Subeen Lee / Staff Reprter
“Fahrenheit 451” is a science fiction novel published in 1953 by Ray Bradbury. It is set in a dystopian world of a forbidden future. The main character of this book is to burn the books. He receives a report that someone is reading a book, and he mobilizes with his colleagues. While burning books, he reads a passage through the flapping books. He couldn’t get the sentence out of his head. He momentarily hid a book under his clothes and brought it home. After the protagonist wakes up to reading, he hides the book in his house and reads it. However, he eventually runs away when his boss finds out that he owns the book.
There are no books in “Fahrenheit 451”. To be precise, viewing or possessing books is taboo. If they are found in possession of it, firefighters set a fire to burn the part of the house where it is kept. Today, firefighters put out fires when they happen, but in the future, according to the book, they are responsible for setting fires. They even rejoice at seeing a burning house.
In a world without books, people spend their time watching TV surrounded by a wall, wearing earplugs with radio instead of watching them. The billboard has reached 60m for cars that run too fast. People don’t like to think, they don’t care about other people, and they don’t care about spending time other than themselves. There is no curiosity in the world, No one talks about society and government.
The government provides only limited information and knowledge to people. Governments control the people by distorting the past. If someone asks about it or tries to oppose it, it will be branded as anti-social and disappear.
It seems that this appearance resembles us today. Books are not forcibly banned, but rather recommended. Cell phones are always in people’s hands, and our eyes and ears are fixed on the media. Instead of reading a book, people choose a summary video, radio or a movie made based on the book. It’s very easy to find people walking on the street with earphones or AirPods in their ears. Perhaps this article written by the author shows our near future.
As if this book was written by the author after seeing our society 70 years ago, our daily lives are gradually becoming more and more like his story. Whether you like books or not, this book will make you think a lot. Also, while reading this, if you are living like the people from this book, it may be a time to look back and reflect on it.
Pictures:
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