Fahrenheit 451- ET

Looking back on Fahrenheit 451, I can honestly say I was roused by the amount of questioning and philosophical thought incorporated in this book. It took risks in its boundaries and was definitely written under very 'forced' circumstances. It certainly raises a few points, but is it good sound literature and believable enough to understand?

Ray Bradbury has certainly taken risks in this book. To write things that I'm not saying are offensive, but simply may cause upheaval in society. To think out the future and create many 'futuristic' items such as the mechanical hound and the sea shell radios. To come up with these things must have taken a good deal of thought.

The time of publication is another thing to be wary of. During the height of the cold war, many Americans would not like the sound of a book criticising their society. Therefore, Ray Bradbury had to be very careful what he wrote and said.

Fahrenheit 451 conveys many messages too. The most overlying one being the fact that us humans, in trying to win, can wipe each other out of existence. Some other examples of messages raised by Fahrenheit 451 are that books are special and should be kept safe, and that while we may think we are happy, that might be just an illusion. There are many others of course, but thoughts are just some examples.

All in all, I think Fahrenheit 451 is a very risk taking book, trying to convey many morals without seeming overly critical of the modern society (probably why it is set in the future). It is also written at an unfortunate time, when many people would view him as trying to tip the nations prosperity (another of Ray Bradbury's morals). So while some many see this book as not the best 'reading story', it was written under a confusing tangle of guidelines, and written to serve a purpose. It was not written to be an exiting tale of adventure, it was written to convey Ray Bradbury's thoughts and messages.