The story takes place in an American City, sometime in the future. The protagonist of the story, Guy Montag is a fireman
whose job consists of burning books rather than preventing fires. The
people in this
society behave like zombies, they are obsessed with television, and they do not enjoy life, although they think otherwise.
On the day home from work one day, Montag encounters a seventeen-year-old girl named Clarisse McClellan. At first, Montag thinks that she is a bizarre individual, but as time goes on, she makes him realize that his life empty and that he is not as happy as he once thought he was. This will prompt him to question the type of society in which he lives. His newfound perspective will however anger his wife Mildred, and his fire chief Beatty, and puts himself in grave danger. Clarisse will inevitably die, and Mildred will betray her husband, unable to cope with the fact that he has stolen books for the past year. Meanwhile, the country is on the brink of war and great losses are near.
Fortunately, all hope is not lost. With the help of a retired English professor named Faber, Montag will kill Beatty, and escape the doomed society. Montag will then meet the Book People, a group of wise men who memorized literature and philosophy, in order to pass it on to the next generation when the timing was right. As Montag, the Book People, and their leader Granger, watch from a safe distance, the city is entirely destroyed by enemy bombs. Grasping the fact that it is never too late to restart, Montag and the Book People head off to the city to aid any survivors and to rebuild the society, while slowly giving off the knowledge that they kept to themselves for such a long time.