What are the underlying messages

[Michael]

deeper meaning to book?

[Julia]

Remember when the book was written. The Cold War, Communism, and all that. Much of what was written then depicted a world in which individuality, innovation, etc. was punished, and status quo was encouraged. This book reminded me of 1984 by George Orwell.

[M.]

A few underlying messages in this book: First, a lack of books in society eliminates independent thought, and eradicates the possibilities of people finding flaws with the system. Second, the power television has on distracting the mind. Bradbury was onto something, because the television is replacing books every passing day as people’s new medium for information. Third, the lengths a person will go to fight against the status quo, and the struggles they must face to run against the grain. Fourth, the power of peer influence on a person’s behavior. Fifth, a man/woman is the means to their own end. Lastly, a communist, socialist, fascist system blows. Literally.

[Sheila]

I read a Bradbury quote somewhere regarding the creation of this book. As I remember it, he was walking down the street and witnessed a man and woman walking together, not speaking, the man holding the woman's hand and leading her as she just kind of wandered beside him, both ears stopped up with headphones/earbuds/whatever as she listened to her own private music.

Probably in part because of this anecdote, I remember picking up on the real sense of isolation between the main character and his wife, and others around him. What we choose to occupy ourselves with as a source of isolation rather than connection. When media deadens thought rather than stimulating it.

[Monique]

Bradbury himself, in interviews, has said that this book is against the growing power of the TV. However, there are many themes in this book than just his extreme dislike of the TV. M. @ message 4 hits on almost all the major themes.

I would add that despite all that, one major theme is hope. This is embodied in the characters who memorize literature and then wander understanding that they represent the hope of people who do not even have it yet. At its heart, the book wants us to remember that no matter how far we stray away from all we have learned over the millennia, that we can still recapture it and that we do in cycles that have moved through history.

[Mark]

I for one don't rail against TV. TV is another art form created by writers - well, maybe not Jerry Springer, WWF, or Survivor. But in a lot of cases TV shows are well written plays acted out in our living rooms.

To me Fahrenheit 451 was about censorship and how controlling the masses meant limiting their frame of reference. Destroy the books, and you kill the concepts held within their pages. The beauty I found in 451 was as books were destroyed, how people became the books in order to pass them on and preserve the ideas inside. How as new technology (the printed word) was destroyed, eons older technology (verbal story telling) took over again to keep ideas alive.

[M]

Message is books are combustable, GET E READER

[Ascel]

Michael wrote: "Message is books are combustable, GET E READER"

lol

[M.]

Monique wrote: "Bradbury himself, in interviews, has said that this book is against the growing power of the TV. However, there are many themes in this book than just his extreme dislike of the TV. M. @ message ..."
Monique...hope was one message I did forget. Beautiful addition.

[Yossra]

i don't know , i still don't get it ..the only message i got was "books are good" which i already know , maybe these kind of books with hidden message with some sophisticated philosophies are just not for me :/

[Yossra]

Michael wrote: "Message is books are combustable, GET E READER"

lol i agree :D

[M]

Usually books with sophisticated, mass symbolism, pretentious, ivory tower books, I turn away from.

451 is quite readable (he wrote it as a cheap page turner dime novel). It shows how mindless television aka Jersey Shore, Ellen, Anderson, The Talk, The Bachelor, and the entire "E" channel, actually hurt and distract society. Also it allows those in power to do what they want while the rest of civilization is too busy drooling away staring at the idiot box. Sadly though, it cannot last. If people get too stupid they start to break down, both mentally and spirituality and then goes the system.

Please note I did not use "Fox News," as they are more along the lines of an Orwellian novel.

[Monique]

Yossra wrote: "i don't know , i still don't get it ..the only message i got was "books are good" which i already know , maybe these kind of books with hidden message with some sophisticated philosophies are just ..."

Yossra,

I think it is a little more complex than just "books are good". In a way, the books are merely the vehicle for knowledge and it is knowledge that is good. Note that none of the "shows" in the book are knowledge-oriented (i.e, the Science Channel, National Geographic, etc.). They play out more like an immersive soap opera.

Either way, these types of books *are* for you. Don't limit yourself because you have questions. Pushing your boundaries and asking questions are good things. :)

[Yossra]

Monique wrote: "Yossra wrote: "i don't know , i still don't get it ..the only message i got was "books are good" which i already know , maybe these kind of books with hidden message with some sophisticated philoso..."

