Hi, I’m Ting Kai, and I’m currently a senior at Kang Chiao International School. Writing has always been one of my favorite hobbies, and I’ve been writing in various categories ranging from creative writing to journalism and analytical essays. Aside from writing, I also enjoy activities such as photography and MUN.

“At what temperature does book paper catches fire and burn?” asked Ray Bradbury across the phone.

“Give me a second,” replied the firefighter on the other end, “451 degrees Fahrenheit.”

With that phone call, the title of Fahrenheit 451 was born.

Fahrenheit 451 narrates a utopian society in America – where books are either banned or censored, and media and information are controlled by a central broadcasting agency. Fireman Guy Montag, tasked to locate and destroy books hidden in residential houses, executes his responsibilities without ever questioning the law. However, his life and perspective soon change after meeting Clarisse McClellan, a teenage girl who enjoys holding real-life conversations rather than watching the television like the other citizens. Guy soon realizes that neither himself nor his wife, Millie, can recall their wedding day, which triggers Guy to question his life: is he truly happy? What’s the purpose of banning books? What does the government want to hide? For the remainder of the story, Guy gradually discovers the answers by reading banned books and talking to professors who secretly stored books. He begins to question his role as the society’s "official censors, judges, and executors" and kills Beatty, his captain when Beatty attempts to arrest him for violation of keeping books (Bradbury, 28). In the end, Guy, along with other book readers, escapes the city to build a society with the freedom of knowledge.

Stunned by the Nazis’ book burning, Bradbury wrote the dystopian novel in 1953 as a warning against the USSR’s communist oppression of freedom of speech and ideology. Although Bradbury initially illustrated Fahrenheit 451’s society as utopic, the plot gradually tears apart this facade, revealing a dystopia instead. Even before the government bans literature, the dystopia’s residents select mass media – which symbolizes government-regulated information – over books. “We must all be alike. Not everyone is born free and equal, as the Constitution says, but everyone made equal” hints at how the government uses equality as an excuse to manipulate its people (28). By demonstrating how Millie and her neighbors become individuals who continue lives without meaning, Bradbury reminded the reader of how mass media mimics the role of a totalitarian ruler, gradually taking away their freedom of speech in unnoticeable increments.

As Guy breaks away from conformity and develops his own perspective, Bradbury asserted that only courageous individuals who stand up to establishments can realize they’re trapped. For example, in Fahrenheit 451, citizens are brainwashed to be uniform, watching identical broadcasted programs and behaving in the same manner. This depicts the phenomenon where citizens become mirrored creatures that lack the ability of self-expression – which Bradbury hints as the key to evolution. Beatty, for example, symbolizes the majority that has learned to obey laws without question. Those who have developed individual personalities, however, are seen as alien threats. "Any man's insane who thinks he can fool the Government and us" highlights the satire that society can fall into complete control under a totalitarian regime without realizing the right they have lost (17). Bradbury encourages readers to seek individuality, as society and knowledge will evolve through developing different perspectives and opinions.

After reading the book, I began to reflect on Taiwan’s society: the knowledge passed down at home; the books read in school; the information shown on the news. How many of them were intended to shape our thinking? Though the Nazis and the USSR have collapsed, Bradbury’s warnings in Fahrenheit 451 remain applicable in the current era. With its rise in popularity and power, the Chinese Communist Party intends to control the public’s thinking, which is evident in their media’s censorship, misinformation, and disinformation. By excluding historical events from textbooks and glorifying the country's image via misinformation, China has brought totalitarianism into the present day. Luckily, Taiwanese people live in a democratic country and can freely express their opinions without censorship. While Guy had built a new society from scrap simply to obtain the freedom of speech, Taiwanese people still obtain such rights. Hence, just like how Bradbury tried to warn us through his novel, I believe we should preserve our liberal rights, continue to develop individuality, and hone our critical-thinking skills to prevent misinformation and propaganda from deceiving our perception.