Plate of Unearthing: Dig a Little Deeper and Maybe You Too Will Understand

As I’m reading Fahrenheit 451, I’m finding it difficult to get into the book. I’m constantly surrounded by sound and technology. There isn’t a moment in my day where the world is quiet and when I do happen to find it for a brief second, I fall asleep and restart the day chasing that moment again. I suppose there is a lesson to be learned here. It’s ironic if you think about it. This story isn’t a speed read. It’s shorter than other books I’ve read. It’s comprised of an archaic world that no longer follows their inherent rules. The prose is theatrical and amusing. And even I find that difficult to digest. I think it’s written this way for a reason. You have to sift through the uninvited amusement, like putting sand through a sieve, hoping that if you look hard enough maybe you will understand Mr. Bradbury’s words are a little deeper. The world around him. The match that lights the books back. 

This reminds me of anthropology in a way. More specifically archaeology. You are constantly digging up the dirt and rocks. Each brush and knock in the right direction feeds oxygen to that curious little flame that burns inside you. Everytime you find a small uncovering of the ancient ruin, you must also consider its cultural context. Their world. It is a small pocket you hope to find and are constantly chasing after, despite all the noise. And there is uninvited amusement from all angles, and maybe your own if you haven’t considered it as well. I suppose there is a lesson here too. You cannot speed up time. Time is set in its chronological ways. The people, the art, the history. All of the life and the dead. The bugs that chewed through the rot. The plants that haven’t seen sunlight. Even the remnants of old dandelions that sit inside the calcification of a Neanderthal tooth. It exists for a reason. 

This is what calls me to the land of the between. The bridge between life and death. Closing the gap between the past, present, and future. This is why I write to you today and beyond. The Preservation Plate is a passion of mine. My mind is like a cog in an old machine. Rusted and grinding, but once well-lubricated, capable of returning to its restored value. 

As I and many others read Fahrenheit 451, allow our curiosity to bring us closer to understanding. Let us not race towards finishing the book, but work to understand it deeper. Let us hammer away at each boulder set in front of us until we can say for sure that the difficulty was worth it. Allow yourself to immerse in the past so that you may learn the lessons of today. Sink your teeth into life like an Anthropologist. Dig your way through thick words that gum up your cogs like an Archaeologist. Pass the next plate over –- I’m hungry for more information. 

-KSF