Ray Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit 451was written in the early 1950s--just a few years after the world experienced the horrifying atrocities of World War II. Not only did Hitler kill millions of people, but he authorized and required massive book burnings to censor anything that disagreed with his racist philosophy. Even though the political atmosphere is different, and the technology imagined in the novel seems limited compared to what we actually have today, the message...
Ray Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit 451 was written in the early 1950s--just a few years after the world experienced the horrifying atrocities of World War II. Not only did Hitler kill millions of people, but he authorized and required massive book burnings to censor anything that disagreed with his racist philosophy. Even though the political atmosphere is different, and the technology imagined in the novel seems limited compared to what we actually have today, the message of the novel still rings true.
One relevant message of the story shows that society can become so lazy and distracted that the most important elements of an abundant life can be lost. There are two major issues happening in the book. First, the law of the land prohibits the spread of ideas through any type of literature; so, they publicly burn the homes and books of the people who own them. The second problem is that people get so wrapped up in their technology and entertainment that they don't realize they are missing some valuable aspects of life, such as connecting with other people.
One of the best parts of the book is when Faber and Montag are discussing technology and entertainment. Montag's wife has three TVs set up in their parlor and she zones out each night by listening to the radio during bedtime. (They are not unlike our huge TV screens and earbuds of today--only we also have game systems and mobile devices to distract us from our relationships.) Montag explains the problem as follows:
"Nobody listens any more. I can't talk to the walls because they're yelling at me. I can't talk to my wife; she listens to the walls. I just want someone to hear what I have to say. And maybe if I talk long enough, it'll make sense. . . We have everything we need to be happy, but we aren't happy. Something's missing. I looked around. The only thing I positively knew was gone was the books I'd burned in ten or twelve years. So I thought books might help" (82).
This passage perfectly explains our world today, so yes, the story is still relevant. Later, the argument surfaces that people didn't pay attention to books when they had them anyway, so whether or not the government burned books was almost a non-topic. If we don't absorb and discuss the deeper issues found in books and other media, we may lose them and become so passive in life that we won't live full lives. We may miss out on the best parts of life, in fact.
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