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David McElroy

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Influence of Ray Bradbury’s classic novel keeps pushing me to change

By David McElroy · April 15, 2018

No book has ever had as much continuing influence on me as Ray Bradbury’s brilliant short novel, “Fahrenheit 451.”

You can’t understand me without knowing the intellectual and emotional roads I’ve traveled with this book since I was a teen-ager. And I’m not sure how you can consider yourself an educated person if you haven’t read this work of genius and thought deeply about it.

When I first read the book, I was in either the eighth or ninth grade. I was drawn by the plot, because I read a lot of science fiction — pretty much everything in our school library. It took me years to discover the deeper layers of complexity that Bradbury wove into the book. And it’s those deeper layers that keep changing me.

I’m going through a struggle right now that keeps bringing to my mind a key crisis for the protagonist. I can’t get it out of my head lately. I experienced exactly this same struggle when I made the huge decision to get out of politics — and I’m at the same sort of crisis point right now. I handled that crisis poorly. I must handle this one in a smarter way.

Most people today interpret “Fahrenheit 451” as a book about censorship, but that is a rather pedestrian and shallow reading of the book. (Bradbury himself vehemently said it was not intended to be about censorship.)

It seems obvious to me that the book is about one person’s struggle to learn truth and then to respond to what he has learned — his struggle to get past the ways in which his culture had brainwashed him into believing half-truths. And more than anything, it’s about his struggle to make changes in his life when he realized that what he had been taught was a whitewashed account of how to be a self-actualized human being.

Guy Montag is a fireman, but he lives in a near-future in which books aren’t legal. It’s important to note that it’s not just books containing certain ideas which are banned. All books are banned, because it’s been decided that access to all these contradictory ideas just confuses everyone. In the place of books, television has become an all-consuming passion for the people. They are fed a steady diet of intellectually vapid entertainment that keeps their thoughts shallow. (Sound familiar?)

Because books are banned — and because all buildings are fireproof by now — firemen now exist to enforce the laws against books. Montag and his fellow firemen get reports of illegal books and they show up at houses and burn the books. Montag loves his work and thinks he’s part of a great system — until he faces a crisis. He sees a woman die for her books. Then he steals a few books and starts trying to figure out how to think for himself.

Montag’s wife, Mildred, is lost in the shallowness of popular culture. She’s absorbed in her television shows and shallow friends. The two of them don’t even know each other any more. She’s drifting slowly toward killing herself because of her nihilistic emptiness. Guy begs her to join him in the journey he’s starting — to see whether there is value in ideas and thinking for one’s own self:

“I’ve never asked for much from you in all these years, but I ask it now, I plead for it. We’ve got to start somewhere here, figuring out why we’re in such a mess, you and the medicine at night, and the car, and me and my work. We’re heading right for the cliff, Millie. God, I don’t want to go over. This isn’t going to be easy. We haven’t anything to go on, but maybe we can piece it out and figure it and help each other. I need you so much right now, I can’t tell you. If you love me at all you’ll put up with this, twenty-four, forty-eight hours, that’s all I ask, then it’ll be over. I promise, I swear! And if there is something here, just one little thing out of a whole mess of things, maybe we can pass it on to someone else.”

As Montage spiraled into crisis — trying to read seriously for the first time in his life and trying to figure out what was wrong with his life and with his society — he pulled away from his colleagues at the fire station. He knew he had to change — even though he was a babe in understanding what he was reading and in thinking for himself — and he knew he had to get away from the work he had been doing. He felt he had to change but he didn’t know how to change or what to do with himself. When he started calling in sick, his fire chief — Capt. Beatty — came to visit him. Beatty secretly knew what was going on, but he was trying to give Montag time to get over his curiosity about books and get back to “normal”:

“Well, Montag. Will you take another, later shift, today? Will we see you tonight perhaps?”

“I don’t know,” said Montag.

“What?” Beatty looked faintly surprised.

Montag shut his eyes. “I’ll be in later. Maybe.”

“We’d certainly miss you if you didn’t show,” said Beatty, putting his pipe in his pocket
thoughtfully.

