Fahrenheit 451

     Fahrenheit 451 was a very interesting and confusing book for me. The concept of burning books was so evil and I didn't understand why? I also got lost easy while reading because it didn't always completely explain things.


     I wonder if Ray Bradbury wrote this book just out of a thought or a prediction of the future? If you think about it he was headed in the right direction..... Books now days are not nearly as popular as they use to be because of new technology, like television(families). I don't think our world will ever come to burning book because we cherish our history greatly and their will always be someone who loves to barry their face in a book and get lost in that fantasy world. I am not a reader and don't voluntarily pick up books for fun, but I would never want to burn books. They are so much work and contain so much information! Books are great and definitely not for burning!


     I thought it was kinda funny reading that Clarisse and her family were outcasts in their society. To me they seemed like great normal people and like I would fit in with them. She was definitely my favorite character! Personally without her talking to Montag he never would have questioned the system. Without questioning the system he wouldn't have met up with the professors who were going to rebuild things after the war. I really enjoyed the ending of this book! Great job Ray Bradbury!

Ray Bradbury

     Ray Bradbury is an amazing writer in my opinion. Some writers will take an already thought up idea and make a novel or short story on it but Bradbury did the opposite. He took ideas that had not yet planted themselves in Americas mind and wrote Fahrenheit 451. I think Ray Bradbury had an idea of where the world was headed and almost wanted to warn us. Like for instance the "families". The family in Fahrenheit 451 is the television. He did help predict this technology but also he predicted the affects of it. The television in the book and today takes the place of real family and books. We might not burn books like in Fahrenheit 451, but do we read them as often as we should? No, we rely on television for information and stories.
     Fahrenheit 451 was published in 1953 and his predictions were very accurate so far. We now have televisions as big as a wall and small devices like ipods. Things we don't have that are in the book, are the mile long billboards so drivers can see them, no speed limit, laws against pedestrians or burning of books. I don't think our world will ever result in burning books or laws against pedestrians, but the long billboards could be in our future because of the high speed of cars.
     I don't think his fiction was made reality because of his writing but because it was ment to be. Televisions don't take away from our family and books because Ray Bradbury said they would, but because they would no matter what. If Bradbury didn't write Fahrenheit 451 i don't know if we'd be where we are today, but if we were I think our technology would have the same effect on us with or without Ray Bradbury saying so.

Star Trek

     This episode was aired on television in 1966 and yet it was filled with present day technology. The setting for Star Trek is in outer space... In 1966 we hadn't even been to the moon yet. Roddenberry was thinking ahead in all his work and probably gave scientists the ideas of some of today's technology. In Star Trek they use small communication devices to talk to one another no matter how far away the person is. This is allot like our blue tooth and cell phones today. Without Roddenberry's extravagant imagination who knows how long it would have taken to think up the idea of cell phones. I wonder if Roddenberry knew his TV show was predicting the future or if it was just a crazy idea that just so happened to spark a world of high end technology.
     Another thing that stood out to me in the episode was the city that lived on the clouds. The people in the city were save but the people on the ground were being greatly effected by the gas in the air (today known as pollution) Someone should have taken this idea and thought ahead to completely eliminate pollution. You never know maybe this is in our future... I believe Roddenberry's creativity has a heavy effect on our world and has assisted in making it what it is today.

A Separate Peace

             A Separate Peace for me was a fairly enjoyable book, that was relateable to our age group. We all have that person who just always comes out ahead. Whether it be in sports, academics or other activities. As humans we can't help but have a jealous fire inside us. Where Gene goes wrong is how he handles this burning feeling inside. Instead of trying harder to be better than Finny, he overreacts and shakes the tree branch that Finny was about to jump from. The result from this is a shattered leg. Earlier in the book it tells us that Gene took a wrong step and fell from the tree, but Finny caught him. Why did Finny save Gene?
 Gene didn't save him but was the reason Finny fell and can know longer play sports... Later in the book Finny dies from bone marrow. Would this have happened in the tree branch was left alone? No! Not only did Gene keep Finny from being superior in sports but ended his life all because of a simple concept called JEALOUSY.

           Finny on the other hand had a completely different take on life. Through out the book he never shows jealousy let alone angry. He is always calm about every situation. Finny goes through life happy and friendly always able to hold a conversation. Even when Gene comes to Finny's house and tells him your injury is my fault he denies it. I wonder if Finny truthfully didn't think Gene had anything to do with it? Or was just saving Gene the guilt trip?

