Shindledecker 1

Alexis Shindledecker
Aughenbaugh
English 12
01 May 2015
Oblivious Society
I dont try to describe the future; I try to prevent it. (Ray Bradbury Quotes). One
misconception people make after reading Fahrenheit 451 is they think Ray Bradbury is
predicting the future, when he is really just trying to prevent it. Bradbury wanted to show his
love for books and literature. Ironically, Bradbury wrote a very expressive book about a society
who destroys books because of their expressive manner. Ray Bradbury is not expressing his
hatred towards technology; he is warning the world that the misuse and abuse of technology
could be very harmful to the future generations.
Ray Bradbury was a very unique individual. His creative imagination was very uncommon
during the time period he grew up in, which ultimately made him very successful. It all started
when he was a child. His Aunt Neva really influenced his love for science fiction. She showed
him many books and movies, which included The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom
of the Opera. The themes of these stories influenced his writing, and later they were presented in
multiple different works he produced. His biggest influence, though, was John Carter, Warlord
of Mars by Edgar Rice. He fell in love with Mars and the universe. He started to truly believe
he was meant to be on Mars. He would stand in his front yard and beg for Mars to take him
home (Ray Bradbury 306).
As he got older, his love for writing increased exponentially. He started writing his brilliant
thoughts on paper when he was only fifteen. He soon fell in love with writing, as it transported
him into his own universe. He was a firm believer that beings should do what they love, because
life would have no point if everyone lived in anything but happiness. I spent three years
standing on a street corner, selling newspapers, making ten dollars a week. I did that job every
day for three hours and the rest of the time I wrote because I was in love with writing. The

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answer to all writing, to any career for that matter, is love. (Ray Bradbury). While he was a
teenager, he learned to love stories where the social outcast was the hero of the story. Bradbury
understood that what the majority would think was a weakness, actually turned out to be the
biggest strength someone could have.
Normally when someone reaches to the age of eighteen or nineteen, they tend to lose their
imagination and the reality of the world sets in. Ray Bradbury was a huge minority because his
imagination never faded away:
The great fun in my life has been getting up every morning and rushing to the type writer
because some new idea has hit me. The feeling I have every day is very much the same as
it was when I was twelve. Here I am, eighty years old, feeling no different, full of a great
sense of joy, and glad for the long life that has been allowed me. (Ray Bradbury)
Bradbury would wake up at nine every morning, rush to his type writer, where he would fill the
page with words for two hours. He did this routine every day for sixty-five years. Bradbury
stayed disconnected with the technological world. He never drove a car or even used the
Internet. (The Curious Life of Futurist Author Ray Bradbury). He said the Internet was
meaningless. Anyone could go to another person or even a book to gather the same information.
There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading any (Ray Bradbury
Quotes). If it was up to Bradbury, reading books would be a requirement for everyone.
Bradburys passion and creative nature made him a very successful author. He published over
five hundred different pieces and was awarded many awards, including the World Fantasy
Award, and the PEN Center USA West Lifetime Achievement Award (Ray Bradbury 308).
Bradburys career came to an end when he unfortunately suffered from a stroke. He later died on
June 5, 2012, at the age of ninety-one. He would not have been Ray Bradbury if his dying wish
did not involve Mars. His final wish was to be buried on Mars. He was so confident that this
generation would have invented the technology to fulfill his final wish, but sadly, it let him down
instead.

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Bradburys love and appreciation for the library went deeper than just the books it contained;
it was the place he could escape the real world. I have been inspired by libraries and the magic
they contain and the people that they represent (Ray Bradbury 311). It is fitting Bradbury
wrote Fahrenheit 451 in the basement of the UCLA library. Bradbury rented a type writer for
only ten cents every half an hour, which is why the novel is often referred to as a dime book
(Fahrenheit 451). He wrote this book during the Red Scare; it was the only place he could go
to express his feelings about the world around him. Ive only written one science-fiction book:
Fahrenheit 451. That book is a book based on real facts and my hatred of people who destroy
books (Ray Bradbury Quotes).
Oddly enough, in the society of Fahrenheit 451, firemen did not put out fires; they started
them. The citizens were not allowed to read books because they were just too expressive and too
opinionated, which could offend someone. They soon trained their minds to stop having
opinions entirely, which eventually lead them to stop caring about the beauty of the world around
them. Speed limits did not even exist. They drove as fast as they could, without even taking a
single second to enjoy their surroundings. They never had meaningful conversations with their
friends; instead they would engross their time in the parlor walls or block out the rest of the
world with seashells in their ears. Guy Montag was a fireman who fell under the tyranny of the
majority (Bradbury 47). He is a fireman who has burned the peoples houses down, along with
the evil books that cause so much bad in the world. The story begins with Montag burning down
a house. He is very proud of his job because he feels very powerful. He loves watching the
flames destroy the forbidden literature. After the damage has been done, he begins his way home
back to his house. Everything was going the way it normally does, until he encounters a
seventeen year-old girl who changes his life forever. Clarisse McClelland is known for taking
the time to explore the neighborhood around her by taking various walks throughout the day. On

