Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Fahrenheit 451

Burn them all! Books are worthless. This was the attitude of the firemen in the futuristic American city.The people in this society do not read books, enjoy nature, spend time by themselves, think independently, or have meaningful conversations. Instead, they drive very fast, watch excessive amounts of television on wall-size sets, and listen to the radio on sets.
Guy Montag is one of the firemen in the book that burns books. He meets a girl named Clarrise that really opens his eyes and makes him realize that books are more important than everyone else thinks.Over the next few days, Montag experiences a series of disturbing events. First, his wife, Mildred, attempts suicide by swallowing a bottle of sleeping pills. Then, when he responds to an alarm that an old woman has a stash of hidden literature, the woman shocks him by choosing to be burned alive along with her books. A few days later, he hears that Clarisse has been killed by a speeding car. Montag’s dissatisfaction with his life increases, and he begins to search for a solution in a stash of books that he has stolen from his own fires and hidden inside an air-conditioning vent. Montag doesn't quite understand everything he is reading so he decides to seek help from an old proffesor named Faber. Faber agrees to help Montag with his reading. Beatty gets a call to burn books in Montag's house so Beatty makes Montag burn his own house along with the books. After burning the house Beatty places Montag under arrest and Montag quickly grabs the flameflower and burns Beatty alive and knocks out the other firemen. Montag runs away and finds a society hidden in the woods where the people memorize the words in books. Enemy jets appear in the sky and completely obliterate the city with bombs. Montag and his new friends move on to search for survivors and rebuild civilization.