by Abby K.
Fahrenheit 451 is dystopian themed novel written by Ray Bradbury 1953. It is an immensely popular book, primarily focusing on censorship. In 1960s era America, books have been deemed illegal in an attempt to repress ideas and free thinking. Televisions are the sizes of walls, firemen burn down houses, and people have little to no options.
Our protagonist, Guy Montag, is a fireman who seems perfectly content with his life, but as the novel progresses, we slowly learn along with Montag that he is very unhappy with his life. After his encounter with a strange young girl, and his wife's attempted suicide, Montag contacts a old professor who he believes to own books. Together, the two devise a plan to restart society by taking down the firemen.
Bradbury's unique use of descriptive narrative is so powerful, it entrances the reader. There was one paragraph in particular that was extremely moving:
"[Montag] imagined he saw or felt, or imagined he saw or felt the walls go dark in Millie's face, heard her screaming because in the millionth part of time left, she saw her own face reflected there, in a mirror instead of a crystal ball, and it was such a wildly empty face, all by itself in the room, touching nothing, starved and eating of itself, that at she recognized it as her own and looked quickly up at the ceiling as it and the entire structure of the hotel basted down upon her, carrying her with a million pounds of brick.."
This classic novel is truly something to behold, and remembered through the ages.
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