Monique ,
I really believe any thing is readable , that's the best thing about books , i just think some people are not meant to read certain things ...anyway i do believe this book has more in it than what i understand ...i will tell you though that when i think about it , its trying to tell us what the future would be like , of course we won't be burning books but honestly we might as well do it ..i personally can't remember the last time i read an actual book instead of an e-book which is sad since real books are more fun .like you said " In a way, the books are merely the vehicle for knowledge and it is knowledge that is good" ...so if -in the book-they still had knowledge although i didn't get that feeling very much , what was the message?

[Tinamarie]

Well, I think that the book is mainly about personal freedom - and hope - as long as there are people who resist and risk their lives, not everything is lost; there is a chance for humankind to survive ...

The burning of books is an extreme measure - it's not so long that books written by people of a different race where openly burned - by the Nazis ...

[Sheila]

..i personally can't remember the last time i read an actual book instead of an e-book which is sad since real books are more fun .

It was just last year that Bradbury finally gave permission for Fahrenheit 451 to be published in e-book form.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-...

Sounds like he was quite ambivalent about the whole thing.

Everything I've read from him seems to indicate he just likes books. Yes, for their ideas, but also for their tangibility. Story after story about books, about the magic of libraries.

[Monique]

Yossra wrote: "Monique wrote: "Yossra wrote: "i don't know , i still don't get it ..the only message i got was "books are good" which i already know , maybe these kind of books with hidden message with some sophi..."

Yossra,

I think you hit on it when you said that you didn't get the feeling that they still had knowledge in the book. People had simply turned off their minds in the book and so were led like lambs to slaughter, quite literally. Bradbury saw (maybe still sees?) TV as a way to "pacify" people and get them to stop thinking and once people stop thinking, they become mindless sheep simply doing what others tell them to do.

In the story, books were bad because they made people think. So they had to be destroyed. Bradbury suggests that books, more than other media, help to make people think. The written word is very powerful, it allows someone long dead to speak to countless generations.

[Monique]

Sheila wrote: "..i personally can't remember the last time i read an actual book instead of an e-book which is sad since real books are more fun .

It was just last year that Bradbury finally gave permission for ..."

Sheila,

He very well may be a bibliophile. I hadn't considered that. :)

[Yossra]

Sheila wrote: "..i personally can't remember the last time i read an actual book instead of an e-book which is sad since real books are more fun .

It was just last year that Bradbury finally gave permission for ..."
wow ...i did not know that ...and yeah if i wrote a book about a future where books are burnt i don't think i'd like e-books so much , seems contradictory to me :/

[Yossra]

Monique wrote: "Yossra wrote: "Monique wrote: "Yossra wrote: "i don't know , i still don't get it ..the only message i got was "books are good" which i already know , maybe these kind of books with hidden message ..."

Monique,
i do agree with him on the TV part . not that i don't watch it ,i kinda let it lead me mindlessly :/ and don't even get me started on Tv violence ...when i look at it the way you put it though , it makes perfect sense because when i read a good book written by someone i know is dead it seems magical because all i could think about is that even though this person is dead his words still live strong and meaningful ...also i think the influence or the effect written words have on you are much stronger than those of something visible ..i mean don't tell me you never watched a movie then read the book and realized the there's no comparison :D obviously the book makes you use your imagination unconsciously and i always liked it ....still , in the book why would you want people to stop thinking? i'm sure there's an explanation and i missed it somehow but seriously why?

[Monique]

Yossra wrote: "Monique wrote: "Yossra wrote: "Monique wrote: "Yossra wrote: "i don't know , i still don't get it ..the only message i got was "books are good" which i already know , maybe these kind of books with..."

Yossra,

The "powers that be", from what I can tell, the government of this fictional place in the book, wants people to not think. This allows them to do as they please without anyone caring. You'll note that in the book, when discussing elections, there is a very strong sense of one party rule and that party encourages people not to think.

Power wants to stay in power. Usually, the challenge to that is people disagreeing with that power.

[Yossra]

Monique wrote: "Yossra wrote: "Monique wrote: "Yossra wrote: "Monique wrote: "Yossra wrote: "i don't know , i still don't get it ..the only message i got was "books are good" which i already know , maybe these kin..."

Monique,
yeah i can relate to that . in fact , its happening right now . books are obviously still here but people got engaged with so many stupid things that they no longer care sort of like drugs , if you wanna ruin someone's life you'd give them drugs ,they'd forget the world around them completely ....i hate to admit it but this was how my country being ruled over the last 30 years ...and i'm not sure its over yet . its a pretty smart idea to be honest .

[Monique]

Yossra wrote: "Monique wrote: "Yossra wrote: "Monique wrote: "Yossra wrote: "Monique wrote: "Yossra wrote: "i don't know , i still don't get it ..the only message i got was "books are good" which i already know ,..."

