Fahrenheit 451 was written in 1952 by Ray Bradbury, and he has since stated that there was a number of factual, historical influences that inspired him to write this book. He was fifteen during World War II, and thus heard about Hitler burning books on the streets of Berlin. This disturbed him greatly, as he considered himself to be “a library person”, and felt that “when the books were burned, so was [he].” He feared he was in danger of writing something that may be burned one day. It upset him to the extent that he started writing 451, which he wrote in nine days on a rented typewriter… in the basement of a college library.

As a writer, I can relate to how Bradbury felt. It’s an awful idea to even consider, the notion that you could write something that someone might burn. It’s even stated that Bradbury modelled the character of Montag after himself, so I think how he felt about this issue shines through in the text itself.