Book Review: Fahrenheit 451

[Shiloh Adlar]

Book Title: Fahrenheit 451
Author: Ray Bradbury
Genre: Science Fiction, Classics

Bradbury has so much to say in only 190 pages, and I have to say, that I agree with him. Although, this book has been interpreted in so many different ways, so let me give you my interpretation. I take this book as Bradbury saying that television will rot our brains. Okay, that’s very simplified to the overall meaning of these words.

---Everything said hereafter is pure opinion based on my interpretation of the book and my personal perspective of the world---

Montag’s wife, Mildred, and many others in this dystopia sit around these panels which from my understanding are basically television screens. They get scripts to read and these people they interact with and watch on these panels become their ‘family.’ They even refer to them as ‘the family.’However, it was not always like this in this world. People used to read and enjoy books and spend time out on their front porches (which no longer exist either) talking and learning and thinking and coming up with ideas. But society kept pushing everyone to move faster and faster. There was no more time to talk and sit around to read. Everything now was based on what these panels told you, on what the media wanted you to believe. No one was allowed to think for themselves anymore.

You know how people often say they feel lonely even when they’re not alone? This is kind of what I’m getting from this book. Nowadays, people are stuck on social media. We count our worth by how many likes we have on tumblr and instagram or by how many friends we have on Facebook, but when do we ever have one to one human interaction now, flesh to flesh, where we can be touched or feel the presence of another person? Humans are wired for connection. Without that connection, things get thrown off, and this is exactly what’s happening in this dystopia. People are committing suicide and being reckless. No one talks to anyone anymore. Montag doesn’t even know his wife. He can’t even remember where they first met.

Technology is a great thing, don’t get me wrong, and the media can (and I say that lightly) be a good thing too. It does keep us informed about what’s going on in the world. And it is entertaining. Social media keeps us in contact with people we can’t physically be with because of long distances or other reasons. But I think people spend so much time on social media and watching television that eventually, it begins to teach us how to think. We begin to lose the ability to really and truly think for ourselves. Advertisements are pulling us in to buy their products. One ad says this, another says that. There’s a bunch of confusion.

But in reading, we gain knowledge and knowledge can be power if you know how to use it. People are afraid of what they don’t know, and sitting inside and not learning about the world only keeps us ignorant and afraid. I’ve had to do many exposures to get over fears and anxieties, including that of riding in a car again after the accident my brother and I were in that took his life. But I’m riding in cars. I’m driving a car. I’m driving long distances just to get home every now and then (over 17 hours!), and all it took was learning about myself by doing it. Not watching. Doing.

The world watches too often instead of doing, and the only things that we find ourselves doing is what society/the media tells us to do. What we’ve been conditioned to think.

This book, to me, is saying all of this. Learn to think for yourself. Get out and do. Read, learn and gain as much knowledge as you can, and stand up for what you believe in. Not what society or the media says is right.

I highly recommend it to everyone.

[Hannah R Thomas]

When I was in high school this was a required book for everyone to read (I hope it still is). I do agree that this is highly recommended Shiloh