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Fahrenheit 451 Minstrel Man Analysis

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The Importance of the Minstrel Man Allusion in Fahrenheit 451 As can be noticed by reading even the smallest portion of the novel Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag’s story is told in mostly metaphors, similes, and allusions. For example, at the very beginning of the story, the author writes, “He knew that when he returned to the firehouse, he might wink at himself, a minstrel man, burnt-corked, in the mirror.” (Bradbury 2). This allusion sets the tone for how the reader perceives Montag throughout the rest of the novel. A minstrel man is a member of a group of entertainers who use ‘blackface’ to portray themselves as a person of color. This was very common in the early 19th century and is now seen as racist, cultural appropriation, and generally
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The novel Fahrenheit 451 written by Ray Bradbury expresses several different ideas throughout the course of the story, all relating to one another. In the beginning, the main idea is that the firemen are saying that their job is rightly justified. In the middle of the book, curiosity fills the mind of the main character Guy Montag; which leads to the conclusion of the book where Montag reaches enlightenment. In the novel, Montag experiences many changes in his perspective on the fate of books. Characters such as Clarisse, Beatty, Faber and Granger contribute to Montag’s journey of transitioning from ignorance to enlightenment.

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Jim’s Minstrel Mask Slaves in the 1800s were seen as dim, ignorant people, underestimated by the white culture. In Huck’s story, the reader can see a different side of slaves. A side that has not been shown in history textbooks, or taught frequently by teachers of the sort. Jim in the novel demonstrates the cleverness, the quick-wittedness, and the overall intelligence of an individual in the face of extreme adversity.

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In Fahrenheit 451 the protagonist Guy Montag is a firefighter who burns books and doesn't understand why but at the same time he wants to read himself but doesn't want to get caught. In Ray Bradbury's novel, he uses tone in several ways to illustrate censorship through his use of charged words, his use of negative historical symbols, and his ability to reflect the ideas of historical positive role models speaking out. In Ray Bradbury's novel he uses charged emotional words to describe his character throughout the book. In the beginning of the novel, the way he was writing about Montag was as if, Montag was full of himself of very proud of himself because he used words like he was "great python spitting its venomous kerosene around the world", he had a "fierce grin of all men signed", he was "a minstrel man" and had a "fiery smile".

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At first, the act was predominantly done by white people who wore black faces to depict how African-Americans spoke and acted, but eventually, there was a recorded increase in African-Americans themselves who too wore the black faces. The acts included a variety of comic acts, African-American music, comic skits, and dancing (Minstrel Show). However, with the shows’ popularity, it was also quite clear that the acts were highly depicted as racist towards the African Americans. This notion comes about from the fact that the acts portrayed African Americans as lazy, ignorant, and as those who loved music and dancing regardless of any other facet of life. Surprisingly, the history of the minstrel acts has over the time infatuated both black artists in the modern day and a clique of white artists locally referred to as “wiggers” which translates to white artists who want to act as black artists (Blacking Up: Hip-Hop 's Remix of Race and Identity).

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