Fahrenheit 451: Why do we still read this book? What is so timeless about its message and characters? What can we learn from reading this novel?

Fahrenheit 451 is one of the oddest books I have ever read. And yet….I loved it. One of the reasons I believe we still read this book is because it reminds us. It is a warning and a reminder of what we should not allow the future to look like. Faber, when talking to Montag, describes the people of the world he currently lives in like this, “They are so confident that they will run on forever. But they won’t run on. They don’t know that this is all one huge big blazing meteor that makes a pretty fire in space, but that someday it’ll have to hit.” (Bradbury pg 100) Now I don’t know about you, but I think that is pretty scary. That describes the world of Fahrenheit 451. The future without books and a future full of ignorance and an obsession with entertainment.  The society of Fahrenheit 451 attempted to get rid of books so they could make everyone equal, at least in appearance. Beatty says, “Who knows who might be the target of a well-read man?” (Bradbury 56) They feared knowledge. They feared intelligence and anyone who could rise up against another person. They feared “offending” others. So they just destroyed anything that might offend anyone. “Burn all, burn everything. Fire is bright and fire is clean.” (Bradbury pg 57) But we can’t let our world become like that.

The struggle Montag has to go through is as timeless as anything. One man, a minority out of a whole, on a search for the truth of “Why?”. He wanted to find out why books were outlawed. Why people feared them. And he did. And what conclusion did he come to? Everyone lived in a fog of fake happiness. No one was really happy, but they only thought they were. Faber and Montag both say separate things that complete the message of the book. When Faber is talking to Montag about the Fire Captain he says, “But remember that the Captain belongs to the most dangerous enemy to truth and freedom, the solid unmoving cattle of the majority. Oh, God, the terrible tyranny of the majority. We all have our harps to play. And it’s up to you now to know with which ear you’ll listen.” (Bradbury pg 104) A different time, Montag talks to his wife when he’s discussing his doubts about his job and what the point is of burning books and she tells him to leave her alone. He says, “Let you alone? That’s all very well, but how can I leave my self alone? We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?”  (Bradbury pg 48) Though both discuss different things, Faber and Montag both describe the need to be different and stand up for something in your life. Don’t be part of the majority, because sometimes the majority is blind, and sometimes they are wrong. You need to be BOTHERED let things that are wrong BOTHER you. Don’t sit there and let it eat away at you. DO something about it. Don’t be part of the majority! That is a message that Faber and Montag give to the readers.That is what we can learn from this book! Don’t settle for ‘happiness’ settle only for HAPPYNESS. True happiness that is real. Don’t be afraid to ask why things occur. BE BOTHERED!

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1967. Print.