If The Hearth and the Salamander didn't disturb me about my generation's future then The Sieve and the Sand certainly did the trick. I'm genuinely concerned because although Fahrenheit 451 may seem exaggerated and unrealistic, there are definitely some similarities between our world and this dystopian world. I would be frightened to know how many people have not a clue how to use a library, dictionary, or spell the words 'library' or 'dictionary.' "Just Google it. Duh." There may actually exist a portion of our population, no matter how small it may be, that would not notice if the government burned all our books and outlawed reading. Not that I read as avidly as I should. But still, this is scary.
Anyway, I am really glad that since Clarisse died (although I am hoping she is still alive somewhere, not dead, but just being kept quiet for knowing/noticing too much), Montag has found someone else to share his burden with (the burden of Knowledge, that is). Mr. Faber, although he does strike me as sort of a yellow-belly, does have some wisdom along with his ancientness and advises Montag what to do.
I can't tell you how shocked I was that Mildred Montag has friends. Didn't see that coming. Her friends, Mrs. Phelps and Mrs. Bowles, almost seem to be even worse wives than she is. It is sad but I actually know of parents that are like Mrs. Bowles, who treat the TV like a babysitter for their kids and would just rather not be bothered by the little rascals. Why do people like that reproduce? Where is the love? I was surprised that the women didn't turn hostile when Guy unplugged the TV wall during their clown-slasher show. Also, another similarity I found between our society and the Fahrenheit 451 society: the women's political reasoning. They choose the candidates they vote for according to their name, how they look, dress, smell, whatever. We've actually been talking about this in my AP US History class--how completely oblivious some voters are to what is going on in our government. I wish people would fulfill their civil duties and get informed. Maybe we could avoid ending up like these poor folks.
I was a little confused at the way Captain Beatty was acting toward Montag at the fire station. I know he knew that Montag had more than one book, but I could not quite tell why he was trying to provoke him. I suppose Beatty just felt powerful because he knew he was scaring Montag. Also, the way the was throwing quotes around made me think that he was quite the avid reader/hypocrite. After all, could he really have memorized all those quotes if he had not read the literature they came from several times?
The end of this section leaves you hanging. Somehow in the back of my mind I did predict that Montag's house would end up an intellectual inferno. Bradbury knows how to make the reader not want to put the book down. I love the way he writes; I can tell that he is an extremely intelligent man. His book is really making me think. I need to start reading more.
No comments:
Post a Comment