Metaphors In Fahrenheit 451

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Fahrenheit 451 essay

In Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury created a dystopian society where human life is not as valued and the people are left ignorant and controlled through the usage of metaphors and similes to demonstrate the dangers of censorship.

Bradbury uses metaphors to outlay that censorship can lead to a society where people are left ignorant and controlled. In Guy Montag's society the government has banned books. In the beginning of the book Fire Chief Beatty talks to Guy about the fire department and Beatty says “ So a book is a loaded gun in the house next door’’ (Bradbury 56). t the books are being compared to a loaded gun implying the books are dangerous because they promote knowledge and individualism. Throughout the book …show more content…

In the story Guy Montag is fighting with Captain Beatty and Montag kills Beatty “Beatty flopped over and over and at last twisted on himself like a charred wax doll and lay silent.” Beatty had spent his life destroying books and when he was in a confrontation with Guy he did not even care about dying, here Beatty is compared to a charred wax doll showing how he is all burnt and lifeless. Beatty has nothing to live for and finds no enjoyment due to the censorship destroying individuality and knowledge which can lead to happiness for many. This is further demonstrated earlier in the book when the women with the books would not leave the house, “Go on” said the women and Montag felt himself back away and away out of the door, after Beatty down the stops, across the lawn where the path of kerosene lay like the track of some evil snail” (Bradbury?). Mr. Bradbury is using a simile to compare the path of kerosene to a track of an evil snail, this demonstrated the evil associated with destroying the books and even murdering the life of an innocent lady. The lady in the house would not leave because she had nothing to live for and her books brought her the most happiness as proved by her choosing to die with her