The main themes and messages of Fahrenheit 451 — seen through the lens of author Ray Bradbury’s preferred interpretation.
“No one really understood why we named our company 451, except for one very intelligent eccentric fed ex guy who frequented our studio.” 451imaging
According to Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 is not about censorship but about technology — more specifically, about the role of mindless television on society; the new opiate of the masses. Through the book, Bradbury wanted to show people that mindless, endless television was (is?) not a substitute for literature and reading. Apart from the wall-mounted television sets (which he predicted in the book in 1953), he also predicted that other constant purveyor of entertainment and communication: the in-ear headphones (Air Pods anyone?) that he called ‘thimbles’, which also helped keep the populace too busy to think.
But what about the book burnings? Aren’t books outlawed in the world of Fahrenheit 451? Well, there was no reason for books to exist anymore because people stopped reading.