Juan You - Fahrenheit 451 (Reading Blog #5)

One of my favorite books from Middle School was Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Sadly enough I haven't read  much of his other works outside of Fahrenheit 451 and Martian Chronicles. However, just these two books are good enough for me to get a writing style and concept in his work; it is similar to Ayn Rand's Anthem. Most of the time, his work deals with symbolism and dystopian societies, and in Fahrenheit 451, a lot of religious motifs.

The store revolves around a fireman named Guy Montag (his name comes from Guy Fawkes, if that helps). Firemen in this futuristic American society start fires rather than put them out. They do this because in this society no one reads, writes, or can think independently. When they do, they are killed.

Montag is one of these firemen, and one day encounters a 17-year old girl named Clarisse, who actually has a mind of her own and questions many things. This opens Montag's eyes to the world around him, especially after his wife commits suicide and Clarisse is killed. From there on, Montag starts to read books, which are illegal. He gets into trouble and ends up having to burn his own house down, kill his boss, turn violent on his co-workers, and ultimately runs away from the city to join a group of 'intellectuals' in hopes of someday rebuilding civilization.

Just the story itself is deeply meaningful, but there are also many religious aspects of this that I overlooked the first time I read it. There are many symbols, such as the phoenix, salamander, fire, and knowledge, in Fahrenheit 451, but one in particular sticks out. For example, Montag and his friend Faber, a intellectual, have a strong relationship in that Faber teaches Montag how to understand what he reads, etc. Faber teaches Montag about forgiveness. In this case, Faber describes himself as water (calm and collected) as opposed to Montag's fiery nature - fire and water. This hints of the miracle at Canaa, when Christ turns water into wine.

The idea of forgiveness itself seems Christian. When Montag turns against society, he is angry at them for not understanding and being so blinded by the laws of their dystopia. However, Faber reminds Montag that Montag himself was once a member of that same society - being angry would not only make him a hypocrite, but he should pity them because they probably would never understand.