Fahrenheit 451-Entry8: My Choice

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Entry of my choice

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

You probably heard of this quote at least one time in your life. Well, to get to the point, it was also mentioned in Fahrenheit 451. I always thought about this quote. I believe that most of the people agree with this statement because other people also agreed so.
Unlike others, I disagree with this quote with the evidence of my own experience. I buy books just looking at its cover. I have no problem with it what so ever. Books with appealing covers are more fun than the books with dull, simple cover. I once bought a book with a flamboyant cover with sparkles on it. The title was The Lion Boy. The book wasn’t as good as the cover displayed, but it was fairly interesting. Another time, I bought a book with black and white picture of a family on it. The book itself didn’t look interesting at all, but since it was a Newbery Honor Book, I decided to buy it. The book was so boring that I thought that it was going to take me a year to finish it. I think that books can be judged through its cover. The cover is the first thing that the readers see; therefore, writers should have a fascinating cover to grab the readers’ attention.

Fahrenheit 451-Entry7: Setting

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Are there any settings in this novel which you have found to be beautiful? Or disturbing? Or memorable? Describe these settings and comment on why they were meaningful to you.

There was one specific setting that I wasn’t able to forget even after a week since I finished the book: the old lady’s house. I can’t imagine a lady in the house burning with books. How can a person be so devoted to books? How can the firemen let the fire devour an impotent lady just like that? I can’t erase the picture of a kerosene-filled house burning vigorously with a poor lady in the middle, out of my mind. If I were one of the firemen in the lady’s house, I would bring her out of the house even if she resists to stay. I mean it’s a human’s life that I’m dealing with!
Another setting that was disturbing was when the helicopter and the mechanical hound were chasing after the “fake” Montag who was actually an innocent guy coming out for a cigarette. The mechanical hound mistaking the stranger as Montag, stabbed “Montag” with its needles. How can they just solve a problem like this? There isn’t any proof that “he” is Montag. The scenery is just horrible to imagine. How Bradbury describes the place and the situation in which the guy is in is just unforgettable (in a negative way).
The time in which this story takes place was interesting. I was amazed at how world could change over a short period of time because it felt like a whole different new world just by reading the descriptions.

Fahrenheit 451-Entry6: Quotable Quote

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Please choose one passage from the novel that is significant to you. Why is this passage meaningful? Please type it into one of your entries and comment on what you think about the passage.

“[Fire’s] real beauty is that it destroys responsibility and consequences.”

In the book, Beatty says this quote to Montag as he attacks him. I strongly disagree with this quote because I think that fire builds up responsibility and consequences. In the story, firemen burn books because it’s illegal. The specific reason to why books are banned is because government is afraid that people might go beyond what they know and cause a problem like beginning a generation of racism. Another reason is because now that the technology is more developed, people don’t need books; they can just go on internet or watch television for information. When the books are burned how are people going to study? Will they think at all? What are the parents going to say to their children? First of all, are they being good parents just by watching television all day long? Fire is the criminal. When the fire burns everything that humans have what are we going to do? Fire is going to keep on building responsibilities on people by giving them pressure to think about their future. If we don’t have any responsibility in the world, our environment, I mean the earth will vanish. Water will be contaminated and we will have animal extinction because people can’t control themselves. Fire will not only build up responsibilities, but soon, kill people. People will suffer because they have nothing left for them.

Fahrenheit 451-Entry5: Mood

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What is the mood of this novel? Do you find this novel saddens you in any way? Why?

The mood of Fahrenheit 451 is gloomy and sad because in this book, there’s mostly violence, death, and a little bit of hope. The only part that I found the mood happy and positive was when Montag met Clarisse. When Montag was talking to Clarisse, he set his other problems aside and had a peaceful talk. Clarisse introduced him to books. Montag got very interested in how Clarisse thought of the world. Then, after few days, Montag heard of the news that Clarisse got killed by a speeding car. Before Montag met Clarisse, his wife, Mildred, tried to commit a suicide. The story was at a point where it was as gloomy as it can be. Toward the end of the story, a whole group of people died due to atomic bombs. There were so many deaths and violence going around Montag. This book really saddened me. If I were Montag, I think that I would be such a big misery that I would be wanting to commit a suicide. One of the biggest reasons is that there’s no point of living except to play, watch television, and see the world flow by. Because the technology is so advanced, you’ll never know when you’ll die of “silent” atomic bombs. The reason that people live would be basically to die.

Fahrenheit 451-Entry4: Events

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What is the climax of this novel? What happens? How do the events of this novel make you feel?

