Fahrenheit 451

In Ray Bradbury's dystopian novel of the future, Fahrenheit 451, books have been forbidden. The Fire Department is tasked with uncovering the hordes of books around the city and setting fire to them (and the house, and sometimes the residents as well). Guy Montag is one such fireman. He doesn't question the orders he's given, nor does he wonder why books are forbidden. He doesn't have any friends and is in a loveless marriage with his wife, Mildred. Mildred prefers to spend her time with her real "family" that lives within the projection walls of the couple's living room, than spend time with her husband. Then, Guy meets Clarisse, a teenage girl whose family has moved in next door. Clarisse and her family are not like any people Guy knows. They talk to each other. They appear to even enjoy being in each other's company. And Clarisse asks awkward questions of Guy, like "Are you happy?" This friendship, however brief it is, leads Guy to ask his own questions. Like what is so dangerous about books?

Fahrenheit 451 is a fast paced account of a society that has taken censorship to the extreme in the efforts to eliminate offence. Books are banned because someone might object to what is written. Entertainment is sanitised and atomised. People are in their own little bubbles (courtesy of ear transmitters) and bombarded with nonsensical, meaningless programmes to ensure that they are kept ignorant of the events in the world around them. There's a war going on, after all, but if people notice the bomber planes flying overhead, it's just background noise to the show. And any one who dares to ask themselves if they are happy, like Guy and Clarisse, or who stand out from the masses, paint a huge red target on their backs. This is a timeless story, it seems. As relevant to today as when it was written. It is more than just about book burning, it is about controlling a population through entertainment lest they discover what is really going on.