Recently, I read the book “Fahrenheit 451”, a science fiction story by Ray Bradbury. Though I found the world in it extremely different from the world of today–one where firemen start fires to burn books instead of ending fires–it was also highly intriguing, and I enjoyed reading about the main character, Guy Montag, and his exploits very much. I also liked Clarisse, who, though she seemed rather odd in the beginning, proved to be enlightened and thoughtful. Many of the characters in the book proved to be well-developed and multidimensional, a stark contrast to the deliberately boring dullness of the people who conformed to society, like Montag’s wife, Mildred. Bradbury wrote “Fahrenheit 451” skillfully, making me wonder whether the sluggish people in the book could ever become the future, as people learn to rely on technology ever-increasingly every day. I hope not, since the multitudes of unthinking characters in the book, though most were not explicitly named, seemed like an extremely unfortunate future for human beings. It reminded me somewhat of the Eloi in “The Time Machine”– like them, the human beings in the story flourished so much that they didn’t have to study or learn anything, and as a result their culture declined. I recommend this book to anyone who likes science fiction or is simply looking for a thought-provoking book and would rate it 9.8/10.
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