Why Ray Bradbury Wrote Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451 is an extremely controversial novel. So why did Ray Bradbury write it? While doing research on him last year for my research paper, I discovered that Ray has had a fascination with the future ever since he was young. Therefore, this novel could just be seen as another science fiction novel. However, it was not. The general public read Fahrenheit 451, and immediately began wondering what message Ray Bradbury was trying to get across. Was education bad? Why was he burning books? Ultimately, I believe Ray was trying to get the nation to try and prevent what happened to Guy's society not happen to ours. He was trying to teach us all a lesson, and help us learn from Guy's mistakes. Now, we are not necessarily burning books, but the idea of education and learning is slowly fading from the eyes of children as technology takes over the world. So, Ray Bradbury was correct in Fahrenheit 451. Now he went to extremes by making the books burn, but that was so the readers would stay interested in the novel. I can see now why the novel was so controversal: it made readers think. We still would much rather have things be easier for us rather than have to work for it. Therefore, that could be another reason the book was banned in many schools. The book made people think. It reminded me of the movie Footloose, where the kids are not allowed to dance due to the message it supposidly conveys and their reading is also censored due to what the Reverand says. Therefore, Ray Bradbury was extremely smart for being able to predict how society would act. Because we are heading into the society he made in Fahrenheit 451. Now I doubt we will ever burn books, but the same ideas and messages are still being carried over through time. Therefore, Ray Bradbury was ultimately trying to warn and teach us about the future, and what is to come.