“It was a pleasure to burn.” Why does Bradbury start Fahrenheit 451 in this way, as though it would be more pleasurable to burn books rather...

First of all, from a purely literary perspective, Ray
Bradbury chose to open the novel “Fahrenheit 451” with the words “It was a
pleasure to burn” to immediately capture the attention of the reader and draw
him or her into the story quickly. This is a short, compelling sentence that piques
one’s interest; the reader wants to know why it’s “…a pleasure to
burn” and subsequently delves into the story wholeheartedly. This is what
happened to me the first time I read this story.

Secondly,
Bradbury’s opening line causes the reader to gain a glimpse into the mindset of the
firemen, those who set fires by burning banned books and the homes that house them. This
simple sentence presents concisely and clearly how these firemen are thinking as they
wield their kerosene filled flame throwers as if they are the ultimate destructive
force. This sentence gives the reader a taste of evil actions and a peek into evil
thought processes.

The sentence is unassuming and
unadorned. However, it conveys an act of violence against a citizen that is anything but
unassuming and unadorned. This act of burning is representative of a totalitarian
government’s control of its citizens. The act of burning, conducted by the government
against its own, is a flamboyant display meant to discourage dissent from the
populace.

Ray Bradbury uses these six simple words to
reveal to the reader, right at the beginning of the novel, that the government is more
powerful and citizens oppose it at their peril. The burning of books, homes, and people
who refuse to leave their burning homes is definitely not unadorned drama. It is drama
manufactured by the government to make a point to its citizenry that it will not
tolerate books and that those who have and hide them, and then are found out, will pay
dearly.

Therefore, burning is theatre
created by the totalitarian government. The central characters on the stage are the
firemen who advance the aims of the government that pays them. The citizens desiring
books to read are the pawns in the game/story. The powers that be want to make the point
that it is a pleasure for the firemen and the totalitarian government to see that those
opposed to it are reduced to ashes. Nonetheless, the essence of the story is that there
is one firemen who has a conscience and who no longer finds it “…a pleasure to
burn.”

Images:

colwidth="220">

uploadid="3534">

class="image">
Image (1 of 1)

href="/jax/index.php/images?eventHandler=Answer&uploadID=3534&answerID=676489"
class="greybox" id="image-float" gb_title="Image" gb_width="1000" gb_height="650"
title="Click to Enlarge">
itemprop="image"
src="http://user-content./987626d47cfa07ee93cc54e922d10f9ed59950ea_thumb.jpg"/>