Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is arguably the mostimportant and influential book of our time. Written almost 50 years ago, thenovel predicts the climax of a chain of events that seems to have already startedin our current society. Fahrenheit 451 is not only an exciting novel of rebellionand thought-provoking ideas, but also the warning of a possible future.

In this society, works of literature are banned and firemen burn thebanned books. The main character, Guy Montag, is one such fireman. He undergoes acrisis of faith, sparked by meeting a unique girl who thinks forherself.

Bradbury explains how the ban began, with books deemed offensivebeing censored until eventually the intolerance of differing voices leads to theban of all books. Then there are no voices at all, only an abysmal, vacuoussociety - a frightening thought.

Montag's boss reasons with him about thebanishment of books, saying, "Give the people contests they win byremembering the words to more popular songs. Don't give them slippery stuff likephilosophy or sociology to tie things up with. That way lies melancholy."The people of Montag's world live under that principle, though they don't knowit, and believe ignorance is bliss.

Fahrenheit 451 is more important todaythan ever before. I was appalled to hear several teens say the book is stupid ordoesn't have enough action and suspense. Their views frighten me because thoseare the beliefs of Bradbury's dystopia. The lack of understanding of differentideas seems to have dumbfounded my peers, and as a result they never want to readthe book again; they think it should be thrown away or even burned! Individualswho believe this only further vindicate Bradbury's fears.

The novel showsexactly what sorts of terrible things censorship can do to a society, and theimportance of free speech. People must learn to accept and understand differentviews, whether or not they agree. We must always be able to think for ourselvesand never accept the norm, for that is the way to melancholy. Everyone shouldread Fahrenheit 451, take what they learn from it and apply it to their everydaylives.