As cliché as it may sound, literature can have an astounding impact on a young person, especially more poignant, pointed literature. The first time I read Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 was in seventh grade, and it remains one of the most powerful pieces of literature I have ever read.  As I was reading, its true point and value was lost on me, however, by the time I set the book down, Bradbury's point had become frighteningly clear.  Fahrenheit 451 has forever shaped me and my outlook on life, and I'm sure it will continue to do so for many years.
     After finishing Fahrenheit 451 its message became profoundly, and frighteningly clear.  Ray Bradbury had grown increasingly concerned with the world around him and the direction the human race was headed, especially Americans.  Bradbury was noticing the love affair that the world was having with new-found and newly advanced technology, namely Televisions.  Being an avid reader the apparent absence of books in the world greatly frightened Bradbury, as it does me.  Although reading, and therefore knowledge, was not entirely removed from society, or outlawed as it was in Bradbury's novel, but it was frowned upon by most.  What frightened me most was not the way Bradbury viewed the world during his life-time it was instead his well-informed opinion of what was going to happen in the near-future.  Anymore, to be well-versed in literature, especially the classics, is to be a social pariah, and a, "nerd."  While the seemingly undesirable term, "nerd," never bothered me all that much, I'm sure that it has offended many others, and possibly turned them away from pursuing knowledge.  It is this general disdain for the pursuit of knowledge that frightened Bradbury, as it does me.  Whether I have an extreme delusion of grandeur or not is up for debate, but I have felt, ever since finishing Bradbury's novel that I must help, among many others, to champion Bradbury's cause, his love for literature, and knowledge.
     All of Bradbury's predictions, hinted at in Fahrenheit 451, have come true in some sense or another and all of these predictions are what frightened me so greatly after reading the novel.  To just go about daily life ignorant of nearly everything is something that I would not accept, it is my sincerest hope that no one else would accept this kind of life, unfortunately, many have.  Recently, the term aliterate has been invented to describe people who can read, but have no interest in doing so.  If Bradbury was aware of this new form of literacy, I would be surprised if he would not have been moved to tears, tears shed for the fate of our society. Bradbury was right in his fear of the future, technology, and most importantly, one of the many flaws in human nature that have lead to this deplorable state of existence.