The people of the world today titter on the edge of either a pacifistic fragility or an antagonistic vulgarity. We are subversive to our own rights, freedoms, and privileges if the fulfillment of them fails to adhere to the image we as a society wish to portray. Ray Bradbury's dystopian novel, Fahrenheit 451, takes readers into a world where not only are aesthetics truly what help you survive, but all books are banned. It gives you an almost choppy vision of what our future may truly bring us. Every day we focus more importance on perfecting not only the physical aspects of ourselves, but the materials we allow our minds to delve into. Your first thought after reading Fahrenheit 451 and contemplating its world is revulsion and disbelief. Books are being burned, and people along with them. Families no longer share anything except for seats in a parlor room and glances over a kitchen table. History has been rewritten to accommodate the frail minds of the passive masses, and other than advances in an entertainment industry, science has been deemed a mindless hobby. The entire plot frightens you, shocks you, even angers you. You cannot fathom how the world could ever turn to that. You know that you would never allow it. You may begin to find it laughable, realizing that too many would oppose such a vile revolution. Smiles of certainty are not warranted, for the fact is that Ray Bradbury's fictitious novel is beginning to slowly weave its depressive future into our own. How often do you sit with your family and ask more than, "How was your day,"? Many families enforce a forced topic discussion to avoid any conversations they would rather not hear and ensure a 'happy family time'. Parents find it easier to blame certain books, games, or movies for their children's inadequacies rather than themselves, and children are more than keen to pointing at figures in the media to explain bad habits they are afraid to be punished for.
