie. Even in this world where everything runs at high speed with little content, it is hopeful to have characters like Montag, Faber, and Granger to let us know that there are people out there who aren't happy with the current system. In our world, there are still people who read and care about substance instead of the "mindless many." The book ends on an incredibly hopeful note for all of us.