A firefighter has a realization that the books hes burning are important part of keeping humanity intact in this dystopian society.
General Information:
- Paperback: 249 pages
- Price: $8.99
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster; Reissue edition (January 10, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 9781451673319
- ISBN-13: 978-1451673319
- ASIN: 1451673310
Plot:
The plot summary of the Fahrenheit 451 revolves around a futuristic dystopian society and the life of a firefighter named Guy Montag. In this world firefighters burn books instead of putting our fires as society has banned the reading of all books. At some point Guy’s chief explains to him that at first books were the subject to criticism form minority groups and then authors stopped writing anything good to try and appease everyone, so the government decided to just ban everything and make it illegal not only to own a book but to read them as well. The triggering points in Guy’s life is after a young girl he met dies from a speeding accident and after watching an older lady burn herself with her books rather than give them up. Guy realizes that the government was actually afraid of the ideas that books could spread and eventually Guy escapes and joins others who record books. In the end he ironically burns a book still after memorizing it to keep it preserved.
Reading and Interest Level:
The marketed reading level for this book was for grades 9-10 and would agree that the interests level would be around those grade though older teens may be able to better appreciate some of the messages within the story.
Evaluation:
Fahrenheit 451 is still read in high schools to this day due to how well written and effective the story is. The plot in this book is timeless as the lessons transcend generations which is why it is continually referred to. I personally find it an enthralling read and it gives terrific lessons in how to handle censorship and the importance of defending free speech and what can happen when those things get taken away from you.
Bibliotherapeutic Value:
The bibliotherapeutic value of this book for teens revolves around the concept of censorship. Being able to express themselves and the importance of having access for information is taken for granted at times especially in our country. Not being heard or listened to as a teenager is a much more common concept and this book is a good way for them to work out the importance of such a topic that as I said previously is taken for granted a lot of the time.
Issues Present:
The issues present in this book revolve with anti-government resentment, censorship and depicting teenagers with drugs, alcohol and speeding cars. The main reasons that this book has been challenged and even banned in some areas of the United States has revolved around the burning of books which includes all religious texts such as the bible or the Quran. This had certain religious groups in outrage. Some leaders have also put out the dislike of the strong anti-central government messages that the book seems to promote.
Defending the Title:
The ways librarians can counter these controversies within Fahrenheit 451 to help defend having the book within their collections would be to talk about the importance of the topic of censorship. By pulling the books you are essentially acting as the firemen in Fahrenheit 451 by not allowing teens to have access to this book. Nothing in the book is overly graphic and all of the “anti”-government sentiment revolves mostly around the idea of censorship.
Book Talk Ideas:
Some ideas for a book talk for Fahrenheit 451 would be following the path that causes the change of mindset for Guy Montag. To go from a firefighter to someone who now saves books is the most extreme change that could happen in this universe that Ray Bradbury created. Some of the pages that reference these changes are: page 35, 49, 59, 70, 85, 89, 104, 137, etc.
Genre:
The genre of this book is Teen Fiction: Science Fiction – dystopian society about censorship by book burning.
Similar Reads:
Author’s Website:
Awards:
2004 – Ballantine
Professional Reviews:
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/fahrenheit-451
https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2008/jan/15/burningstillfahrenheit451
Why I chose to read this book?
Fahrenheit 451 is a classic read that gets read by many students in early high school and with the hot topic issues in the news the idea of censorship is very real and a strong concern as the world is becoming a more volatile place. This book is the best book besides (Library Wars Manga) at discussing the topic of censorship. The hook of the book is definitely the main character had the journey he makes once he finally has cracked open one of those forbidden books.
Librarianship 