Zealot Script

One of the classics of Science Fiction, number 5 in the Sci Fi all time list on Goodreads, and for good reason! Fahrenheit 451 is classic Science Fiction at its very best, prophetic in its predictions and thought provoking in its philosophies, the topics mulled over remain as relevant now in 2024 as when it was first published in 1953. Bradbury warns of the dangers of anti-intellectualism, the risks of rampant censorship and the potential impacts of a society with an ever shortening attention span.

This was my first time reading about Guy Montag, Bradbury’s book-burning “Fireman” protagonist, although I had heard much about the book before diving in. Guy himself inhabits an emotional space that many of us are all too familiar with, wandering vaguely through the plodding monotony of everyday life preoccupied with that age old question “Is this really it?”

The role of a fireman in Bradbury’s dystopia is not the prevention of fires, nor tackling blazes for the protection of the populace, as at some point in the past of his narrative houses had been entirely fireproofed to render the entire profession obsolete. Rather they are the causes of the fire. Sent out on any report of books merely existing, they douse the problem with flame removing the offending articles, and sometimes their owners, from existence. This act of censorship and repression weighs heavily on Guy and Fahrenheit 451 is mostly his journey of realisation, that perhaps his very existence, and that of his profession, is a cause of the very oppressive parts of society he rails against.

While it is clear that even before the start of the novel Guy has been struggling with this internal battle for some time, his trigger point for the events of Fahrenheit 451 are his meeting of Clarisse McClellan. A young girl of 16 who moves into his neighbourhood and pesters him with questions equally nonsense and intuitive. Clarisse, and her family who Montag never meets but only hears of, are representative of all the “good” that is missing from worlds. Rather than spending their days in their entertainment rooms they spend their evenings with such strange activities as talking to each other and enjoying their times.

Yes, Fahrenheit 451 is far from subtle in its messaging.

Clarisse’s impact on Guy is profound. Driving his quiet questioning of society from an internal battle to have a very real impact on his life, world-view and eventually his actions.

Desptite the aforementioned lack of subtlety, Fahrenheit 451 is itself a profound book. Is book burning as a public service an over the top interpretation? Of course. Is Clarisse a stereotypical version of what is now described, derogatively, in literary reviews as a “Manic Pixie Dream Girl”? Absolutely. But the starkness of her difference to dystopian world Montag occupies is important. The fact that Bradbury takes every single part of the story to such extremes is what makes it so compelling.

Then there is Bradbury’s remarkable prescience with the way his world was heading. Censorship, particularly banning of books, is again rampant in the media narrative in the US although fortunately has not made its way over to the UK yet. Living in the virtual world with no actual connection to our neighbours is always a topic of discussion, from parents worried about excess screentime to corporations fighting to get workers back into the office. Even down to couples plugging in headphones at night and not connecting. Bradbury was wary of the impact changing technology could have on our society back when he wrote in 1953 and now, in 2024, we are no closer to solving those issues. In the age of algorithms determining our media consumption and therefore our worldview, these questions and concerns have certainly evolved but society’s understanding and solutions have not kept up.

Perhaps the only criticism I had was the utter convenience of the ending. Difficult to explain without major spoilers, but what was a tightly written and sensible narrative concluded with an event that bordered a little too much on coincidence. Certainly not a major flaw in such a magnificent piece of writing, but it did stand out as an individual down-note.

The highlight of the book was Captain Beatty’s exposition to Montag about the real beginnings of the Firemen. A fascinating character, Montag’s superior in the Firemen was an avid reader himself before becoming disillusioned with the contradictory facts and opinions he found within the books. The reveal from the Captain to Montag that the Firemen were introduced as a result of the public populace themselves rejecting the written word, rather than as a draconian Governmental mandate, is the book’s most important message.