Today's Society in a Fiction Book

"Fahrenheit 451" is a fictitious novel that portrays a very weird socety which for sure, we do not want to have. The book shows how advance, yet, gloomy their society is. Contrary to the "fiction" word that has being tagged to it, I can personally say that somehow, our world has never been different from theirs.

Due to the banning of books being implemented, and reading of books as a crime, the people in the novel were unknowledgeable and dumb. They had become unaware about the things that usual people must know about. Worst of all, their emotions were taken away. They lived a life of apathy and even violence. People never cared for other people. Everyone was blinded by the thoughts that were forced into their minds. Today's world is similar to theirs. Though books were not banned in the present society, it is so evident that people are acting the same as the characters in the novel. They have always been apathetic to the world's present problems and have done nothing. They exercise violence just to answer their needs and get what they want. The people today are much knowledgeable than those in the novel, but then, they remained dumb. The novel also showed how technology ran people's lives and how it destroyed the society. Today, the world is full of people who have nothing but material things. They are people who continuously destroy themselves with the help of the technology. And as they do it to themselves, they bring the whole society with them.

Despite of the similarities it has depicted, the two worlds also have differences. For instance, in the novel, the people were no longer allowed to read books. Books were burned, together with the owner, if he appeals. Today, though people are no longer relying so much on books because of modernization, they still value books at least. I can sometimes see beggars and even the poorest of the poor picking up books which are being trashed by the owners. This just shows how people still get attached to the books, eventhough they only open it once in a blue moon.

No matter how people would differ our present world to that of the novel, it will remain a fact that "Fahrenheit 451" is a fiction novel which shows that our world can also become as "fictitious" as the world in it. It just waits for the people to do something to worsen the situation.

Brawling for Popularity

When I was younger, I never thought of being a girl. I have always acted and dressed like a boy. I always wanted to become one of those boys who could make everyone stop and stare, even just for a while. I wanted to be respected and feared. Most of all, I wanted to get the attention given to the boys more than girls, due to their physical strength. When I was in sixth grade, I admired how my male classmates were. They were always bullying my other classmates, and getting into riots inside the four corners of the classroom. Due to that, many of my classmates were afraid of them. I believed that those were cool. So, I tried. I have this guy classmate of mine, who was older than us. He was nice to everyone. He was the "big brother" of the whole class. Once, he made fun of me. Actually, the jokes he had thrown were simple and just funny. But, I never liked it. I told him to stop, but he didn't. When I had enough, I stood up and picked a dustpan. And, in front of the whole class, I hit him with the filthy thing. He had a tiny cut in his neck. At last, he stopped making fun of me. I, on the other hand, felt that what I did was cool. Devilish as it may sound, I became happy. However, I wasn't contented yet. When he went out of the room, I confronted him. He really did not want to fight with me, but I didn't listen to him. I threw a punch into his face. He got mad and gave me a kick. So did I. We had a physical fight in the corridor. It stopped when he ran after me and we met a teacher. After that, I really felt fulfilled. It was so nice battling with a guy. That time, I thought that I could already be considered as one of those strong boys being feared by people. But, the next day, I was surprised as our teacher knew about what I did to my classmate. She got angry and even told me, "I will talk to you later!" With those words, I had my heart beating so fast, with my conscience alarming me. I realized that what I did was wrong. I should have just talked to him peacefully. But, I never did. I was blinded by the praises that will be given to me because I was brave and strong. I was really demoralized that time. I never wanted to be subjected into a disciplinary action, or worse, suspension. Luckily, due to ageing, my teacher forgot about the talk and even my offense. I did a big sigh of relief! After that, I approached my classmate, asked forgiveness, and admitted my fault. I felt ashamed. I realized that I don't have to do what my boy classmates do just to be praised and get more attention. There are so many ways to gain compliments from the people around you, without using your fist. Maybe, you can get some as you knock a person down, but, it will never bring you true peace and happiness.