Image by Witer via FlickrI finally began Fahrenheit 451 the other day. I'm only on part 2 right now, but I can already tell that everyone who told me that the book was a must-read was completely right.They were also right about how, though the story is set in a dystopian future, it reflects our own society today so much that it's almost frightening. I can say that it's much more frightening than not because I'm certain it reflects our society more now than it did when it was first written in the 1950s.
Books are illegal, television shows and games have been dumbed down to the point that they're nothing but series of bright colors, sports are all anyone cares about because they don't require much philosophy, and all of the liberal arts schools are closed because people stopped going to them. All of the jobs involve technical and computer skills, and sitting around on the porch talking is seen as useless and dangerous because, golly gee, if people start thinking then they just might get ideas! Different ideas! Then there will be war over those ideas, and it won't even be the "fun kind" of war.
I'm not gonna lie, I'm scared that this is where we're going to end up fairly soon, especially since I spent eight hours in a lecture hall the day before listening to a lady tell me that it didn't matter whether or not you were doing what you loved if there wasn't a job market for it. You know what? I don't care if I'm going to be poor because being a writer isn't corporate enough for the future. I'll open up a can of beans and eat it like it's a turkey dinner because I'll be doing what I love.
And besides, people with no house don't have to pay the bills. So nyah.
In short, read this book and let it scare you. You'll thank yourself for picking it up, and don't ever let someone tell you that you shouldn't follow your dreams just because they're becoming obsolete. Don't let the man keep you down, and don't get stuck in the three piece cage if you want to work with whales and wear a scuba suit.
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