        

Jealous: feeling resentment against someone because of that person's rivalry, success, or advantages

The Crucible

       The Crucible was actually a very interesting book that I enjoyed reading. One small accusation spirrolled out of control and friends could no longer be trusted in Salem, Massachusetts. Friends turned on each other, and neighbors accused neighbors of horrible crimes. Witchcraft is what spread through Salem and made everyone panic and crazy. Witchcraft was something that was strongly looked down upon and those who were said to practice this were punished severely sometimes ending in death.
      My opinion is that people wanted answers to some of the strange happenings in their lives. They didn't really believe all these people used witchcraft but blamed in on this for lack of a reason why weird things were happening. Salem was a fairly small town and the people knew each other well, panic struck so people blamed it on others just so they were not to blame. This is very wrong, if everyone would have been calm and not pointed fingers at others, lives would have been saved. For example when Rebecca is accused of using witchcraft to kill Ann's babies I don't think this is true. I think that Ann simply wanted answers to why her babies always died within their first days of life therefore she blamed Rebecca for some kind of peace knowing it wasn't her own fault.
         "A man may think God sleeps, but God sees everything, I know it now. I beg you, sir, i beg you - see her what what she is. My wife, my dear good wife, took this girl soon after, sir, and put her out on the highroad. And being what she is, a lump of vanity, sir -. Excellency, forgive me, forgive me. She thinks to dance with me on my wife's grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a whore's vengeance, and you must see it; I set myself entirely in your hands. I know you must see it now."
     All of this confusion in Salem is hysteria. The town panicked and therefore people were punished for things they never did.

The Scarlet Letter

        I had mixed feeling about The Scarlet Letter part of me enjoyed the book and part didn't.  It was a
 difficult book to fully comprehend and at times hard to keep up with everything going on within it.
           My favorite character of the book was definitely Hester. As I was reading I couldn't imagine having all eyes on me all the time and never getting a break from their sharp stares. Toward the beginning of the book
when Hester and Pearl were placed in the public eye on the stand for hours on end it made me mad. Hester  did make a mistake but it was not all her fault... The other men definitely had a role in this and should have
been punished. Instead Hester took all the blame and punishment. She seems so tough and brave and I
never once remember her complaining, but took on the challenge and raised her baby Pearl. I respect her for her bravery and never giving up even though times were often rough for her and Pear.
           Pearl's character I felt sorry for... She was punished into a life of living in a spotlight and never had a
say in any of it. Towns people made rumors that her father was the devil. This poor little girl was hated and
made fun of over something she had no control over. Another part of me was glad Pearl was mixed up in all
the drama. Without her I think Hester would have gone crazy not knowing what to do with herself. Pearl was
what got her mind off of the fact the her chest was glowing with a bright "A" that she could never escape
from.
         I think Dimmesdale should have confessed his sin. This would have made him happy inside even though
he would be looked down upon in the public eye. Also I think Hester would have been able to live a happier
life if Demmesdale would have confessed because not all the pressure would be on her.

The Great Gatsby

            The Great Gatsby took place in the 1920’s and mostly focused on the upper class or “East Egg.” There were mainly two large categories of class, the poor community West Egg and the wealthy community East Egg, most of the characters in this book are from East Egg and lives consisted of expensive parties. The 1920’s were full of parties and alot changed in that time. They show this in the novel with Gatsby’s extravagant parties with all the new styles, music, alcohol and dancing. Some didn’t approve of this new fashion but this trend caught on fast. This time was full of parties and fun! Gatsby, the main character in this book was very wealthy and hosted lots of these parties at his huge house.

    The Great Gasby was a very good book. Sometimes it got alittle confusing, at the begining of the book I was confused by west and east egg, but i know understand. The book was sometimes boring but it also had its interesting parts. The fact that Tom used Myrtle Wilson for basically sex was always interesting. I didnt like Tom's character because of the fact that he treated Mytle horrible and acasionally rewarded her with a gift, and that he was doing all of this behind poor Daisy's back. I was furious when Tom broke Myrtle's nose when she only said Daisy's name. I wish she had gotten out of that relationship but I think she loved Tom and he only thought of their relationship as something physical.

page 37 "Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!" Shouted Mrs. Wilson. "I'll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai......."

Tom hit Daisy so hard he broke her nose!

      I was shocked when Wilson shot Daisy and didn't really like the ending of this book. I was sad Gatsby never got what he truely wanted... which was Daisy. All of Gatsby's wealth didn't give him happyness and the one thing that could he didn't get.