This sounds silly, maybe, but every time the firemen set fire to a pile of books, I could feel the beginnings of tears. It was a hard movie for me to watch.
I am positive I was the only one in the class who felt that way. I'm not sure if I was crying because I was making a comparison between the movie and how society actually is, or if I simply hated to see someone burn a book. I think the former.
Ray Bradbury and the filmmakers were commenting on the value of the printed word (books) in our society, and suggesting what might happen if it was (they were) to become devalued. I'm not saying everyone has to cry during the movie, but what if there is something more sinister than burning books?
What about ignoring them? How many books have you read this week? This month? This year? Ignoring literature, rather than burning it, is a much easier, less drastic and just as effective measure to achieve what Bradbury and the film showed.
I couldn't tell you how many books I've read. I don't think I could not read, even if I wanted to. I'm not saying this because it makes me feel smug. When I read, I enter a world where no one can follow me, alone. I still don't think I've read enough to be a good writer.
The book, like the movie, is inherently unrealistic. Can you imagine a functioning, modern, electronic society without the printed word? How would one read a menu, or know how to get somewhere on a map? In the movie, Montag, the main character, is shown reading a newspaper containing only images. Also, why do the characters still know how to read if books are forbidden?
Montag's wife Linda, and many people in the society seem to have lost their capacity to feel and to remember their pasts.
Save our society. Save yourself. Read a book today. (Or just watch the movie version.)
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