The novel, Fahrenheit 451,was written by Ray Bradbury between 1950 and 1953 in Los Angeles, California. Bradbury was an American novelist, short-story writer, essayist poet, and many more. He was born in Waukegan, Illinois on August 22, 1920, the third child born into his family. His parents always pushed him to thrive for what he believed in. Bradbury grew up with an open mind toward all types of writing, which helped him mold the science fiction genre he created in his books we read today.
This stories setting is during the twenty-fourth century in a well known futuristic American city (which is not mentioned). This is the expostion, where it introduces a New world in which control by the media,overpopulation, and extreme censorship has been taken over by the general population. The individual is not accepted and the intellectual is an outlaw. Books are banned, and anyone who is found with a book in their possession is arrested, and the books are burned. This story shows how important books are to us all.
Fahrenheit 451 starts with an incident in which Guy Montag, the main character meets Clarisse McClellan, his new neighbor. Montag is the protagonist of the story. In the time of his life when we meet him he is very unhappy with his job, and life in general. Guy is a third generation fireman who destroys books for a living. He has a very distinct typical look for a fireman "Black hair, black brows.fiery face, and.blue-steel shaved, but unshaved look. All the men are mirrored images of each other" (23). When Guy meets Clarisse he is walking home from work one day when she introduces herself to Montag. Clarisse is the antithesis of anyone he has ever met. She tries to talk to Montag about things he has never considered before, for example "Do you ever read any of the books you burn?" (37), "Is it true that long ago firemen put out fires instead of going to start them?" (38), and "Have you ever watched the jet cars racing on the boulevards down that way?" (38).
