The Enemy Within

“Fahrenheit 451: the temperature at which book paper catches fire, and burns. ”

Ray Bradbury’s dystopian masterpiece continues to captivate audiences over 65 years later; it is the rare story that becomes more relevant as time goes by. More prophecy than entertainment, Fahrenheit 451 envisions a society ignorantly planting the seeds of its own destruction. The enemy is not out there—

The enemy is within.

Thanks to the precedent Bradbury set, dystopian literature and film remain a captivating genre. Then and now, audiences are hungry for stories depicting a future world destroyed through humanity’s carelessness.

In Bradbury’s future, firemen no longer put out fires, but search for and destroy illegal literature. Books, and the ideas they represent, are deemed too damaging in the emotions they stir within society. All are banned. Free thinking and knowledge, the future government posits, are not the answer to society’s problems—but the cause of them.

Our protagonist is fireman Guy Montag, tasked with destroying all remaining books. Guy believes his work is critical, protecting the future of humanity by eradicating its most destructive resource. Guy believes the enemy is out there—ignorant that society’s greatest danger isn’t in propagating ideas, but destroying them. Unaware, like the Government he serves, that he is the real enemy.

Inspired by Clarisse, his neighbor and an outcast, Guy challenges his own beliefs. The world being built is not the promised utopia. His wife, like many others, is addicted to pills—at one point attempting to take her own life. Families are spellbound by their household’s parlor wall, which provides numbing entertainment to the masses. Life is hollow; meaningless.

A trove of literature is discovered in a woman’s house, resulting in the home’s burning. The woman will not leave—choosing death over the loss of knowledge her books’ destruction represents. Compelled by the woman’s conviction, Guy steals a book. Soon, Guy is devouring literature, hungry for enlightenment. Guy’s eyes are now open—he understands that destroying books ultimately destroys society. And by propagating their destruction, he is the real enemy.

Guy tells his wife Mildred what is transpiring. Unwilling to abandon what society has taught her, she turns Guy in. He is called to destroy yet another home: his. In defiance, he kills Captain Beatty, who, in despair, sought death after once avidly reading books, and now serving their destruction.

Guy escapes, finding a group whose members each serve as the memory keepers for a book they’ve memorized. The inevitability of society’s self-destructive ignorance comes to fruition: The city is destroyed through nuclear annihilation. Time passes. Armed with the gift of knowledge, the exiles return to rebuild society.

Fahrenheit 451. The future Government is its own worst enemy, resulting in society’s total destruction. Guy, too, was his own worst enemy through his blind support of the tragic book-burning cause. Ultimately, Guy awakened, fully exposed to the hard truth: the real enemy is not out there—the real enemy is within.

Like Guy Montag, we too must awaken to this reality. Our greatest enemy is ourselves.

__________

There’s a hero and villain within each of us. One that says, “Never stop chasing the dream;” the other says, “Why bother?”

For the despondent, the excuses and limitations have been internalized. The external forces given permission to suffocate them do just that. They succumb to the side that sees no point or purpose in anything—sedating themselves from this perceived “reality” with alcohol, drugs, and worthless “just-passing-the-time” pursuits.

There are no distractions loud enough to overcome this truth: a mind, body, and soul stagnant in pursuit of its greatest purpose will atrophy. There’s no amount of counseling, self-help books, medication, or gurus that will replace the void left by not answering our highest calling. Misery finds those unwilling to put their aspirations to action.

Again: A mind, body, and soul stagnant in pursuit of its greatest purpose will atrophy.

The optimist and the pessimist, latent in everyone, are two parts of a whole. There is an altruist and narcissist in each of us. There’s an advocate; there’s a detractor. You cannot control their existence—but you can control their dominance.

Think of those you know who speak harshly of themselves. Who constantly vocalize a lack of confidence and capability. That the world, and everyone in it, conspire against them. That life is unfair, and—had they only been given better circumstances—what a marvel they could have become. What wonders they could have accomplished… if only.

For us, this trait is tiresome when it dominates others. For them, this trait is devastating in its self-destructiveness. Nothing will stifle pursuing your highest calling more than vocalizing these pseudo-excuses. You get what you claim. This is unseen by so many.

For every conscious thought, hundreds of thousands of unconscious thoughts occur. Our minds are built for congruency—seeking confirmation of the beliefs we consciously claim. The harmony of thought, action, and outcome are inherent in each of us. The beliefs you consciously feed set your unconscious mind on fire in pursuit.

The first step in overcoming the enemy within us: acknowledging the two sides of ourselves—positive and negative. Awareness of this: the one we feed will thrive. We are now aware.

The second step: claiming our outcome. In word and thought, paint a visual description of your ultimate goals. Say them out loud the moment you wake up; make them the final spoken words before going to bed. Share your goals with others, and ask them theirs. Write your goals down. Put them where they are seen daily. Write them on your bathroom mirror. Write them on an index card on your car dashboard. Make them the wallpaper on your phone. Immerse yourself in your written goals daily.

The third step: memorize three quotes, scriptures, or sayings that inspire you.

Self-doubt will creep in. Combat this. Every time it does, speak your quotes out loud. This isn’t “spiritual”; this is practical. We manifest what we vocalize. Put this principle to work and watch your pessimism descend as your confidence ascends. Every time we stifle the negative voice, the vacant space is filled with the positive.

Be unyielding; every negative thought is immediately confronted with a positive claim. We are going to feed ourselves inspiration—not dejection. Again, the healthy mind demands congruency. In claiming your dream, your mind—in its entirety—goes to work setting that dream to action. Nothing is more powerful.

So few are aware of the truth: Like Ray Bradbury’s dystopian future, we are our own worst enemy. But no more. We were, once—but no longer. Guy Montag awakens. As have we. The enemy within claims it’s all pointless. That enemy is dead. It is done. It is broken. It is defeated.

From this moment on, we feed the positive aspirations within us. We speak our dreams to life. We combat negativity when it surfaces. We go to war with self-doubt. We claim our goals as already ours.

In doing so, a new truth replaces the old: For you, anything is possible.

It starts here and now.

Mark Joseph Huckabee