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this particular night, she spots Montag and strikes up a conversation with him. She starts
rambling on about her everyday thoughts about their generation. She goes on about how no one
takes a second out of their busy schedules to enjoy things such as the moon, and the dew on the
grass in the morning. Montag is very taken back by her, as he has never met a person like this
before. He does what everyone else would have done and tries to explain to her that it is silly
and foolish to be thinking those things. Just as Clarisse is getting ready to leave, she asks
Montag the question that alters his life forever, Are you happy? (Bradbury 9). At first Montag
is speechless and finally he says, Am I what? Happy! Of all the nonsense. (Bradbury 10). As
Montag tries to explain his emotions, Clarisse is already gone.
He could not get Clarisses question out of his head. He starts to realize that he truly is not
happy and that the world is full of emptiness that needs to be filled. He finally makes it to his
house, where he finds his wife, Mildred, who has overdosed on sleeping pills. He rushes to find
her help, as any husband would do, but what he finds is very surprising for him. Two old, dirty
men are hooking her up to a stomach-pumping machine, which was made specifically for people
who overdosed. They explain that overdoses happen very frequently, and it was just part of their
routine. Montag then realizes he is not the only unhappy person in the world, as many
individuals try to end their own lives very regularly. After this world-shattering realization for
Montag, everything starts going downhill quickly. The next day he gets a phone call about a
woman who has a huge stash of books. He is swift to get there. The woman did not want to
leave without her books and chooses to be burnt alive with them. Montag then recognizes how
impacting books must be; he steals one of her books out of his own curiosity. His dissatisfaction
with life increases, and he hits rock bottom when he hears the news that Clarisse was hit and
killed by a speeding car.

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He steals books from almost every house he goes to, and he reads them. The emptiness he
feels starts to be filled by the words of literature; he begins to understand why other love their
books as much as they do. Montag misses different fire calls, so Beatty, his boss, goes down to
his house to investigate Montags strange behaviors. Beatty finds him reading his books; he
unexpectedly tells him curiosity is a normal stage every fireman experiences, but he must get rid
of his books within twenty-four hours. Montag reads as many books as he can, but his love for
them intensifies and becomes an addiction. He looks for his wifes support, but she prefers the
parlor walls and is too frightened by the laws to become involved in the situation. Montag then
remembers a college literature professor, Faber, who could surely help him with his conflicting
feelings. Faber explains to him that he needs to analyze and act upon the books ideas, which
influence their brilliant master plan; which is to over throw the majority. They decide to write
books about the importance of literature, opinions, and individuality and plant them in firemens
houses to change their minds and change their society. After finalizing their plans, Montag
returns home only to be welcomed by Mildred and her friends. Montag recites poems to them,
and they are so offended by the words that they report him. The alarm sounds, indicating a
house is going to be burned down, but Montag is horrified when he discovers it is his own home.
Mildred flees the scene, betraying him and their relationship. Beatty give Montag one more
chance to change back to the good side, but Montag refuses to live this alienating lifestyle.
Beatty forces Montag to burn his own house, but he burns Beatty into a pile of ashes. Authorities
send out a mechanical hound to capture Montag, but Montag gets away from the daunting piece
of machinery and finds the book people. The book people are a group who share the same love
as Montag- the spreading of positivity that books bring to lives.
While there are many themes and information in this classic novel, the most prominent is its
historical context. Bradbury was making fun of not only his time period through this book, but