I’ll never come in again, thought Montag.

“Get well and keep well,” said Beatty.

This is exactly the way I felt in the days when I had realized I had to get away from politics. I had political clients who depended on me — people who were giving me large checks to do their work — and I was essentially shutting down. At the time, I described it — to the few who I trusted well enough to talk about it — as feeling as though some idealistic and principled part of me was going on strike. Something in me was “calling in sick” every day. Something in me refused to continue to be part of something which I had come to recognize as immoral — even though I didn’t know which way to go instead.

I’m at a similar crisis point now. I know I have to find a solution, because something in me is pushing me to “go on strike” in the same way that I did when I left politics. Because I ignored the warning signs back then, I know what I’ll do if I don’t deal with this. Something in me is going to sabotage myself. I’m going to destroy my ability to keep doing the work I’m doing now. Since I’ve seen how that goes when I try to ignore it, I have a great incentive to handle it better this time.

My crisis isn’t the same as Montag’s, of course. I know how to think for myself. I’ve read plenty of books. But it’s similar in ways I’ve talked about recently.

If I don’t make some smart decisions to put myself where I need to be, I’m going to make some bad decisions instead. I’m certain of that. I’ll make myself sick. I’ll quit my jobs without alternatives in place. I’ll sabotage myself until I’m to the point that I have no choice but to make a major change.

Every time I read the book, it breaks my heart that Mildred doesn’t choose to move forward with him — that she chooses to betray him instead. I understand Montag’s desperate need for a partner while he’s working his future out, so that’s heartbreaking to me.

But Montag finds some help in learning to think — from a scared and retired old university professor — and when his decision point comes, he makes the right decision.

Montag had to give up the life of comfort and respect which his world had given him, but he gained something inside — in his mind and in his heart — that his world could never give.

He found meaning and hope for a different future.

As the book ends, it’s clear Montag’s life isn’t going to be easy from then on, but he’s going to be with like-minded — and like-hearted — people who also think for themselves. He’s given up what the world values in exchange for something far more valuable to him.

Decades after I first read the book, Bradbury’s brilliant voice is still pushing me to do the same for myself — regardless of the cost.

