Corruption in Fahrenheit 451 Essay

Could you imagine a world where firefighters start fires rather than putting them out? What if you lived in a society where the people do not read books, enjoy nature, spend time by themselves, think independently, or have meaningful conversations? Instead, they watch excessive amounts of TV on wall-size sets, drive super fast, and listen to the radio on seashell sets attached to their ears. This is Guy Montags strange world presented in the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

In Fahrenheit 451,Guy Montag is a fireman who starts fires and burns books in a futuristic American city. Guy meets a delicate seventeen-year-old girl named Clarisse McClellan, whose penetrating questions, unusual love of people and loves of nature, opens Montags eyes to the emptiness of his own life. Over the next few days after meeting Clarisse, Montag experiences a disturbing series of events. First, Mildred, Guys wife, attempts suicide by swallowing a whole bottle of sleeping pills. Then, when Guy responds to a call that an elderly woman had a stash of hidden books, the woman shocks him by wanting to be burned alive with her books. Then a few days after, he learns that Clarisse was been killed by a speeding car. These events led Guys depression to increase and he begins to search for a solution from an old stash of stolen books hidden inside his air-conditioning vent. Overwhelmed by the task of reading, Montag seeks for help from his wife, who declined to watch TV, and then gets help from an old, retired English professor named Faber. When reading, the two men concoct a risky scheme to overthrow the status quo in their society. Faber will contact a printer and begin reproducing books, and Montag will plant books in the homes of firemen to discredit the profession and to destroy the machinery of censorship. Due to defining the norms of society, Montag was forced to burn down his house and was arrested by Betty; but Montag was able to later escape. Montag goes to Faber's house, where he learns that a new Hound has been put on his trail, along with several helicopters and a television crew. Faber tells Montag that he is leaving for St. Louis and so Montag gives Faber money for his trip to try and get help. Montag then takes some of Faber's old clothes and runs off toward the river and whole city watches as the chase unfolds on TV; but Montag manages to escape in the river. He drifted downstream into the country and followed a set of abandoned railroad tracks until he found a group of renegade intellectuals, who welcome him. The group is a part of a nationwide network of book activists who memorized many great works of literature and philosophy. Due to the war, the city was bombed and the group moved on to search for survivors and rebuild civilization.

Ray Bradbury, American novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, screenwriter and poet, has an established reputation as a writer of courage and vision. Ray Bradbury has never confined his vision to the purely literary. Ray Bradbury's work has been included in four Best American Short Story collections. He has been awarded the O. Henry Memorial Award, the Benjamin Franklin Award, the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement, and the Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America, the PEN Center USA West Lifetime Achievement Award, among others. In November 2000, the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters was conferred upon Mr. Bradbury at the 2000 National Book Awards Ceremony in New York City.

In my opinion, the novel Fahrenheit 451, was very confusing, hard to read and very difficult to relate to or keep an interest in. Although the novel has an interesting and unique storyline, it is very unrealistic and hard to imagine. I could never imagine a society corrupted enough to burn literature, not communicate often and be so involved in their own lives. From the beginning the novel seemed so strange to me, as to present firefighters who start fires and burn such important things to the success of our society, such as books.

The novel Fahrenheit 451 presents a whole new idea of social norms and a corrupted society. I could not imagine living the life of Guy Montag, living where people do not read books, enjoy nature, spend time by themselves, think independently, or even have meaningful conversations. Although I was not able to relate to the futuristic city and different values, I was able to relate to the group of intellectuals, led by Granger, and their quest for change.