What lessons or warnings did Bradbury present?

Re-reading Fahrenheit 451  left me shaking my head. Was this book really written in 1953? (Rhetorical question. It was.)

Bradbury wrote about censorship, interactive TV, people connected to technology rather than each other, drive-by shootings, ATMs, caller ID, and the push (demand?) to minimize critical thinking and demand adherence to governmental thought.

Was he reacting to his times, predicting the future, or just a storyteller? Something else?

Consider these quotes from the book.

• “Nobody listens anymore. I can’t talk to the walls because they’re yelling at me. I can’t talk to my wife; she listens to the walls. I just want someone to hear what I have to say. And maybe if I talk long enough, it’ll make sense.” ~Guy Montag (protagonist)
  
  *What do you think the walls refer to? What is Montag complaining about?
  
  
• “And in her ears the little Seashells, the thimble radios, tamped tight, and an electronic ocean of sound, of music and talk and music and talk coming in, coming in on the shore of her sleeping mind.” ~Guy Montag
  
  *What are the Seashells? Do you see any modern-day reference?
  
  
• “With school turning out more runners, jumpers, racers, tinkerers, grabbers, snatchers, fliers, and swimmers instead of examiners, critics, knowers, and imaginative creators, the word ‘intellectual,’ of course, became the swear word it deserved to be…A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon. Breach man’s mind. ~Captain Beatty (antagonist)
  
  *What is Beatty saying about schools and books?
  
  
• “If you don’t want a man unhappy politically, don’t give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet, give him none…Give the people contests they win by remembering the words to more popular songs or the names of state capitals or how much corn Iowa grew last year. Cram them full of noncombustible data…Don’t give them any slippery stuff like philosophy or sociology to tie things up.” ~Captain Beatty
  
  *What is Beatty proposing?

Photo by Steve Piscitelli

1953? Fiction? Warnings? Lessons? Resonance?

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You will find more about me at www.stevepiscitelli.com.

And you can still order:

• My first novel, The Voice in Your Ear, was released on September 17, 2024. You can order the book (e-book or print copy) here. If you’d like to hear the song I wrote and recorded as the soundtrack for the book, click here. (P.S. Thank you for taking a chance on a “first-time” novelist.)
• Sharing Wisdom Across the Ages: From Elementary School to Retirement (eBook and paperback versions) was released on January 1, 2023. Click here for more information.
• Roxie Looks for Purpose Beyond the Biscuit (2020) is available in eBook and paperback formats. Click here.
• Community as a Safe Place to Land (2019, print and e-book) is available on Amazon. The above link provides more information (including seven free podcast episodes spotlighting the book’s seven core values).
• Stories about Teaching: No Need to be an Island (2017, print and e-book). Available on Amazon. One college’s new faculty onboarding program used the scenarios in this book. Contact me if you and your team are interested in doing the same. The accompanying videos (see the link above) could stimulate community-building conversations at the beginning of a meeting.

©2025. Steve Piscitelli
The Growth and Resilience Network®
Atlantic Beach, Florida