Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is a striking exploration of the consequences of intellectual suppression and the power of literature in a dystopian society. In a future where meaningful and thought-provoking books are outlawed, the firemen, whose job is supposed to be extinguishing fires, are ordered to start fires and burn the “heretical” books. In addition, they are often asked to burn entire houses of the perpetrators (the rebel readers). The protagonist, Guy Montag, is a fireman who initially feels satisfied with his job because he buys into the ideology that books have a negative influence on readers. However, he starts to question the status quo when he finds himself significantly affected by a unique girl who disappears one day. He cannot get her out of his mind, so he seeks for change under that society’s oppressive control over people.
Fahrenheit 451 was written after the second World War, when many governments started become dictatorial and dangerous, from 1947 to 1953. These conditions forced citizens to consider their role in implementation of society’s governing law, compelling some citizens to rebelled while others stayed quiet and conformed. The novel addresses the problem of totalitarian rule through Montag’s actions; he chooses to stand up as he begins to doubt the rules. On the other side, Faber, a retired English professor, who believes himself a coward, stays quiet when the books are banned and burned, and eventually, he regrets his inaction.
One particularly appealing part of the story suggests that the state of being unhappy makes the citizens of this totalitarian world content or “happy.” Captain Beatty, the fire station captain says, "Don't let the torrent of melancholy and drear philosophy drown our world." Laws and rules in Montag’s society are carefully selected to reduce the chance of feeling sadness or stress.  In particular, books are banned because they introduce certain philosophies that may go against the government, which brings confusion and questioning of the world and the citizens’ own lives. Instead the replacement for such an education becomes a careful articulation in language that could only be acquired from the government’s own way of spreading its propaganda.
The government in Fahrenheit 451 bans books, allowing information from only government controlled sources, so they can control the population’s knowledge of the outside world. Bradbury argues that this is an evil misuse of the expression, “ignorance is bliss,” where people are void of all emotions; they do not know what sadness is. However, in reality, people cannot avoid sadness, even if a government controls the education and information a population receives. People will always have to deal with anxieties and traumas, so the natural emotion of sadness, or any other emotion cannot be avoided; we cannot escape. We must face the feelings and deal with them. Just as M. Scott Peck, M.D. profoundly writes in The Roadless Traveled, “Most of us are not so wise. Fearing the pain involved, almost all of us, to a greater or lesser degree, attempt to avoid problems. We procrastinate, hoping that they will go away. We ignore them, forget them, pretend they do not exist… We attempt to get out of them rather than suffer through them.” We, as humans, cannot ignore it. We need to be wise, face problems, and solve problems, to gain wisdom and courage. Then, we can “grow both mentally and spiritually.” To learn from such experiences is what helps us develop our own philosophy and our mental system of thinking.
What makes Fahrenheit 451 remarkable is its enduring relevance to today’s readers.  Bradbury's cautionary tale, set in a dystopian world, serves as a warning about the dangers of censorship, the erosion of critical thinking, and the need for intellectual freedom. He asks readers to consider the role of literature in shaping society and our responsibility to protect the diversity of thought and ideas. The setting stands out as a world in which people are not reading. Today, the lack of reading is not because it is banned, but because of their personal preference and other distractions like social media and streaming video services. The culture creates the habits, much like Bradbury depicts in his book with the government banning books. Bradbury reminds the reader that we should do that bring us knowledge and refuse the erasure of our individuality. He suggests the importance of reading on different levels and reading from different sources to gain awareness of the world and acknowledge the historical background we originate from. Perhaps it is exactly what Bradbury is attempting to warn us about: through today’s approach to acquiring the information we want to know rather than a comprehensive “what do we need to know”, the art of literature and the magic of the past is slowly being lost to the constant evolution of our society as people are slowly starting to lose their sense over what ‘reading’ should look like and what it could bring us, as we instead turn to stare at our devices in search of temporary pleasure.