SCIENCE FICTION BOOK CLUB
The book for the
month is Fahrenheit 451
Book Club for boys 16 years and over
Book for this month is:
Book Title: Fahrenheit 451
Author: Ray Bradbury.
Published 1953
The book has been
made into a film more than once, most recently in May, 2018.
The plot.
This is a dystopian
novel in which Guy Montag, the main protagonist, is a fire fighter and his job
is to burn books because the government has banned the ownership and the
reading of books / literature etc.
Page 10.
Montag says:
“Don’t you know the
rules?. Monday burn the Millay. Tuesday Tolstoy.Wednesday Walt Whitman.Thursday
Thoreau.Friday Faulkner. Burn them to
ashes”.
Guy Montag used to
take pride in his job. Now he realises
the HUGE DAMAGE his job is causing society.
He has accumulated a stash of books in his house (in the ceiling). And
he lives in fear of being found out. He
is sick of his vegetable-like existence.
Guy reads Dover Beach to his wife and her
friends. Mrs Phelps starts crying
because she realises how shallow her life has become. Mildred, Guy’s wife, reports him to Betty
about his book accumulation as she cannot live with a book hoarder.
Guy attempts to break
her from the spell of ignorance society has created but is not able to do
this. Mildred remains shallow and
indifferent to the oppressive society.
Captain Beatty- Even though he burns books, ironically and
paradoxically, he spends time quoting from the books. Captain Beatty still loves books / literature
and learning, even if this dystopian society does not allow him to read and
learn.
Themes
There are many reoccurring themes that run
through the book:
State based
censorship, with the government banning the ownership and reading of books;
All thinking must
stop, and mass media marginalises the reading of literature;
This is an
authoritarian society, an illiterate society;
Free will and
self-expression is forbidden;
Suppression of
information/ ideas everywhere= destruction of culture in a society;
Languageis destroyed;
Hedonistic society,
loss of freedom,
The real threat at
the end of the day is IGNORANCE, LACK OF EDUCATION.
Symbolism
There are many important
symbolisms that run through whole novel but the most important are:
Firemen-
traditionally their role was to prevent fires. Now firemen must start fires –
burning books.
Excerpts:
Page 19 Clarisse says:
“How did it
happen? How did you think to take the
job you have? You’re not like the
others.....I’ve seen a few. I know. When I talk, you look at me. The others walk off and leave me
talking.....or else threaten me. You’re
one of the few who put up with me.
That’s why I think it’s so strange....you’re being a fireman.
Fahrenheit
451 – the title of the book is significant. This is the temperature at which
paper catches fire.
Mildred and her
friends – Mrs Bowles and Mrs Phelps – watch the “parlour walls” (i.e. TVs on
walls)- insipid entertainment.
They are indifferent,
ignorant, anti- intellectual.
Destruction
of libraries and books = real threat is ignorance and lack of education.
What is an incident
that you thought funny or interesting.
Page 7
Beatty says:
“Once you accumulate
knowledge, it’s very much like owning twelve beds. You can only sleep in one at a time. The rest are superfluous. There’s only one truth worth knowing (lights
his cigarette lighter).”
Later, on the same
page, Beatty says:
“(Lighting his
pipe).And smoke and ashes.Answers to everything. Problems solved. Worry eliminated. Right?Montag?Right.”
One character
observes that houses used to burn, but are now fireproof. Instead, now it is
books that burn.
Page 10
Clarisse says:
“But once upon a
time, houses did burn didn’t they? They weren’t fireproof, like today.”
Reason for
liking this book and reading this book.
The reason for this
promotion is to motivate reluctant readers like our group males ages 16 years
plus to read more. According to
research males 16 years plus do not enjoy reading.
This books writing
style is conversational, the themes are interesting, and the science fiction
genre is likely to appeal to male teenagers. This book may inspire readers to
read more. Ray Bradbury himself found
that many boys enjoyed this book and he was very happy about it. His comments can be heard in a YouTube clip.
In addition, he was from a poor family who couldn’t afford to go to college. He
spent 10 years of his life (4 days a week, 52 weeks a year) in libraries,
acquiring his own education. He therefore had first-hand experience of the
value of books.
TED talks explains
many reasons for reading this dystopian novel.
Language
is short circuited- destroyed because literature reading in banned everywhere.
Another major reason
to read more is to avoid ignorance and get an education.Life- long learning. Man’s biggest enemy is ignorance ( this is my
belief).
Where to get
book.
This book is
available in all libraries everywhere.
You can also buy it anywhere where books are sold.
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