Fahrenheit 451
by: Ray Bradbury(Published 1953)
Setting
The book takes place in a suburban are in the 21st century. Everyone lives in dark houses. The "environment" throughout the book is dark. Montag(Main Character) works at the fire house and goes out and starts fires. Here is a map to help you picture the suburb:
Main Characters
- Guy Montag
- Mildred Montag
- Clarisse McCellan
- Beatty
- Mrs. Ann Bowles
- Stone Man
- Mrs. Clara Phelps
- Faber
- Granger
- Black
Background
Guy Montag is a fireman who burns books in a futuristic American dystopian society. In this world firemen start fires instead of putting them out. Their job is to burn the houses with books in them. 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 “Seashell Radio” sets attached to their ears.
Action/Problem
On his way home from work he meets a girl named Clarisse. He falls in love with her, and she gets him to question his job as a fireman. So he decides to skip work and read books. His fire chief(Beatty) assumes that he began to wonder about books so he convinces him why they are bad and need to be outlawed, all because all started to be the same. Authors did not want to offend anyone. His chief offers him a night to read and see if he finds them appealing. He meets a professor named Faber. Montag and Faber take on the job of changing the status quo about books. They begin by planting books in firemen's homes and discredit them. This plot fails and Montag is forced to burn his own house and is arrested for reading, but incinerates his superior and escapes. Montag leaves for St. Louis to try to get books printed with Faber's help. In the end jets obliterate the city and Montag and other book lovers search for survivors and to rebuild civilization.
See Fahrenheit 451 near you soon!
For more information read this news article!
http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yournorthhills/yournorthhillsmore/9381242-74/pine-richland-451
“There must be something in books, something we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451