“It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed.” Fahrenheit 451 opens in a blissful blaze - and before long, we learn what’s going up in flames.
„Voleo je da spaljuje. Posebno je voleo da gleda kako stvari bivaju prožderane, kako stvari crne i menjaju se.“ „Farenhajt 451“ počinje blaženim bleskom - i uskoro saznajemo šta nestaje u plamenu.
Ray Bradbury’s novel imagines a world where books are banned from all areas of life - and possessing, let alone reading them, is forbidden. The protagonist, Montag, is a fireman responsible for destroying what remains. But as his pleasure gives way to doubt, the story raises critical questions of how to preserve one’s mind in a society where free will, self-expression, and curiosity are under fire.
Roman Reja Bredberija zamišlja svet u kome su knjige zabranjene u svim oblastima života - i posedovanje, a kamoli čitanje knjiga je zabranjeno. Glavni lik, Montag, je požarni brigadir zadužen da uništi one koje su preostale. Međutim, kako užitak ustupa mesto sumnji, priča postavlja ključna pitanja o tome kako sačuvati razum u društvu u kome su slobodna volja, samoizražavanje i znatiželja pod vatrom.
In Montag’s world, mass media has a monopoly on information, erasing almost all ability for independent thought. On the subway, ads blast out of the walls. At home, Montag’s wife Mildred listens to the radio around the clock, and three of their parlor walls are plastered with screens. At work, the smell of kerosene hangs over Montag’s colleagues, who smoke and set their mechanical hound after rats to pass the time.
U Montagovom svetu, masovni mediji imaju monopol nad informacijama, brišući gotovo u potpunosti sposobnost nezavisnog razmišljanja. U podzemnoj železnici, reklame sevaju sa zidova. Kod kuće, Montagova supruga Mildred po ceo dan sluša radio, a tri zida u njihovom salonu su prekrivena ekranima. Na poslu, miris kerozina lebdi iznad Montagovih kolega, koji puše i, da bi prekratili vreme, huškaju mehaničke kerove na pacove.
When the alarm sounds they surge out in salamander-shaped vehicles, sometimes to burn whole libraries to the ground. But as he sets tomes ablaze day after day like “black butterflies,” Montag’s mind occasionally wanders to the contraband that lies hidden in his home. Gradually, he begins to question the basis of his work. Montag realizes he’s always felt uneasy - but has lacked the descriptive words to express his feelings in a society where even uttering the phrase “once upon a time” can be fatal.
Kada se alarm začuje, svi izjure u vozilima u obliku salamandera, ponekad kako bi čitave biblioteke spalili do temelja. Međutim, dok dan za danom spaljuje tomove poput „crnih leptira“, Montagov um povremeno luta do prokrijumčarene robe skrivene u njegovom domu. Vremenom, počinje da preispituje suštinu svoga posla. Montag shvata da je oduvek osećao nelagodu - ali da mu je nedostajalo opisnih reči da izrazi svoja osećanja u društvu
Fahrenheit 451 depicts a world governed by surveillance, robotics, and virtual reality- a vision that proved remarkably prescient, but also spoke to the concerns of the time. The novel was published in 1953, at the height of the Cold War. This era kindled widespread paranoia and fear throughout Bradbury’s home country of the United States, amplified by the suppression of information and brutal government investigations. In particular, this witch hunt mentality targeted artists and writers who were suspected of Communist sympathies.
u kom i puko izgovaranje fraze „bilo jednom“ može da bude smrtonosno. „Farenhajt 451“ oslikava svet kojim vladaju nadzor, robotika i virtuelna stvarnost - što se ispostavilo kao veoma proročanska vizija, ali koja je izražavala i strepnje tog vremena. Roman je objavljen 1953. godine, na vrhuncu Hladnog rata. Ovo razdoblje je rasplamsalo rasporastranjenu paranoju i strah širom Bredberijeve domovine Sjedinjenih Država, naglašene gušenjem informacija i brutalnim vladinim istragama. Mentalitet lova na veštice je naročito
Bradbury was alarmed at this cultural crackdown. He believed it set a dangerous precedent for further censorship, and was reminded of the destruction of the Library of Alexandria and the book-burning of Fascist regimes. He explored these chilling connections in Fahrenheit 451, titled after the temperature at which paper burns. The accuracy of that temperature has been called into question, but that doesn’t diminish the novel’s standing as a masterpiece of dystopian fiction. Dystopian fiction as a genre amplifies troubling features of the world around us and imagines the consequences of taking them to an extreme.
ciljao na umetnike i pisce pod sumnjom da imaju naklonost ka komunizmu. Bredberija su uzbunile ove kulturološke restrikcije. Verovao je kako predstavljaju opasne presedane za buduće cenzure i to ga je podsetilo na uništenje Aleksandrijske biblioteke, kao i na spaljivanje knjiga u fašističkim režimima. Istraživao je ove jezive veze u romanu „Farenhajt 451“, naslovljenom prema temperaturi na kojoj papir gori. Preciznost te temperature je dovođena u pitanje, međutim, to ne umanjuje status romana kao remek-dela distopijske fikcije. Distopijska fikcija kao žanr naglašava uznemirujuće odlike sveta oko nas
In many dystopian stories, the government imposes constrictions onto unwilling subjects. But in Fahrenheit 451, Montag learns that it was the apathy of the masses that gave rise to the current regime. The government merely capitalized on short attention spans and the appetite for mindless entertainment, reducing the circulation of ideas to ash.
i zamišlja posledice kada se one dovedu u krajnost. U mnogim distopijskim pričama, vlada nameće ograničenja nevoljnim subjektima. Međutim, u „Farenhajtu 451“, Montag saznaje da je apatija masa ta koja je omogućila uspon trenutnom režimu. Vlada se tek okoristila kratkim rasponom pažnje i apetitom za plitku zabavu, a to je svelo kruženje ideja u prah.
As culture disappears, imagination and self-expression follow. Even the way people talk is short-circuited - such as when Montag’s boss Captain Beatty describes the acceleration of mass culture: "Speed up the film, Montag, quick. Click? Pic? Look, Eye, Now, Flick, Here, There, Swift, Pace, Up, Down, In, Out, Why, How, Who, What, Where, Eh? Uh! Bang! Smack! Wallop, Bing, Bong, Boom! Digest-digests, digest-digest-digests. Politics? One column, two sentences, a headline! Then, in mid-air, all vanishes!" In this barren world, Montag learns how difficult it is to resist when there's nothing left to hold on to. Altogether, Fahrenheit 451 is a portrait of independent thought on the brink of extinction - and a parable about a society which is complicit in its own combustion.
Kako kultura nestaje, nestaju i mašta i samoizražavanje. Čak je i način na koji ljudi govore sveden - kao kad Montagov šef, kapetan Biti, objašnjava ubrzanje masovne kulture: „Ubrzaj film, Montaže, hitro. Klik? Pik? Vidi, Gle, Sad, Pljus, Ovamo, Onamo, Brzo, Kas, Gore, Dole, Unutra, Van, Zašto, Kako, Ko, Šta, Gde, Eh? Uh! Bam! Tres! Bljuf, Bing, Beng, Bum! sažeci sažetaka, sažeci sažetaka sažetaka. Politika? Jedan stupac, dve rečenice, naslov! A onda, odjednom, sve nestaje!“ U ovom opustošenom svetu, Montag shvata koliko je teško odupreti se kada ne postoji ništa za šta možete da se držite. Sveukupno, „Farenhajt 451“ je portret nezavisnog razmišljanja na ivici izumiranja - kao i parabola o društvu koje saučestvuje u sopstvenom sagorevanju.