I just finished reading Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. For a self-proclaimed bibliophile slash "avid reader", I am surprised it took me so long to read this gem. Books + Dystopian society = AWESOME.

Anyway, it was barely an hour since I had finished this book when I was overcome with insight. Deep rumination often occurs when I am in the shower/on the toilet bowl so I wasn't surprised when it happened while I was taking a shower.

Though there is undoubtedly much to say about Fahrenheit 451, especially when one continues to ponder over it and analyze it, the immediate "epiphany" that I received was how transformative books can be. I look at Beatty, the captain of the firemen, and juxtaposed him with Montag and Faber and even Granger. Beatty had read the books that he burns, yet he still chooses to do what he does. For Montag, something snaps in him and the books begin transforming him and waking him up. Likewise, for Faber and Granger, who have always been champions of the written word, books and what is inside of them remained sacred and inspirational to them despite the circumstances they were in.

Books are transformative as illustrated by Montag's personal struggle to make sense of his new situation. However, as happy as I was when I came up with this so-called philosophical conclusion, I realized that yeah, I was falling into the trap of easy endings.

Because let's look at Beatty. He's read the books. He even manages to muddle with Montag's mind when he swiftly quotes various works here and there, showing that he even remembers parts of the books that he's read. If books were suppose to make people more empathic, more humane I suppose, then why Beatty? How can we explain Beatty?

He remains committed to the cause of burning books. He fervently believes that books are deceiving and books are merely sources of unhappiness and uncertainty. He does not want to live in a world like that and does what he can to preserve the current way of life. He is unmoved by books. Here now, we've come to the long-standing myth: Books are good.

Of course, such a statement immediately calls for close scrutiny. Any general, or absolute, statement should incite a reflex of Waitaminutethere. In Fahrenheit 451, we see a dichotomy. On one side, books are bad thus they are burnt. On the other, books are good and are secretly kept or memorized. The funny thing is we don't see how books can be good or bad. Indeed, books play a central role and we see how its existence affects the lives around it. Yet, at the end of the day, it's an inanimate object. It neither lives nor dies. It's just there.

There is nothing inherently good nor bad in books. It is the hands that hold a book that determine whether the knowledge reaped will be for the good or for the bad. One can read Mein Kampf but not be a fascist Nazi. One can read a science book on chemical reactions and then move on to make a homemade bomb to cause horrific destruction. Books do possess knowledge that only becomes nefarious at the hands of Man.

Beatty makes a legitimate point that books may poison our minds with undesirable ideas. From Beatty's end, books will upend the society he is serving, causing mayhem and leaving people in a state of cynicism and inner unease. In the case of Montag, he embraces and wishes for that chaos, for the books to lift people out of their stupor.

Books are transformative. How they transform people is, unpredictable. Some, want that transformation, while others prefer things to just be the way they are. In the end, books are merely tools serving the agenda of the biggest enemy, Man.