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also historical events that had happened centuries before. I wasnt thinking about McCarthy so
much as I was thinking of the library of Alexandria 5,000 years before (Kendt). The library of
Alexandria was one of the largest and most momentous libraries in the world. No one knows
what caused the fire, but it was tactlessly burned down. The burning of the library of Alexandria
has become the symbol of the loss of public knowledge, as many different works of literature
were lost in the tragic accident. This definitely relates back to Fahrenheit 451; they burned
books because of their expressive characteristics:
Now lets take up the minorities in our civilization, shall we? Bigger the population, the
more minorities. Dont step on the toes of the dog lovers, the cat lovers, doctors, lawyers,
merchants, chiefs, Mormons, Baptists, Unitarians, second-generation Chinese, Swedes,
Italians, Germans, Texans, Brooklynites, Irishmen, people from Oregon or Mexico. The
people in this book, this play, this TV serial are not meant to represent any actual painters,
cartographers, mechanics anywhere. The bigger your market, Montag, the less you handle
controversy, remember that! (Bradbury 57)
Fahrenheit 451 was published in 1953, and while the Holocaust ended in 1945, the
relationship between the two is much stronger than realized by many readers. The Nazis were
notorious for new technology and how to torture more people with it. One significant thing they
attempted was the largest brain washing experiment of their time (Fahrenheit 451). They tried
to brain wash everyone into thinking Jews were worthless scum on the face of the earth. ...the
personification of the devil as the symbol of all evil assumes the living shape of the Jew (Adolf
Hitler Quotes). In Fahrenheit 451, the citizens of the society were brain washed into thinking
that books were a threat to their generation.

If they spoke meaningful words that made others

think, they were reported to authorities where they were then arrested and taken to jail so they
could be straightened back out again. Either no one had the courage to rebel or they were too
complacent to worry about it. We need not to be left alone. We need to be really bothered once
in a while. How long has it since you were really bothered? About something important, about
something real? (Bradbury 52). Clarisse was trying to open Montags eyes to the ill-fated world

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they lived in. She understood that emotions and reactions were necessary in life. More people
should feel bothered and decide to react to their government. Expression through literature, art,
and emotions are a crucial part to every civilization. Art is meant to comfort the disturbed, and
disturb the comfortable. (Art Quotes).
The Nazis also created a machine that would censor public media, and this is very present in
Fahrenheit 451. At the end of the book, the parlor walls did not show Montag running away
from the police because their government did not want the citizens to know that Montag was
smarter than their system. Instead, they killed an innocent bystander so they did not seem so
imperfect. Another resemblance the Holocaust and Fahrenheit 451 have are the book burnings.
Book burnings have become a major symbol for the Nazis, and it is also a key detail in the book:
It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things
blackened and changed. With the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting
its venomous kerosene upon the world, the blood pounded in his head, and his hands were
the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning to
bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history. With his symbolic helmet numbered
451 on his stolid head, and his eyes all orange flame with the thought of what came next,
he flicked the igniter and the house jumped up in a gorging fire that burned the evening
sky red and yellow and black. He strode in a swarm of fireflies. He wanted above all, like
the old joke, to shove a marshmallow on a stick in the furnace, while the flapping pigeonwinged books died on the porch and lawn of the house. While the books went up in
sparkling whirls and blew away on a wind turned dark with burning. (Bradbury 1-2)
In the Holocaust, Jews were forced out of their homes and into concentration camps, simply
because they were Jewish (Fahrenheit 451). In Fahrenheit 451, residents were forced out of
their homes simply because they read books. Jews also often committed suicide because the
burden of living was just too much. The same goes in Fahrenheit 451. Hell! The operators
cigarette moved on his lip. We get these cases nine or ten a night. (Bradbury 15). The worst
feeling in life is being fully unaware of important things that can affect someone personally. The
Jews had absolutely no clue on what was going to happen within the next hour, let alone what
was going on outside of the concentration camps. While the Jews were restricted from this
knowledge physically, the society in Fahrenheit 451 was strictly mental. The inhabitants were

