CULLMAN —
I don't try to describe the future. I try to prevent it. — Ray Bradbury
The world lost one of its greatest voices in the passing of prolific author Ray Bradbury.
Although he had reached the grand old age of 91 and suffered from some health problems, Bradbury remained active and bright. Perhaps a bit of his imagination and prodding to think and evaluate will remain with us.
Known for a wide range of successful books — The Martian Chronicles, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Dandelion Wine — his 1953 publication of Fahrenheit 451 remains a chilling reminder of the shallow direction the human race often follows.
Set in the United States, Fahrenheit portrays a society that his dwindled into trivial pursuits that reflect a lust for pleasures. Excessive amounts of sports and television and other activities have left books unimportant to most people.
Bradbury later reflected that the real culprit in the book was the people, not government. But as we often realize today, government had simply exploited the decline of literature and other works as a means of maintaining control over society.
The author, who never obtained a driver’s license and avoided flying in airplanes, recalled that during an evening walk he noticed a couple passing by with the man walking a dog and the woman appearing oblivious to the world as she carried a small radio with an earplug. Sounds a lot like today’s pathetic cell-phone addiction.
Many critics believed Fahrenheit was condemnation of government censorship. But again Bradbury reiterated that the people in his novel were guilty of causing censorship by their inattention to more meaningful pursuits in life.
Scanning the landscape of present-day America, censorship and government intrusion appear more threatening than ever before. Political correctness, lawsuits and protests over the content of great works of literature in schools, and domestic spying in the name of national defense are all warning signs that American society’s principles and hard-earned freedoms are endangered.
The worst indicator of a nation’s health is a people lost in self-absorbing pleasures. We may not see government firemen rush into our homes and cities to burn mounds of books, but great value of reading — and comprehending what we read — is facing a stern challenge from a barrage of distractions.
And certainly this great dependency and desire for government to mend and direct all things is far from the brilliant intent of our founding fathers.
Great storytellers like Bradbury were effective in their trade because they were readers as much as they were writers. They lived with emotional consideration for what was before them, and wrote for us to consider what life would be like without those things we treasure.
Editorials
Of burning books and shallow paths
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Editorial: Seizure of AP phone records insult to independent press
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Keeping the US safe
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