As an English secondary education major at Elizabethtown College, it would be correct to assume that I love to read. I have challenged myself this year to start reading some classic novels that I have never read before.

My first successful read of 2025 was the classic novel, “Fahrenheit 451,” by Ray Bradbury. This dystopian story takes place in a society where books and any form of literature are illegal. In this society, if a person possesses books, firefighters would start fires, burning the books by the hundreds.

The story follows Guy Montag, a firefighter, as he starts to question his job and whether or not it is morally right to burn books.

I thought the plot was fascinating and very relevant to current book bans and other aspects of our society today. 

“I think the idea behind ‘Fahrenheit 451’ is terrifyingly dystopian because when you think about it, it’s not all that far-fetched,” sophomore political science major Rebecca Green said. “The fact that it was banned too, it’s a level of irony and hypocrisy one can only imagine.”

Some themes in the novel are censorship, technology advancement, control and the blockage of knowledge. This story is very teachable to others because some of these themes and concepts are questioned or brought up directly by Montag and other characters.

An aspect of “Fahrenheit 451” I really enjoyed was how it was a slow moving story. To be more specific, the reader was finding out important information just as the main character, Montag, was. This made for a very interesting read, and potentially categorizes it as a slow burn.

“I like “Fahrenheit 451” because it is an excellent display of just how important books and storytelling truly are, and what some are willing to do to protect that,” Green said.

From an entertainment standpoint, I do not personally think the novel was the most fun and exciting to read, nor does it top my personal favorite book. With that being said, I do think it is one of the most teachable novels I have ever read because it has themes that would be very interesting to talk about in an English classroom or literature setting.

The author, Bradbury, has a series of short stories and novels published, with most of them also being in that similar dystopian genre.Though “Fahrenheit 451” may be getting older each year, it clearly still carries important relevancy and knowledge with it.