Dystopian Fiction
"We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal, as the constitution says, but everyone made equal . . . A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon. Breach man’s mind."
Fahrenheit 451 is set in a futuristic society in which reading and owning books is against the law. Firemen come to burn books rather than to put out fires. With the destruction of books comes the destruction of free thought. Bradbury explores the consequences of censorship and how the world cannot truly function without free thinkers and standing up for what is right.
In addition to the novel, we'll be reading several short stories from the dystopian literature genre.
Fahrenheit 451 Links
NPR's story "Reimagining 'Fahrenheit 451' As A Graphic Novel"
Short Stories
"The Pedestrian" by Ray Bradbury
"There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury
"Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut
"Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" by Kurt Vonnegut
Full Text of story (originally titled "The Big Trip Up Yonder")
"The Machine Stops" by E.M. Forster
Additional Reading
Are we living in Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451?