It is a common theme in literature that knowledge gives rise to power, and this is no different in Fahrenheit 451, however this book also shows that knowledge stimulates individuality and power can take on that essential via knowledge. Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 shows a dysfunctional society that relies heavily on technology and majority rule to annihilate all individuality. What is one element that can destroy a utopia like this imaginary one? The answer is books. That's why in Bradbury's futuristic society that is the very thing that gets banished and burned. Fahrenheit 451 is about the transformation of a man, Guy Montag, who goes from being a futuristic fireman (a person who lights fires instead of putting them out) to a curious individual persecuted by his companions for his lust for knowledge. The book begins with him burning down a house full of books with a hose full of kerosene without him questioning his work. In fact he even had a "fiery smile tightened by the muscles of his face" the entire time he watched the books burn to nothing. (4) This smile the book described as permanent since he had always kept that smile even "in the darkness", not thinking about what he was doing for the past, present or future, but rather simply doing his job like everyone else his other companions. All the time he was burning books, Montag never stopped to think why the government wanted him to do this, but he did so without question and voluntarily until one day he met Clarisse McClellan, and the reader he found out how unhappy Montag was. The reader immediately grasps the contrast between the two characters; Clarisse is casual, carefree and full of life and questions, while Guy is very habitual and skeptical. While Clarisse will die later in no...... middle of paper......updated information. Technology became so widespread that it extinguished the desire and need to read and instead told everyone exactly what the government thought they should know and because people became so accustomed to getting their information through these devices, books became useless. By doing just as Montag, Clarisse, and Granger did, that is, never stopping the pursuit of knowledge, no matter how much someone or something tries to put an end to it, history will never repeat itself and people will always learn from the mistakes of others, not allowing the world to become chaos like in Fahrenheit 451. As Bradbury describes, through books anyone can destroy a utopia. Works Cited Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. In Del Rey. Ballantine Publishing Group. 1950. Print.Webley, Kayla. "A Brief History: Books on Fire." Time magazine. September 20th. 2010.1-2. Press.