Comparing Fahrenheit 451 And The Martian Chronicles By Ray Bradbury

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is novel that takes place in a society in which the possession of printed books is illegal. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury is an anthology of short stories that describes an ongoing relationship between humans and both Mars and Martians. How does the author’s writing style differ between these two types of books? Fahrenheit 451 is a novel. Montag, the protagonist, develops as a character and the book flows very well. The Martian Chronicles is a collection of 28 roughly connected stories that simply doesn’t flow well. However, this doesn’t mean that Bradbury’s two most popular works are written as polar opposites. Fahrenheit 451 most definitely skips around; what makes these skips vary from those in The Martian Chronicles is the lack of a heading signifying it.

In this society it is the fireman’s job to hunt down printed books and burn them. “It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed” (Bradbury 1). While Montag appeared to be the typical fireman, he was in secret a hoarder of books. Hidden in his ventilator grill was a supply: always watching him, and always yearning to be read. When on calls to search homes, Montag would up and steal the very thing he was assigned to destroy. “Montag’s hand closed like a mouth, crushed the book with wild devotion, with an insanity of mindlessness to his chest” (34). Over time, books became more than just a sign of rebellion for Guy Montag. Curiosity grew into an obsession. “‘There must be something in books, things we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing’” (48). Fahrenheit 451 is focused on Montag’s character and tells his story from beginning to end. There’s no jumping to alternate point of