Eric Nichols

July 2, 2001

Text: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Objectives: 1a: Apocalyptic: The end of his existing world and a new will follow. 1c: Alternative future- What the future would be like without books, notes, or historical documents. 2c: The future as a dystopia.

Summary: In this book, a man by the name of Guy Montag is searching for answers why books are illegal for public use. The problem that will hamper his quest is that he works for the very government body that is suppose to destroy all written materials that are found. This portion of the government is now the "fire department." The people of this society have been brain washed into believing that books hold the downfall of man. The government tries to control their thinking by having huge televisions that take up entire walls of most homes. The future is depicted as being somewhat dismal and bleak. Everything and everyone moves at a high rate of speed and people have forgotten to stop and smell the roses from time to time. He finally rebels against his employer and becomes fugitive on the run. In the book, we see references to Revelation. The following verse from Revelation 22:2 was used in reference to healing a torn nation. "And on either side of the river was there a tree of life…and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." Finally, we see a connection with the world coming to an end or at least Montag’s world. An atomic bomb destroys Montag’s city while he is away in the woods with the Book People. These so called Book People are the one that will become saved.

Sources: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Introduction

I began my presentation by discussing the way my students perceived the book Fahrenheit 451. I told how they did not enjoy the book due to its lack of violence and sex. They said they could not keep up with the ideas the story was trying portray, because it lacked the things they read or view everyday.

During my summary review, I discussed how certain aspects brought about the ideas of the way the future was perceived by the author. I introduced the apocalyptic view that is scene towards the end when an atomic bomb destroys the main character’s hometown. It shows how the people that he is with are the "saved ones" and how they will rebuild from the ashes like it states in Revelation. I also brought up the idea of alternative future, because of the idea of having no reading materials and how the world has become illiterate because of the ban. The final point I discussed was the future as a dystopia. The world seems to be overwhelmed with technology that everyone seems to have forgotten the finer things in life such as nature. I finally went into my questions and these were the responses I got back from my fellow students.

The first question I asked was if anyone knew what the book’s title represented. The two people that knew the answer, the temperature at which books burn, appear to have read the book before and were the only ones that chanced the question. No one else gave his or her take on the title.

The next question I introduced was what would the world be like if the government controlled what we viewed and if we did not have written notes or books to read?

Dr. White answered this question by introducing the idea of free press as our essentials for the function of democracy. I agree with this statement because this freedom of press is what makes our country stand out among the rest. This allows us to view what others believe to be truths or ideas that should be stated or questioned. Also, without books, literacy would be a big problem in our society. There would be no literature classes and more than likely eliminate a good portion of higher education degrees.

The third question I asked was what would it be like if we take the ideas of freedom of speech, etc., for granted.

One student brought up the idea of how parents already control such things. If they do not like what a book is betraying, they will go to the school board and have the book removed from the curriculum. This is already invading into the kid’s right of free press. The students in the class agreed that the parents will always seem to have something that they see as controversial and usually action will be taken to remove the items they deem unfit for their child to read.

The final question I had was whether or not we have already lost some control over our lives.

Students said that they we already see it happening due to the mega corporations. Money seems to be the key to who has control over what. It was also brought up again about the idea of parents having control over education.

Overall, I believed the discussions went well, but I hoped to have a little better response from my questions. I believe that a majority of the students understood the point I was trying to make and saw the connections that I introduced of our literature views of the future. I think they see what problems lie ahead in education and the way we are already controlled by outside groups, such as parents.