Nov 27, 2003 08:31 AM
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(Updated Nov 27, 2003 08:31 AM)
Imagine a date in the not-so-distant future, when reading is banned and books are burnt; a time when thinking is frowned upon and walking for pleasure is considered eccentric. It is in this worst of times that 'Fahrenheit 451' is set.
The protagonist is Guy Montag, a typical inhabitant of such a world. Montag is a professional fireman. Ironically the word 'fireman' has a diametrically opposite connotation to its present meaning. He is in fact one who sets fire; one who burns books, to be exact. Members of the squad of firemen scent books with their Electric Hound and then seek those books and burn them.
Montag is perfectly content with his life and his work, doing his duties without question. He realises that books cause people to think; they disturb otherwise orderly lives and minds, and so they must be destroyed. But then one day he meets his new neighbour Clarisse McLellan, and his life is turned completely upside-down.....
Montag is made to understand the value and necessity of books. He puts down his can of kerosene and learns that to think is not a bad thing. But most of the people around him, including his wife, are reluctant, if not totally unwilling, to come around to his point of view. He becomes a misfit who feels that there is more to life than the 'family' on television. How Montag and the few who agree with him try to change the world forms the rest of the book.
The book is fascinating because it is so easy to believe and dread that it may actually come true. Thanks to the oversimplification of media people no longer have the attention span to do anything constructive. Conformity is the order of the day. Everyone has become more and more willing to take the easy way out. Maybe the next step would be burning books….
Reading this book gives you a whole new perspective. It is a lot like Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’ in that aspect. The message that comes through is -- go read so-called subversive books, stay away from the abridged classics and tabloids. Unleash the power of the written word.
