Book 1: Post 2

Welcome back everyone! So far, I have been reading Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Check out my first post to learn more about the author. Although I had said before that I did not like science fiction that much, I have to say, Ray Bradbury has grabbed my interest. The book is centered on a fireman who does the exact opposite of what you might think. You might think he goes out and tries to stop fires from burning down buildings and other objects, but in this book, the fireman’s job is to start fires. You see, books are forbidden in this future dystopian society, so the firemen receive alarms to burn books and the houses and buildings containing. I like the background concept of the book, but some of the rising action has been quite sad, since the citizens do not see the problem with burning books. When I read lines like, “Mildred’s hand had frozen behind the pillow. Her fingers were tracing the book’ outline and as the shape became familiar her face looked surprised and then stunned” (Bradbury 60), it opens your eyes to the characters’ innocence. This line described Mildred, the main character’s wife, finding a book in the house and starting to worry. Since the society has never read books, they are completely oblivious to the knowledge that they can impart on someone. Reading this line and thinking about the history behind this book, I feel that Bradbury did a really nice job fitting a future situation to a society and analyzing the effects of that situation on the people. When this book was written in the 1950’s, television was just starting to become widespread, and since all the characters do in the book is watch TV in their spare time, I feel that Bradbury wrote this book to shed light on the dangerous implications of television on a future society. Overall, it is getting very interesting, and I cannot wait to check out the rest of the book, which by the way is not burned to a crisp, since I don’t live in a future society. Stay tuned for more updates and upload your opinions in the comments below!