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Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

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Humans cannot resist the allure of theorizing what the future will bring. Some may view it through rose-colored glasses, hoping for some type of utopia. Others may have a pessimistic view of the future of mankind, hypothesizing when the next world war will take place. Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel, whose themes can be compared to those of other dystopian books such as George Orwell’s 1984 or Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. In Bradbury’s world, he imagines a totalitarian police state where the firemen rule with a brass nozzle, enforcing the government’s agenda by burning books. The novel is based on real fears of nuclear war and communism during the Cold War, along with Bradbury’s personal fears of technological modernizations …show more content…

By taking science fiction and adding his own poetic flair, Bradbury reveals his routine style in Fahrenheit 451 through his use of symbolism, irony, and imagery. Bradbury’s use of symbolism is apparent in the first chapter of Fahrenheit 451, where the protagonist, Guy Montag, meets Clarisse McClellan, whose face is “like a mirror” (Bradbury 8). This first impression not only functions as a descriptor for Clarisse’s character, but also introduces the mirror as a symbol and indicates the fundamental problem with Montag’s society. The novel reflects several dystopian themes where the government declares everyone free and happy, as M. Camara in his article, “Contemporary Anglo-American Dystopian Fiction”, emphasizes that the “spiritual void prevailing in the society” (Camara 79) is caused by the fact that “people are spared the pain of reflecting on complex questions” (79). He suggests that totalitarian rule creates a hive of people who are incapable of any type of self reflection or self-understanding. Moreover, the comparison of Clarisse’s face to a mirror signifies the fact that she is different from others, whose faces were often …show more content…

Did we have a wild party or something? Feel like I’ve a hangover. God, I’m hungry. Who was here?” (Bradbury 16). Montag’s wife, Mildred, thinks she is suffering from a hangover rather than the effects of being revived after her suicide attempt. Although this may be viewed as simply a humorous use of irony, it also instills some feelings of disbelief in the reader, and shows how the character handled the unexpected situation. The use of irony to reveal aspects of character is also seen in Edgar Allan Poe’s writing, whose work largely influenced Bradbury’s style. In Poe’s short story, “The Cask of Amontillado”, after walling up his victim in the catacombs, Montresor’s reaction is simply: “My heart grew sick; it was the dampness of the catacombs that made it so” (Poe 29). Here, Poe confirms to the reader exactly how heartless Montresor is; he is saddened, not by the crime he just committed, but by the weather of the catacombs. Poe illustrates this character’s narcissism in a humorous way, through verbal irony. Bradbury does something similar, rather than saying, “Mildred is a hedonist who happens to be detached from reality,” he shows it through the verbal irony where she calls the people in the walls her “family” but does not even call Montag her “husband”. Further examples of irony that support the larger idea of characterization include Clarisse referring to herself as “crazy”

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302 Words | 2 Pages

In “Fahrenheit 451 Part One”, Ray Bradbury use of diction dramatically impacts the dark and depressed tone of the novel To begin, the description of Mildred’s attempted suicide highlights the dark tone of the novel. Bradbury uses diction such as, “terrible whisper”, “inner suffocation” and, “suction snake” demonstrates the tone of the novel. “The woman on the bed was no more than hard stratum of marble they had reached.” In the novel, Montag notices how grim Mildred looks and realizes that it was an attempted suicide in the description that Bradbury states. Bradbury’s use of diction about Mildred’s attempted suicide impacts the dark and depressed tone throughout the novel.

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467 Words | 2 Pages

Fahrenheit 451 is a science fiction novel that shows the futuristic consequences of technology, the willingness of people to being ignorant and letting the government govern even their ability of thought. The book portrays Guy Montag, the protagonist of the novel, as a fireman who burns books, but later realizes what the government is depriving of the citizens the ability to freely think for themselves. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, readers encounter a number of symbols that help in understanding the intent that Ray Bradbury wants to bestow upon his readers. Those symbols include fire, the Phoenix, Montag’s jumping into the river, and the mechanical hound. The first and most noticeable symbol in Fahrenheit 451 is fire.

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679 Words | 3 Pages

Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451 uses the events of a twenty-fourth century fictional world where all intellectual curiosity and hunger for knowledge must be quelled for the good of the state—for conformity—to illustrate to readers of today that human society can easily become oppressive and strictly regimented unless it changes its tendency toward suppression of an individual’s innate rights. In the fictional world of Guy Montag and Captain Beatty, it is believed that without ideas, everyone will conform, and as a result, everyone should be happy. When books and new ideas are available to people, conflict and unhappiness occurs. However, Montag’s encounters with Clarisse, the old woman, and Faber ignite in Montag the spark of doubt about this approach.

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756 Words | 4 Pages

Ray Bradbury 's novel Fahrenheit 451 delineates a society where books and quality information are censored while useless media is consumed daily by the citizens. Through the use of the character Mildred as a foil to contrast the distinct coming of age journey of the protagonist Guy Montag, Bradbury highlights the dangers of ignorance in a totalitarian society as well as the importance of critical thinking. From the beginning of the story, the author automatically epitomizes Mildred as a direct embodiment of the rest of the society: she overdoses, consumes a vast amount of mindless television, and is oblivious to the despotic and manipulative government. Bradbury utilizes Mildred as a symbol of ignorance to emphasize how a population will be devoid of the ability to think critically while living in a totalitarian society. Before Montag meets Clarisse, he is

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998 Words | 4 Pages

Themes that are apparent in the book Fahrenheit 451 are violence, cultures of the past, and ignorance of knowledge. Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel set in the future written by Ray Bradbury. It imagines a future where books are banned and everyone has a tv in their house as their main entertainment. It specifically focuses on one character named Guy Montag and his role as a fireman in that society because firemen start fires to burn books instead of stopping fires. Montag meets a girl named Clarisse who opens his eyes to the reality he is living in; the reality of a corrupted society.