Yossra,

"Yes!" to so much of that. In the book, the TV (screens) are the drugs and they make you forget the real world.

You are Egyptian, yes? You and all Egyptians have a beautiful opportunity ahead of you to forge your nation into something you want it to be.

[☯Emily]

Michael wrote: "Usually books with sophisticated, mass symbolism, pretentious, ivory tower books, I turn away from.

451 is quite readable (he wrote it as a cheap page turner dime novel). It shows how mindless te..."

Loved your comments, especially the last paragraph.

[Nasrul]

I find it fascinating that books are "replaced" by preserving it in the memories of those who bother.

When the time comes, nobody knows, when books in its printed format are in danger of being out of production, I know I'll do the same.

Sometimes, I am just afraid of everything being electronic.

[Chris]

On the e-book vs. regular book thing:

I'm not usually one for conspiracy theories, but if/when e-books became the overwhelming medium for books, it will be so much easier for someone to ban/destroy books. You could probably do it with a couple clicks of a mouse, and they will all disappear off the Kindles, Nooks, and whatever else. Much easier than going house to house to burn them. And once you get to the point you no longer have a lot of physical used copies floating around, then people can price fix the crap out of their e-books.

[Alfred]

A personal opinion - extract taken from my review of the book.

"Fahrenheit 451 is not a book about censorship. Nor is it a book about firemen or the physical destruction of books. In fact it’s not even, as the author himself suggests a book about how the increasing pace of modern life (set first by television and now by the instant and the online) slowly erodes and then destroys human capacity to appreciate literature. No, it’s not about any of these things. Fahrenheit 451 is a book about love.

It’s a book about the love of books, the smell of them old and new, the feel of them in your hands and the knowledge that these simple, small objects can throw out more raw energy than any atomic power station could ever hope to match. It’s about the love of liberty, fuelled by these powerful paper bricks that radiate understanding, whose half-life can in some cases now be measured by millennia. It’s about the sudden, irrational and transformational love of one human being for another; a love that detonates within the heart with the brilliance of a thousand suns, and launches the single soul onto the revolutionary path, personal or public, heedless of the chances of victory."

[Adam]

I think there is an element of the novel that talks about how books encourage people to think and feel deeper, but also that thinking and feeling deeper has its pains and responsibilities as well as pleasures.

[Adam]

As Gaston says, 'Then they get ideas...and thinking'.

[Mark]

Kevin, your observation spawned a thought in my head. With the transition to electronic media, thoughts and ideas can be altered and no one would be the wiser. The words and meaning of a powerful novel like The Handmaid's Tale could be changed and downloaded surreptitiously to replace all existing copies, something that couldn't happen with paper. And without something to compare it to, how could you prove it had happened. With hard copies, all original copies would have to be destroyed to make this possible, which is unlikely. Just a thought.

[Victoria-Grace]

I took so much from this book. I love how it talks about the importance of critical thinking. It talks about how television numbs your mind and keeps you from thinking and how literature has the opposite effect. That was one thing that really stood out to me. Also if you want the world to be equal we would have to cut books out because those you reads are superior to those who don't. I think that is a super interesting observation.

[☯Emily]

Melissa wrote: "Kevin wrote: "I'm glad because not many realize the deception of propaganda historically because key texts have been burned before.

-Kevin Dufresne
@KevinDufresne1
www.kdufresne.me"

Kevin, you an..."

I love books, but how do you know they contain the words as written by the author? Many books have editors, who change words and meanings. I have had several editions of the same book, but different words, sentences and even endings. Which contain the author's true thoughts and words? This is even more applicable to translations of foreign authors.

[Monique]

Reading some of these later comments keeps making me think of Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series. In that world, one can alter the "original text" of a work and forever alter it everywhere. I think this ability in e-books is a major issue and one of the reasons why I prefer my books in tangible form. Because, yes, without the physical books, who would know if a text got altered, censored, etc?

[Ben]

I took it to mean that ideas and imagination are something which the government can't control, especially as before the internet books were one of the main forms of spreading ideas.

It seems to me the book is inspired by the more strict regimes in communist regimes like China, Russia etc, where they ban certain books/ideas.

The book also reminds me of how religion tried to stop ideas and scientific books, especially books which went against the religious teachings (evolution, world's not flat, dinosaurs etc)

[Monique]

Ben wrote: "I took it to mean that ideas and imagination are something which the government can't control, especially as before the internet books were one of the main forms of spreading ideas.

It seems to me..."

I didn't see anything about religion in Fahrenheit 451 at all, or any parallels to it?