Entry 2- Make some connections!

Are there 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 world history, there have been many well-known book burnings such as those in China by the Qin Dynasty who was also called the Qin Shi Huang during 221 to 206 BC. Another example would be the destruction of the Library of Alexandria and one of the more recent ones were book burnings of the Nazis.

Books are not being burned these days, however, we do have situation where many people are not reading as many books as they did many years ago. With the fast development of technology, the number one resource that we use for learning is the computer and the internet. Powerpoints, microsoft word, adobe acrobat, and other programs are now being used all over the world by a vast number of people. Books are frequently treated as boring things and are being replaced by the newest electronic devices all the time. This is just how it is in the book, Fahrenheit 451. The program called 'family' seems to be on every woman's mind and they are constantly viewing with the purpose none other than their pure entertainment. Books are treated as if they were dangerous trash that should not be opened or even touched. Our society is (thankfully), not that extreme, but people are being vacuumed out of the whimsical world of books by rapid development of technology.

The novel shows a bit how the current situations could be solved. There is hope. There are also many people like Guy Montag who have burned books before, but resisted the government and escaped. That group of people including Montag will wait and begin to persuade the citizens around them after the war is over.

Thankfully, there are not many books being burnt today but there is an obvious situation that connects with the novel to our world. That is the use of media. Computers, television, and other electronic devices are used more and more and technologies develop. It's becoming a big issue to our society. The majority of people watch television or used the internet for both entertainment and for information. Schools all over the world are now thinking about electronic textbooks and using computers to interact with teachers instead of comping to school. Hopefully, Fahrenheit 451 can send the message to readers that books have a significant part of our life and should not be banished in our society.