Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradburry

Essay by rippefectJunior High, 8th gradeA+, May 2004

download word file, 2 pages 0.0

In "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradberry the reader discovers a unique futuristic society. Here, the totalitarian government rules by censorship and intimidation. They send out robotic beasts armed with lethal injection needles. Mechanical hounds can be programmed to seek out specific objects i.e. people that get in their way. Most of society believes in its rules but a rare few believe that people have lost much of which makes their world great. These different perspectives of society are best represented by the varied personalities among the characters. The main character, Guy Montag, and his wife, Mildred, best represent these depictions of society.

Guy Montag is a fireman. In the future firemen don't fight fires but fuel them. "Ooh, mommy look. Firemen. Mommy, there's going to be a fire". They are government agents sent to track books, destroy them, and burn the owner's home. "We burn them to ashes and then burn the ashes."

That's the fire department's official motto. The regime thinks books give people ideas of rebellion and change.

Up until one day when Montag meets a strange girl he is little more than a fireman who lives without thinking or feeling. " It was a pleasure to burn". This girl is unlike anyone he has ever seen. She strives to understand the world and nature's essence. "I like to smell things and look at things, and sometimes stay up all night, walking, and watching the sun rise". The rest of humanity relies on the walls (a form of virtual reality) and are obsessed with them. This girl introduces Montag to the secrets books hold and gives him the forbidden urge to read them. These urges lead Montag down a path to change the world and find people like him.

In the park Montag meets and...