“It was a pleasure to burn,” the words echoed. A flame is so glittering yet treacherous: the undulating crimson dances seductively, concealing the perils. When firefighters shift from putting out fire to kindling books and houses, a world ignites and turns into an inferno. The novel Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, introduces such a world with books banned and burned and explores the relationship between knowledge, conformity, and technology. 

Set at a time when technology takes over people’s lives: seashell radio, wall-sized TV, with only short and simplified contents fed to the population as entertainment, high-speed cars racing on roads, the society evolves into a rapid lifestyle. People only consume “fast food entertainment” that they consider satisfying: they numb their souls by immersing themselves into such activities and forget all the hardships in life. They have no time nor interest to process complicated information and contemplate, therefore, books are no longer necessary. To further promote the public's ignorance, making everyone the same, the authorities change the occupation of firemen into banning and burning books while continuing to brainwash citizens about the horribleness of reading and thinking. 

This constructed world under the pen of Bradbury somehow resembles phenomena in modern society. In the age of internet and social media, when short reels and quick texts have become the mainstream, people spend most of their day on the internet. Their attention span largely decreases and they gradually lose interest in things like reading a verbose book word by word. Moreover, with people living a highly busy routine, they tend to ignore the details in life, not appreciating the significance of the world. The concerns raised by the book are occurring and are worth pondering upon. 

The protagonist of the novel, Guy Montag, used to be a normal fireman dutifully doing his job of destroying knowledge, and thinks no more than others. However, after his encounters with a “weird” girl, a “mad” old woman, and Faber, he starts to question and doubt the censorship of books, the ignorance of people, and the impetuous lifestyle. He struggles hard to find a balance between conforming with society and adhering to his belief. Eventually, though, it means him facing serious penalties and even the betrayal of his wife, Guy follows his heart as he publicly praises books and plots his revenge on firemen. He refuses to be trapped in the bubble of foolishness and strives to make some impact in his lifetime. 

The dystopian world created in Fahrenheit 451 doesn’t seem so far away from contemporary society; alarmingly, a lot of the things described are happening or are highly probable to happen soon. This novel serves as a stark call to action, and we find both a warning and an opportunity—a chance to steer our society away from the potential problems and toward a future free of such concerns.