What did the future bring? - Fahrenheit 451

Burn books, burn knowledge.

How would you feel if one day it was illegal to own/read books? As a person who loves the smell of new books and the feel of the pages as they turn for the first time, I would be devastated. Although much of the literature required for my classes is available online, I just don’t learn the same as when I physically hold a book, highlight, underline, and write all over it. But what if reading became a thing of the past? What would the future hold with no books- would society benefit? Lucky for us, our society values books, learning and knowledge; but Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451, predicts a future that to me, would not be so lucky.

Bradbury predicts the future from a 1950s perspective in which books become a hindrance to society; accumulating knowledge supposedly causes an inferiority complex, and to succeed as a society, people must be “made equal.” As a result, all books and homes that hold them are burned. The futuristic concept of abandoning the book can be seen in two ways.

1) Bradbury is correct that modern society has absolutely turned from the book to technology.

2) Bradbury is incorrect by believing this is due to the discouragement of pursuing knowledge.

Regarding a bookless future, in a sense, Bradbury is correct. With the internet and search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing, books are often not our first resource when seeking knowledge. Sites such as Wikipedia are often the first stop to find answers because it is quick, easy, and to the point. However, modern society has not deemed books irrelevant. Academia relies on books for scholarship; the internet cannot imitate actually holding a book and reading the words. There is also the nostalgia of rare, classic, and collectible books. The book still holds value and sites such as Amazon and gadgets such as the Kindle or Nook (eReaders) prove that technology is not trying to replace the book. If anything, these elements make reading more accessible with cheaper prices and increased portability.

The futuristic prediction of a shift towards technology, however, is only the surface issue. Bradbury’s prediction of this shift suggests desire for utopia, a society rid of inferiority suggested to come from knowledge. The 1950s were a time of social chaos; for example, prominent racism. Bradbury is influenced by this and predicts a happier future due to social equality; to him, ’ignorance is bliss.’ If people are blind to social, political, and philosophical issues, they can’t form opinions, controversy can be avoided and pleasure can be emphasized. Bradbury predicts a future devoid of knowledge and scholarship. “That’s all we live for…[pleasure and titillation] and you must admit, our culture provides plenty of this.” Actually, we are a society that craves knowledge to the point of needing accessibility to it at all times.

With the internet, we have access to infinite information 24/7. We can Google anything and in seconds, know everything we need to know. Just today, I Googled images of Main Coon cats and within 2 seconds, hundreds of images were found. Our phones and GPS systems are also portals to information readily available at all times. Our daily life is the constant pursuit of knowledge whether it be directions, a recipe for dinner, or leisurely Facebooking.



Bradbury’s vision is no doubt extreme; however, his overall concept promotes escape from reality which he sees as society‘s downfall. Mildred used TV as an escape to the point of the characters becoming her ‘family,’ not a totally unfamiliar concept to modern society. Think about Second Life and the obsessive behavior brought on by Farmville. To Bradbury, leisure is the way of the future and in a sense he is right. Although Second Life and Farmville OCD is not the norm, society today absolutely turns to technology for entertainment; video games, DVDs, and sites such as YouTube and Hulu are meant solely to entertain. However, to say we value escape does not mean the value of knowledge slips through the cracks.

2010 is vastly different from 1950. We live in a time where knowledge is key and by denying society the ability to pursue learning, we are promoting digression. Bradbury predicted a future with the best intentions, but if things panned out his way, the advancements in science and technology among other fields would not be possible.

We are a society of leisure, but we also crave education and despite the internet at our fingertips, the book is not dead.

Check out these sites for more insight on Bradbury and his future predictions compared with today!
Bookstove
TeenInk

Mallory.