“There is nothing magical in them, at all. The magic is what the books say.” I found this quote on page 111 of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 to be true and leading to future thought. This futurist book, like most of Ray Bradbury’s, reflects a highly possible idea of that books will be forgotten and even gotten rid of in the future. In a time when the population gets so big there are so many people to complain about the emotions caused by true literature, the authorities might take extreme measures as the one presented by the author in this adventurous book. This science fiction story contains fully developed characters that create drama, action and metamorphosis with each turning page. Full of flavor, color and sound; this book is an example of the great literature that people will want to get rid of in years to come.
The story takes place in an American city of the future where everybody was being pleased, or so thought the government. The population is enormous in the time of the story and, stated in page 87, “Bigger the population, the more minorities… The bigger your market, Montag, the less you handle controversy, remember that!” To avoid civil rights movements and complaints in a place full of different people with different beliefs, Firemen actually start fires; the worst ever seen. They are “official censors, judges, and executors” as described by the captain of the Firemen on page 88. Since all the houses are fireproof and there is no more need for firefighters, fire-igniters came along; burners of books. Montag, a frustrated married fireman who thinks is happy meets an eye-opener around the corner.
After his wife tries to commit suicide and is saved by the emergency doctors who are very busy at that time, Montag meets Clarisse Mc Clellan. This teenager has heard stories of the past, which is our present, and always walks with Montag until they reach their neighboring houses. She tells Montag about the truth that lies in books and how he destroys it. She questioned Montag and left in him in uncomfortable situations like that time she asked “Do you ever read any of the books you burn?” in page 37. Soon, the fireman starts realizing how people have no time for beautiful simple things in life and in the middle of his revelation, his young helper dies.
Subsequently, Montag starts trying to save the books and the knowledge that lies within the inked pages held together by the hands of people who still remember them. After burning a woman with her books, he becomes curious about what books might say and compromises his wife by committing the crime of keeping books in his house. In his desperation because of the situation with his wife which he talks about in page 110 by saying “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.” (The walls had TV’s on them) Montag goes to an old book lover he once met. Together they decided to restore the old value of the books.
At the beginning od their adventure, Montag is discovered and forced to do things he might regret such as killing his own boss with the same fire that killed his precious books. His wife was the one who put out an alarm saying he had books in the house and went away denying him. Being persecuted by the police and having no more wife, this man seeks Faber (his friend) for help. Montag has to flee searching for more people that think like him. The book comes to a surprising resolution that is only enjoyable when it is read, after all, books should keep their value for ever and be read, not summed up to people.
