Reflection on Fahrenheit 451 Part I

The point of the first part of the book was mainly to give us a background information of the period of the book in which it is set in. In this case, the book is set in the future, where high technologies take place. It describes to us about the daily life of Montag and his wife Mildred. Montag is a future fireman who burns books and houses, and Mildred sits around at home all day watching the TV parlor. Also, the first part is the most important part of the book.

I believe that it is the "spark" for the rest of the book. Montag goes through his normal, everyday schedule; however, Montag meets a girl named Clarisse, who psychologically changes him completely. Montag finally becomes aware of his life and the society. He realizes his desire for true happiness and a life where people can think in peace. This is how Montag's search for a better life had started, and the first step of his search was reading the books he had gathered illegally.

If our future was similar to the future described in the book, I would be very sad. I would not want to live in a place where people can't sit outside and just talk or think leisurely. In the beginning of the book, I believe Clarisses was the only "sane" girl. I am so glad that Montag was influenced by Clarisse and had changed his way of thinking, and I believe that Mildred is just a pitiful wife of Montag's, who doesn't even care about how Montag feels or thinks and only thinks about her own parlor "family." Their standard of a husband and wife relationship is very different compared to the standard in reality.

I think that the first part of the book did a really good job in giving us information about the characters' time and world. Ray Bradbury is such a talented writer, who had thought of the great idea to write about a world in which firemen are supposed to burn down books and also burn down the houses in which they were found in. This part of the book brings readers to a state of excitement and eagerness to read the rest of the book. It really gives readers a good start to the rest of the plot of the story.