February 2020 Classic of the Month: 'Fahrenheit 451'

Why Ray Bradbury's story about books being burned should be taken as a lesson.

'Fahrenheit 451' by Ray Bradbury, 165 pages - Instagram @c_reads_books

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The classic of the month for February 2020 is Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. This book is an undeniable classic that I first read about a year and a half ago.

This dystopian novel is Bradbury’s most famous work, and maybe my personal favorite of his, if I had to choose, although so much of his work is absolutely amazing, especially his short stories (sorry for the run-on). This classic science fiction story depicts any book-lover’s nightmare, a future world where books are outlawed and burned by firemen. A truly horrifying thought makes for a powerfully resonant story.

Guy Montag, one of the many firemen, who start rather than put out fires, readily subscribes to the policy, until he meets a seventeen-year-old girl, who is peculiar in terms of the society’s twisted policies. Clarisse makes Guy really think about why he burns books, and helps him realize the extent of how corrupt his actions are.

Clarisse is, for this exact reason, my favorite character in this book. She proclaims herself to be “seventeen and crazy,” one of my all-time favorite character descriptions. She goes on to tell Guy about her uncle, who was arrested for being a pedestrian, an allusion to another amazing Bradbury story, aptly titled, The Pedestrian.

After Guy’s revelation, he begins to do what any true human would do, steal the books he is supposed to be burning. He starts reading and learning the true beauty of writing, something that his government is trying to unjustly obliterate.

Bradbury’s version of the future, as shown through this novel, is undeniably grim and haunting, yet hopeful in its ending. Guy is exposed for his actions, and, in a very dramatic sequence of events, chased. Guy is forced to run for his life to protect the knowledge and beauty he has acquired through reading, with him being at least partially successful, with Guy and his society’s endings never being completely revealed.

One of the reasons that I resonated so deeply with this book was, naturally, Bradbury’s expression of the power of reading. Books give us knowledge, and, more than that, a new perspective and insight on life.

Books transport us to new worlds, and reading gives us an immense amount of empathy. Life is truly boring and mundane without reading, for without books, we lose one of the most valuable ways to learn and be inspired to think deeply. Books give us awareness of a world outside ourselves, and touch us in ways that other media cannot.

I, for one, can certainly say that my life would be different without reading. I would not be as worldly, intelligent, or empathetic if I had not read some of the books that are my favorites. Even the ones that I did not particularly love still, in one way or another, taught me something and affected the person I am today.

A world without books is one without love, joy, sorrow, hope, and wisdom, one I have no desire to live in. If you are considering whether to pick up Fahrenheit 451, or any book for that matter, just remember the words of Guy Montag, “We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?”