Critical Insights Fahrenheit 451

A classic novel of dystopian science fiction, Fahrenheit 451 also has been adapted for the theater, film, television, and radio. Bradbury's swift, poetic, elegiac work tells the story of an America of the not-too-distant future, where books are outlawed, citizens in violation are hustled swiftly away to psychiatric prisons, and the offenders' houses are duly burned by kerosene-wielding "firemen." After all, booksand the thoughts and emotions they bringare a threat to the fast-paced consumer's pa