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1317 Words | 6 Pages

“It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things blackened and changed” (Bradbury 3). These outlandish views belonged to Guy Montag, a major protagonist of Fahrenheit 451. In this book, Ray Bradbury describes a dystopian setting in which technology has completely dominated society and books have been banned altogether. Within this civilization, people are oblivious to the past and what it means to have real emotions and be truly alive; however, there is an exception: Clarisse McClellan.

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1086 Words | 5 Pages

Some have named Ray Bradbury “the uncrowned king of the science-fiction writers” because of his imagination and beautiful way of making Fahrenheit 451 come to life. The book Fahrenheit 451 is one of the first books to deal with a future society filled with people who have lost their thirst for knowledge and for whom literature is a thing of the past. The author mainly portrays this world from the point of view of Montag, a man who has discovered the power that knowledge contains and is coming to grips with the fact that it is outlawed. However, the reader also gets to see what life is like for one of the people content in living a life lacking in independent thought and imagination through his wife, Millie.

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1517 Words | 7 Pages

Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, is a uniquely shocking and provocative novel about a dystopian society set in a future where reading is outlawed, thinking is considered a sin, technology is at its prime, and human interaction is scarce. Through his main protagonist, Guy Montag, Bradbury brings attention to the dangers of a controlled society, and the problems that can arise from censorship. As a fireman, it is Guy's job to destroy books, and start fires rather than put them out. After meeting a series of unusual characters, a spark is ignited in Montag and he develops a desire for knowledge and a want to protect the books. Bradbury's novel teaches its readers how too much censorship and control can lead to further damage and the repetition of history’s mistakes through the use of symbolism, imagery, and motif.

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634 Words | 3 Pages

Montag responds, “That’s against the law !” (Bradbury 5) Montag is hypnotized by the society which causes him to consider reading books as something that will not bring happiness, and as something that will bring nothing but disgust. (STEWE

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747 Words | 3 Pages

Imagine a world where books are outlawed, and the only source of knowledge is the government-controlled media – this is the world of Fahrenheit 451. This novel was written by Ray Bradbury in 1953 and was set as a dystopia. This is a futuristic novel about a society where books are banned and “firemen” are tasked with burning any that are found. The story follows Guy Montag, a fireman who begins to question the status quo and eventually rebels against the government. One of the key themes of the novel is the prioritization of happiness over intellect.

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724 Words | 3 Pages

In Ray Bradbury’s dystopian Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag experiences a paradigm shift as he transforms from a disoriented fireman to a learner who wants to gain knowledge through literature. Montag struggles with his newfound fascination with what was once trivial items because of his inability to ask questions under the bonds of conformity. However, the society prohibits people from reading for fear that they would express individuality and perhaps even rebel once they gain knowledge. Through the use of characterization and diction, the Bradbury demonstrates Montag’s desire for individuality and the society’s command of conformity in order to build a suspenseful mood, which keeps the reader’s interest. First, through the use of characterization,

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1117 Words | 5 Pages

“Only the very weak-minded refuse to be influenced by literature and poetry,“ - Cassandra Clare. In the novel Fahrenheit 451, the author, Ray Bradbury, constructs a futuristic American society in which books are no longer allowed. This creates an ignorant and conformist population, which displays the effects that come from lack of literature. The novel follows the life of Guy Montag who is a fireman. In the novel, the task carried out by firemen is to burn books, not put out fires.

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1359 Words | 6 Pages

Ray Bradbury, an author of this era, wrote one of his most famous books, Fahrenheit 451, inspired by the new technology and government corruption in the 1950s. Through Bradbury’s use of effective character development and symbolism, he is able to illustrate the problems of government censorship and technology in his futuristic dystopia in his novel Fahrenheit 451. Fahrenheit 451 is separated into three different parts that represent the changes Guy Montag, a fireman whose job is to burn books banned by the government, undergoes. Each part contains a new character that sparks this transformation the reader sees in Montag. In the beginning of the novel, Montag is a conformed citizen who is brainwashed by the corrupt society of mindless entertainment provided through wall TV’s and radios that can fit in a

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552 Words | 3 Pages

Montresor uses the word mason, not as in a freemason but as one who builds with stone, Montresor builds Fortunato 's tomb. In conclusion to Poe’s writing of “The Cask of Amontillado” there were many ways that irony was used throughout. This phenomenal writer uses all three points of irony in his story. Those points were: verbal irony, situational irony and

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484 Words | 2 Pages

In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” irony is applied throughout to help foreshadow future and give more of an insight to the readers, all while adding some humor. Irony is divided into three main types: dramatic, situational, and verbal. Poe uses dramatic irony when he has Fortunato dress as a jester, “a tight-fitting parti-striped dress and his was surmounted by the conical cap and bells” (Poe). The get-up makes Fortunato looks foolish and foreshadows his actions of following Montresor into the catacombs to taste some wine. Montresor even compliments the outfit and says “My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met” (Poe), but it was not Fortunato who was in luck, but Montresor who would gain profit of their meeting.

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