Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Hi! My name is Madeline, I am in 9th grade and live in Hailey Idaho. I love politics, philosophy, writing, and playing the violin. I could talk about these topics all day. I also love reading, my favorite books are The Lord of The Rings, anything written by Tolkien, and Fahrenheit 451.
Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, is a suspenseful story about life in a dystopian America.
Guy Montag is a fireman, but instead of putting out fires, he starts them. Whenever books are found in a house, he and his crew burn the books, along with the house. Books are considered dangerous and are banned for fear they might offend someone or raise uncomfortable topics. Instead, people are encouraged to watch T.V., live in the present, and not think twice about anything.
Guy accepts this life and believes he is content until he meets a young girl named Clarisse. Clarisse takes time to think, and never takes anything for granted. She is unlike anyone Guy has ever known, and the two easily become friends. Clarisse encourages Guy to think and wonder if life was always this way.
Guy starts to question everything he has been told and begins reading the banned books he has taken from the burnt houses. He undertakes a journey to discover the past where people weren’t afraid, and there was more to life than what is in front of you at the moment. Guy rebels against the life of a fireman and becomes a hunted enemy of state as result.
This is an amazing book about the dangers of government control and standing up for freedom. I recommend it for ages 12 and up. This is one of my favorite books, because it is very exciting and makes you think deeply. I also like that even though it is fiction, it is realistic and it feels like the events in the book could really happen in a few hundred years.
