It Was a Pleasure to Burn

In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury's classic vision of the future, firemen don't put out fires--they start them in order to burn books. Bradbury's vividly painted society displays the appearance of happiness as the main goal. It is a place where trivial information is admired and true knowledge and ideas are banned. Guy Montag is a fireman who has always been happy and fulfilled in his job. He's never questioned the purpose of book burning. He only …

…ideas bring out a growing sense of dissatisfaction toward his own life, though he's not exactly sure why he is uneasy. When Clarisse suddenly dies and he witnesses the death of an old woman (burned in her home with her treasured books), Montag decides to make some changes. He begins to read the books he once burned and, along with a retired college professor named Faber, concocts a plan to disrepute the tyranny of censorship.