It was a simpler time when Ray Bradbury was a boy. The "idyllic childhood" he enjoyed in Waukegan, Illinois in the 1920s sounds like a fantasy compared to 2020. He loved magic and reading fantasy stories. When his family couldn't afford college, he went to libraries instead. Ray was bothered by the television. Turning the knob meant that war, hatred, corruption, and more--albeit a human reality for millennia--couldn't be ignored. The scary realities of World War II surely disrupted visions of sleepy country roads and the warm-hearted librarian in the children's section.
But what about kids today? They don't have the 1920s or even the relative peace and prosperity of the 90s in their personal archives. My sixteen-year-old sophomores were born in 2006. Think about that for a minute. I don't see them romanticizing the before/after. It just seems like they're dealing with some pretty tough shit. Right now.
Ray deserves a lot of props for predicting our impending doom in Farhenheit 451, and I'll keep teaching it. Because my kids study history, they get it. But do they get it? They've spent the last week exploring the question: To what extent did Bradbury's predictions come true? Fortunately, for the history of humankind, Google delivers some good news along with the bad.
As for my next question: How can we promote the benefits of modern life and reduce the harms? This keeps me up at night, which is why I'll finish this post with another...
...be continued.
Looking forward to an answer to this question.
ReplyDeleteNow is the water your 16-year-old fish swim in; they have nothing to personally compare it to. Isn't that both a blessing and a challenge? Luckily they have you to guide their inquiry.
ReplyDeleteI just read a tweet that went something like: "When they say history repeats itself, I wasn't expecting all of the twentieth century in two years." Our youth have endured so much already. I'm enjoying your F451 questions and reflections--keep it coming!
ReplyDeleteLove this new question! I wonder if the benefits of modern life do actually outweigh the cost? I truly am not sure. I can't wait to hear what your students think.
ReplyDeleteYou are on a roll, my friend. The reason we study history, read, and write- to understand life as we live it. What a strange world we live in, straight out from the pages of your class read.
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