How Are Literary Devices Used In Fahrenheit 451

Pacing and Literary Devices in Fahrenheit 451

“The books leapt and danced like roasted birds, their wings ablaze with red and yellow feathers. ”(pg.110). This one sentence is but one example of Bradbury’s skillful use of Literary devices to influence multiple aspects of the book. One such aspect is the changing pace of Fahrenheit 451.The changing Pace of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 plays a substantial role in the mood of the book; Through Bradbury’s deft use of literary devices this is made possible. Bradbury’s use of Simile,personification,and repetition clearly presents to the reader how the changing pace of the book is impacted by literary devices.

Similes are found quite commonly throughout the book and through these skillful uses

One example of this can be found on pg. 110 in which Montag is burning down the parlor of his own home, “ And then he came to the parlor where the great idiot monsters lay asleep with their white thoughts and their snowy dreams”.This pacing is in direct contrast to the much more fast paced description of the burning in previous sentences showing how personification is slowing down the pace. For example “ And as before, it was good to burn, he felt himself gush out in the fire, snatch, rend, rip in half with flame, ”(pg.110) These sentences are perfect reflectors of the pace of the page before the use of personification which slows everything down. As you can see in this sentence the phrases are more terse and the ideas in the phrases are summarized in a couple simple words making the line move much faster. Compared to the personification which is much more descriptive with the phrases being longer with more descriptive words leading to a natural flow in the writing that slows the book down a

One example of this is on pg.75 in which Montag is on the train and listening to the media playing in the train instead of quickening the pace of the book repetition is slowing it down a little bit. “Denham's Dentifrice, Denham's Dandy Dental Detergent, Denham's Dentifrice Dentifrice Dentifrice, one two, one two three, one two, one two three. ” You can see this obvious change in pace if you compare the repetition to the previous line which states “It was a plea, a cry so terrible that Montag found himself on his feet, the shocked inhabitants of the loud car staring, moving back from this man with the insane, gorged face,the gibbering, dry mouth, the flapping book in his fist.”(pg.75). This sentence is fast paced with its short,simple, and terse phrases. But that instantly changes when you hit the repetition. This is due to the pendulum like rhythm seen in the Repetition. “Dehnam’s Dentifrice,Dehnam’s Dandy dental Detergent….” or “one two,one two three,one two…” repeated over and over again become almost like back and forth back and forth. Through this “pendulum” effect a slow rhythm is established and leads to an almost sluggish