The climax of the story is when Montag kills his Captain, Beatty. Beatty deceives Montag by saying that he came to check up on Montag’s condition. Beatty knowing that Montag has been acting awkward lately, decides to burn Montag’s house with suspicion of having books inside his (Montag) house. Montag tries to get away with Beatty by insisting that he does not have books, but later, Beatty decides to arrest him. Montag quickly picks up the flame thrower and shoots the fire at Beatty. Then, Beatty dies and Montag runs away.
The climax of this novel shocked me a bit because when I thought about it, people were making a big deal out of reading a book. I mean it’s only a book. It made me wonder if books are actually worth killing people. If I were in Montag’s situation in which I am about to be arrested, I might hit Beatty and run away but I will not kill him. I would not even dare myself to touch a book first of all. Books might help us think of the world in different ways and give us knowledge in many areas, but I don’t think they are worth people’s lives. Instead of books, we can just communicate, which is easier and more convenient. Communication would help us get along in a society well. Just like how gossip works, if we communicate, the information will pass down faster which saves time and cost for books.

Fahrenheit 451-Entry3: Characters

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Who are the main characters in the novel? Do you like them? Why or why not? What is special about them? What do they reveal about the universal human experience?

Montag- Montag is the main character in the story in which he is the protagonist. At first, he is a fireman who burns books without thinking, but later, he notices that books are significant to our lives. Then, he devotes himself to reading and learns the value of knowledge. I don’t like Montag because I disagree to his actions. If I were him, I wouldn’t risk my life being chased by a mechanical hound trying to tell the people that books are essential to us. I don’t think books are worth risk of life.
Clarisse McClellan-Clarisse is a seventeen years old girl who lives in the vicinity of Montag. One day, Montag meets Clarisse and finds her interesting in a way that she thinks different from other people. She’s the character that motivates Montag to read books. I only like her uniqueness in the story: how she stood out from rest of the crowd.
Faber-Faber is a companion of Montag trying to preserve as much books as they can. He was an English professor in a university, but retired. Later in the story, Montag and Faber plans to burn other firemen’s houses. He also helps Montag when he (Montag) is trying to escape from the city. He teaches Montag of the value of books.
Beatty-Beatty is the captain of the fire department that Montag works for. Even though Beatty has read a few books, he stopped reading them because he wasn’t able to understand it fully. In the story, Beatty contradicts the idea that books are valuable.

Fahrenheit-Entry2: Application

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Are there are any current situations in the world that relate to the novel? What are they, and how do they relate? Does the novel shed any light on how current situations could be resolved or "fixed"?

In our modern society, we have highly developed technology to make our lives easier. For example, in classes, teachers use power point projectors and computers for notes. It seemed to me that as the time pass, we are less likely to use our books. In a student’s point of view, it is easier, faster, and more organized to use power points than to write them with hand with pens and pencils. This situation was partially related to the “high-tech” environment in Fahrenheit 451. In the beginning of Fahrenheit 451, people had books, but later people decided that books made the world complicated; so, they decided to burn them. I think that soon, similar situation will happen to us. I think that if we keep developing technology, soon or later, books will be rare to find and maybe become illegal to keep them like Fahrenheit 451. To prevent the horrible events in the book from happening to us, we should motivate people today to use textbooks than to use technology. For notes and projects, we should hand write them. If the characters in Fahrenheit 451 had thought about benefits that they could gain through reading books, they wouldn’t have any conflict. Another situation that related to the one in the book was committing suicides. Nowadays, people suicide for various reasons. For example, the conflicts might include dealing with relationship, money, and personal feelings. In the book, Mildred tries to commit a suicide by taking pills. People take away their own life like eating a piece of cake. We should learn the value of our lives and live happily when we have the chance.

Fahrenheit 451-Entry1: Themes

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What is the major theme of this novel? Why is this theme important to a teenager living in 2007?

The most important theme in Fahrenheit 451 is censorship. The government banned book in Fahrenheit 451 because of various reasons. First, people like entertainments such as televisions better than reading hundreds of pages of stories. Televisions surely do attract people’s attention because they don’t have to think when they are watching television. I believe that most of the teenagers today will choose television over books. Second reason mentioned in the book is that books are offensive materials. For example, the ideas might differentiate in race, religion, and gender. In the book, Beatty mentioned different points of views on cat-lovers and dog-lovers.
This theme is significant to teenagers in 2007 because as the time pass, people tend to prefer technology than what we originally have like books. Many of my friends read books online on the computer. They think that paper book is unnecessary because it’s available in our modern technology, internet. Some of my friends just prefer televisions over books. Just like the characters in Fahrenheit 451, soon technologies will over come our lives in a way that make our lives simpler and easier. I also believe that there are anti-fans of the books meaning that not all the people agree with all the authors’ ideas. Since we have freedom of speech, we will have criticism, racism, and sexism in some of the books. Would they last long? What would the government do if they found out about all the criticism that people has toward them? Would they ban the books? It might be unbelievable, but it could happen. Teenagers should be aware of the consequences of having and not having books and consider them seriously. Knowledge or ignorance? It’s your choice.