Fahrenheit 451

Last week, I began and finished reading "Fahrenheit 451", one of Ray Bradbury's most noteworthy novels. The story takes place in a dystopian America in which the job of a fireman is to burn books. The main character, Guy Montag, works as one of these firemen. Montag seems to enjoy his job, although he does not go as far as to accept the morality of it; he is simply ignorant of the consequences of his actions. One night, Montag happens upon his new neighbor, a young, innocent, and beautiful girl named Clarisse McClellan. Clarisse has a profound effect on Montag and opens his eyes to the terrors and corruption of the society in which he lives. The version of America described in this book, although grossly exaggerated, holds a shocking resemblance to the America I live in today. As I have been reading this book, I have been constantly disturbed by the ignorance and the absolutely incredulous passivity of the people surrounding Montag, namely his wife, Mildred. Towards the beginning of the book, Montag comes home after a long day of work to his wife sleeping in her bed. She has headphones in her ears, but not just the types of headphones that we use today. They're wireless and fit into your ears like little ear plugs. They're worn constantly to drown out the sounds of reality. They are constantly stimulating your brain with music and unreliable (but ignorantly trusted) news reports. It disturbs me that Mildred wore these even while she was sleeping. I'm not sure that I can say exactly why it disturbs me, but it does. Perhaps the absolute dependence on technology and the absolute disconnect from the world around her reminds me eerily too much of myself. This is the case so often when I'm reading this. Mildred spends her days in a room where three of the four walls is covered with a "wall TV." On the TV's exist what Mildred calls her "family," merely people projected on a screen who are programmed to speak her name. She has real feelings for these people, and spends countless hours "interacting" with them and watching them. The whole thing disgusts me. It reminded me so much of Facebook when I read about it, especially because of the term "wall" that was used to describe the TV screens. I absolutely loved this book. It has instantly become a favorite of mine. Bradbury's writing is beautiful and his constant use of metaphors and descriptive language  makes for a rich and captivating read.