Fahrenheit 451...

Well I just finished reading Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" and it was pretty short. The story was about a fireman named Guy Montag who starts fires when it comes to burning books and he always enjoyed it for 10 years. He just loves burning books but never really knew why he loves it or even why he's doing it until he met Clarisse McClellan one fateful night. She was an odd girl who thinks and wonders about a lot of things especially when she talks about what kind of content are in those burning books. Its because of these two things that later Montag started to question the reason why people started burning books and why others try to hide them in a world that people fear them and prefer watching walls like his wife Mildred.

After reading the book, I feel as though its much like the world it is today. Not so many people read books unless its required or the option of recommendation. When Mildred was described as a woman who takes sleeping pills and watch the walls I thought of some people who are like that as well. My sister always watches TV and always laughing her ass off which leaves me to think that she's becoming dumber and dumber. She never really thinks or wonders about the why, what, when, who, and the how about what's around her. Although it seems at times that the subject spoken about can be depressing at times and we just move on to something else. When I read the part when Montag was sitting with the ladies and hearing them say all those cruel things about their kids, husbands, and wars it really pissed me off. I sort of felt the same when my mother talks about the things about me like how I should be, the way I look like, and how I should act. Everytime she mentions me it really just pisses me off but unfortunately I seem to be a coward in afraid of saying something back like the former English professor Faber.

When it story came to the climax, Montag already changed himself from burning books to reading and understanding them. He began to wonder about the world he's living in and how society was working without books. When Montag came back to the firehouse after being sick, he was cornered by Captain Beatty about him hiding and reading the forbidden books. It was then that it was time to leave his old job and home behind when the firefighters came to Montag's house and forced him to burn his home. When he did that, Montag turned on them and killed Beatty and ran as far away as he can possibly go. Afterwards, the constant jets that flew over the city throughout the books started a war and everything that he knew was no more. He traveled with a group of leftover intellects who also read books and decided to join them. When the war was over, all the cities were destroyed and the people who changed Montag were gone but not forgotten. In the end, Montag and his group moved on to build a new world to start over with knowledge from the books they read.

I believe that Bradbury thinks books can change someone's thoughts and step away from the harsh reality that is life. This can be true but not everyone can agree because sometimes even watching TV can take your mind off things if you know what you're watching. As for how it relates to the lectures, a while ago the class watched a film called "Style Wars", which talks about the graffiti bombers in NYC back in the 80's. Some bombers like Cap and Seen paint the trains to take their name and spread it around the city to see their name just to show off their art and for people to know their name. Like the bombers, the book people in Fahrenheit 451 try to spread their ideals from the countless books they read like the Bible, Dickens, Shakespeare, and other well-known writers even if its against the law.

Overall the story is pretty interesting.