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totally oblivious to the world around them. They never took the time to truly appreciate the
miracles that happen on a regular basis. They just expected to wake up every morning, live in
the continuous, meaningless moments they called life, and went back to their restless sleep.
Another reality the Jews had to face was the fact that if they revolted, it could cost their lives.
In Fahrenheit 451, Montag went against the majority, which resulted in a failed attempt to kill
him.
Besides the Holocaust, Fahrenheit 451 also reflects the 1950s in general. Fahrenheit 451
was published in 1953, so it comes to no surprise that Bradbury wanted to state his opinions
about the current generation as well. The 1950s were a very important time period for American
culture. This was when the American Dream was born. The American Dream is the idea that
every U.S. citizen should have equal opportunities to because successful. It is believed that
Fahrenheit 451 is the American Dream turned into a nightmare:
The curiously thrilling terror of fire, inspire the angry lyricism of Bradburys vision of the
American Dream gone awry for in this appalling future the community firehouse has
become the impersonal agent of fire itself, destroying rather than preserving the
community institutions Bradbury cherishes above all others- family life, schools, and,
most fundamentally of all, perhaps, the local library. (Mogen 106)
The people of the 1950s were also known as the Baby Boomers. This was expected though,
since ninety-seven percent of the U.S. population were married or dating. It was very
uncommon to be single and those who could not find a lover were often out casted. It comes to
no surprise that couples got together just so they could have someone. In Fahrenheit 451,
Montag and Mildred were married, but they were not happy at all:
Without turning on the light he imagined how this room would look. His wife stretched on
the bed, uncovered and cold, like a body displayed on the lid of a tomb, her eyes fixed to
the ceiling by invisible threads of steel, immovable. And in her ears the little Seashells,
the thimble radios tamped tight, and an electronic ocean of sound, of music and talk and
music and talk coming in, coming in on the shore of her unsleeping mind. The room was
indeed empty. Every night the waves came in and bore her off on their great tides of
sound, floating her, wide-eyed, toward morning. There had been no night in the last two
years that Mildred had not swum that sea, had not gladly gone down in it for the third time.
(Bradbury 12)

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Bradbury understands life is too short to waste time on people that have no importance. He
clearly did not agree with the dating system of the 1950s and incorporated his opinion with
Montag and Mildreds marriage.
The 1950s were all about conformity. Levittowns became very popular during the time
period. Levittowns were suburban towns where the houses looked identical. They became very
popular because they were easy to put up, and they were not very expensive. The 1950s was a
time period where individuality was in the minority, much like in Bradburys novel. Again, in
their futuristic civilization no one was able to have opinions because they did not want to offend
anybody. Because technology was starting to evolve in the 1950s, popular movies often
involved the misuse of technology. In Fahrenheit 451, the misuse of technology is very obvious.
They were so soaked up in it, that it prevented any other outside forces to be in their lives. One
very crucial invention created in the 1950s was the television (Fahrenheit 451). TVs started
taking over books, which caused students reading levels to drop. The people of the time period
were so fascinated by TVs that they made them a priority. In Fahrenheit 451, the inhabitants
thought the parlor walls were like God. They worshipped the people that were displayed on their
walls. They believed every word that came out of their mouths. Soon enough they became like
family to them.
The book does not only reflect historical evidence; it also reflects an experience Bradbury
had. Bradbury was walking through the streets of LA when he was stopped by a cop who
questioned what he was doing. Bradbury was confused as to why walking was a questionable
activity. After the cop left, Bradburys mind went wandering on the rest of his way home. He
could not help but notice the amount of televisions that were on in the houses, and he was just
astonished that people would much rather stare into the box than have human interactions. TVs
became such a priority to the generation that simply walking outside was almost like committing

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a crime. Tomblike houses ill-lit by television light, where the people sat like the dead, the gray
and multicolored lights touching their faces, but never really touching them (Kendt). In
Fahrenheit 451, Clarisse was questioned for walking the streets, much like Bradbury was.
In conclusion, Ray Bradbury was not trying to show how much he loathed technology; he was
trying to prevent the future generations from turning into Fahrenheit 451s society. The common
person cannot even drive through town without seeing at least five people talking or texting on
their cells phone while driving a moving vehicle. Everyone gets so caught up in social media
drama, and what the latest trend is on Twitter, they do not even take a second and acknowledge
the miracles and privileges of life. We are an impossibility in an impossible universe (Ray
Bradbury Quotes). The fact that human-beings exist is a miracle. Bradbury could not have said
it any better. Every single person on this planet are all guilty of taking things for granted, so
maybe if this generation would live a little bit more like Bradbury did, this problem could be
fixed. Get out, enjoy nature. Do not take any of the knowledge, whether it is from books or
people, for granted. Life is entirely too short to not appreciate and be conscious of every
beautiful moment.
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