Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian, science fiction novel written by Ray Bradbury. Fahrenheit 451 takes place sometime in the future in a dystopian America where books have been banned so that the population can be happy. It comes from the perspective of Guy Montag, a 40 or so year old man who works as a fireman and is not so happily married to Mildred Montag, who seems to only care about watching TV. Unlike in our world, firemen do not put out fires, instead they set fires, (specifically to buildings that contain books); alongside the firemen is a mechanical hound that has eight legs and a long needle in its mouth that can inject a lethal toxin. One day, while walking home from work, Montag encounters a girl named Clarisse, a girl very different from the other teenagers and kids, as she sees the beauty in nature, and doesn’t care much for TV or any of the other things that most people in this world enjoy. There’s also the firemen captain, Beatty, who is shrewd and somewhat sadistic, he is a staunch believer in the government and quickly found out about Montag’s fascination with books, he also often takes quotes from books, suggesting that at some point he loved books, or at least read them often.

I loved Fahrenheit 451 as it’s a wonderful story about knowledge versus ignorance, ignorance is bliss and knowledge can be painful. Fahrenheit 451 also serves as a warning about run away censorship, the government controls all media meaning that they can prevent certain ideas from being shown on TV, but allowing other ideas (such as those that support the government) to show prominently. Overall, Ray Bradbury did excellent on the characters, the story, and the message of the book.