The book is very clear about what the author values, namely, books. But more than books, what the books mean. Books mean thought and opinions, and those things are extremely valuable. Even if differences in opinion do cause people to be upset at times, in the words of my favorite author, “Man’s first frown is the first touch of God on his forehead. The touch of thought.”
The entire book is about the fight to keep books intact and to help show people the books’ value. Books’ value being the thoughts in them, Montag starts to value thought when he talks to Clarisse. Her question about whether or not he is happy makes him think about the answer, and realize that he is not happy (Bradbury 12). A realization such as this must eventually prompt the question of why. When a person starts asking why, a person starts thinking. Even if they never come up with an answer, the question is still thought about. The author must value thought, or else he would not make his main character’s thoughts so important.
The reason books a burnt and outlawed is that they contain opinions, and an opinion is bound to offend someone, no matter what it is (Bradbury 57). It is apparent that the author values the disagreements, because even though he points out that the books disagree with each other, the author still values them ardently. Differing opinions are very important too. If everyone agreed with each other, there would be no reason to argue, and that would take away another reason to think.
The way books are considered precious at the end of the story by the main character makes it pretty clear that the author values books. Montag almost turns back toward a car trying to hit him because he drops a book (Bradbury 127). Montag is about to risk his life to save a book before he even has time to think about it. If that does not show how much the author values books, I do not know what would.
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Ballantine, 1996. Print.
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