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This was the view just after sunset Tuesday evenin This was the view just after sunset Tuesday evening near my house. #nature #naturephotography #sky #colorful #clouds #sunset #birmingham #alabama
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I don’t have the right lens to photograph the mo I don’t have the right lens to photograph the moon properly, but there are some nights when I try anyway. The longest lens I have goes to 240mm, which means I have to enlarge a tiny part of the frame way too much. But even if I had the right lens, I’m not sure I’ve figured out how to expose the moon decently while still showing some stars around it. Tonight’s attempt has given me a grainy moon and pinpricks of stars that become invisible when viewed at normal size. (Blow this up with your fingers in the app and you can see the tiny stars.) I really want to learn how to do this better, so if anyone has tips for me, I’d be happy to hear them. #nature #naturephotography #sky #moon
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I just remembered this sunset photo that I took th I just remembered this sunset photo that I took this evening when I had stopped to get gasoline on I-20 just east of Birmingham. I was pumping gas when I suddenly realized the sky had erupted with bright pastel colors. I didn’t have time to get my “real” camera, so I just quickly shot two frames with my iPhone at the edge of the parking lot. It keeps surprising me just how good cameras on our smartphones have become. #nature #naturephotography #sky #colorful #clouds #sunset #birmingham #alabama
We had dark and stormy skies all day in Birmingham We had dark and stormy skies all day in Birmingham, but there was a little bit of light that was finally able to poke through the darkness right at sunset along U.S. 411 just east of Birmingham. #nature #naturephotography #sky #colorful #clouds #sunset #birmingham #alabama
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Alex seems to have regained his composure by late Alex seems to have regained his composure by late Thursday night. I don’t know what he might or might not feel about Thomas’s death, but his behavior seems to be returning to what is normal for him. He still wants to be very close to me, but that has always been a key feature of his personality. #cat #cats #catstagram #catsofinstagram #cute #cutecat #pets #petstagram #petsofinstagram #tabby #tabbycat #instacat #ilovecats #birmingham #alabama
For “throwback Thursday,” I think it’s appro For “throwback Thursday,” I think it’s appropriate to go back to 2011 for the first photo I was ever able to get with Thomas. He was still living outside my house and I was feeding him on the porch. It took me quite awhile to get him to let me hold him long enough for this brief photo, but he clawed his way out of my arms very quickly. This was the very first photo that I used when I was still trying to find a home for him in October 2011 — before I took him inside to stay soon afterward. #tbt #cat #cats #catstagram #catsofinstagram #cute #cutecat #pets #petstagram #petsofinstagram #tabby #tabbycat #instacat #ilovecats #birmingham #alabama
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Alex still seems confused tonight, but he finally Alex still seems confused tonight, but he finally ate a little bit of food. I know that he’ll be back to his normal self pretty quickly, but it really does seem as though Thomas’s death this afternoon has left him perplexed. #cat #cats #catstagram #catsofinstagram #cute #cutecat #pets #petstagram #petsofinstagram #tabby #tabbycat #instacat #ilovecats #birmingham #alabama
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On a live awards show Sunday night, one man made a joke about a female celebrity. The husband of the celebrity was offended and hit the man who made the joke. Or maybe it was staged for entertainment. Who knows? Who cares? Social media is full of discussion — and even arguments — about this idiocy today. This baffles me. Let’s assume for a moment that the event happened as reported. People have been having such idiotic fights ever since there have been humans. Half the bars in the world see such brief dustups regularly. It simply doesn’t matter. The fact that so many people believe they need to talk about this — or even need to have opinions about it — is more evidence of the bizarre media brainwashing that convinces many to care passionately about brain-dead trivia. Your life will be happier and saner if you focus on yourself, your family and your friends, not on whatever scripted (or spontaneous) bilge that the media wants to pipe into your home.

I’m in the middle of migrating this website to new servers this week. This means you might encounter some unexpected behavior until I get all the bugs worked out. Clicking on my links (including this one) might cause your browser to give you the message that it’s a site without a current security certificate. It’s not actually unsafe, but there’s something which isn’t yet set up for the security certificate. I apologize for any such errors you might encounter while the process is going on. If you notice any problems with content which didn’t migrate properly, I would appreciate you letting me know the details at davidmcelroy@mac.com. Thanks for your patience.

I often wonder what animals think when they look at us and consider the society we’ve created. Yes, I know this is fanciful and unrealistic, but what if they could? Would they be astounded at how we treat each other? Would they be disgusted by the ugliness and pettiness which fill so many of our daily interactions? The truth is that I’m feeling pretty disgusted with humanity tonight. I made the mistake of reading some online interactions that I should have avoided — and it sickened me. The people involved appeared to be vile and stupid and arrogant. I wish I could pretend they’re a tiny minority, but I know better. It’s times such as this when I most need to escape much of “civilization” and disconnect from their world. If humans are going to be worthy of “ruling this planet,” we have a lot of growth to do. And I fear that growth is nowhere in sight. So my buddy Thomas, above, and all of his friends would be right to judge us harshly — and to think, “Why do you folks get to be in charge?”

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Have you ever had what you thought was a new idea — and then discovered that “old you” had the same idea years ago? I had that experience tonight. And it’s been wonderful. I came up with an idea tonight for a very short satirical film that would be a promotion for a fictitious college. The point is to make the college promote — as good things — everything which is actually terrible about most modern colleges. Then I remembered a fake college that I invented back when I was in college. I had created student recruitment brochures and various newsletters back then, so I decided to call my “new” college by the same name I’d invented years ago: Ochita College. As I searched my computer for any old material I might still have about Ochita from the past, I discovered an email I sent to someone in 2009 — outlining essentially the same idea which I came up with tonight. Since I didn’t remember writing that, it felt like magic. So my next film project just might be this one instead. If all goes well, you might soon see “Ochita College: Your Future Starts Here.” This should be fun.

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