The Snowball Effect in a World of Fire

Author's Note: This is the cause and effect assignment assigned in the reading lab. I did it on the book Fahrenheit 451 although I have not finished it yet. 

Imagine a world with absolutely no books. At least that is the objective of the government. If you have a book, they will burn your house down and possibly you, no questions asked. Books are one of the most illegal substances, but still, some cherish and keep theirs in hiding. That is why there are firemen. Instead of putting out fires, they will start them in an urgent manner. This sad world is the setting of the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury which is quite ironic, considering it is a book. Guy Montage, the main character, is a fireman and has been for many years. He meets a 17 year old girl, who informs him that firemen weren’t always the way they used to be, his mind is open to thought provoking curiosity in his rushed life as a fireman. This starts the snowball effect, or in other words the cause.

Every morning for a couple weeks Guy has a little talk with this girl before he heads of to work. At work, he asks questions about the history of fireman(an effect of the cause) and awaits and answer from his boss. After a while, he stops seeing the girl in the morning and wonders where she is. He later finds out that she had gotten hit by a car and died. Later that night the fireman go and burn down a house where a woman insists that she die with the house and even had her own match. Because Guy was going through a curious phase and maybe wanted to fulfill the curiosity that died with the young girl, he took one of the books (another effect) and hid it in his house. The next day his boss comes over and explains to him the history of fireman, like Montage asked, and eventually finds the hidden book. He says that this is a normal chapter in the life of fireman, so he lets him have one night to read the book. Now, instead of having all the time he wants to read the books, he only has one night. And to think that he wouldn’t of even had the book if the girl didn’t talk to Guy Montage that afternoon.