ipl-logo

Rhetorical Analysis Of Fahrenheit 451

966 Words4 Pages

During the period of time when Patrick Henry delivered his “Speech to the Second Virginia Convention,” the relations between the British crown and the colonists were strained. The British government heavily taxed and oppressed the colonists, who were protesting against this unjust treatment. By embellishing his speech with allusions and rhetorical questions, Henry conveys his message that urges decisiveness regarding independence from Great Britain and also warns against possible deception and betrayal. At the start of the speech, Henry alludes to Greek mythology, asserting that the colonists “are apt to shut [their] eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms [them] into beasts” (Henry 2). The …show more content…

Bradbury takes issue with a technological era that is an intellectual dark age stemming from increasing amounts of trivial thoughts. If the issue is not resolved, Bradbury foreshadows a future dystopia where people live an empty, oblivious life where people idolize technology. In contrast, Henry speaks to the convention about the grim future of the colonists in the event of a refusal for revolution and the government’s abuse of power, a theme also seen in Fahrenheit 451. Like the government that Fahrenheit 451 describes, the British are beguiling the colonists with illusions of a mutually beneficial partnership between the two parties and are denying the rights of the colonists. Yet, a key difference between the two texts is that Bradbury conveys his message using a dystopian novel while Henry is using his speech. By using his dystopian fiction, Bradbury is able to create a fictional, but realistic world, allowing the reader to see what grim future awaits should his issue remain unresolved. Once the reader knows more about their bleak future, he or she will be more proactive in combating the issue. Conversely, Henry speaks to his audience rather than present his arguments in a textual format because he wants to personally encourage revolution and form a direct connection with the people. Only then will his audience be able to make a stand. In contemporary society, we must all examine how we feel on the inside in order to decide if we want to tackle an issue or not: When, if ever, is the right time to challenge authority? When we feel oppressed? When we have no other choice? Are we ready to question the very laws that we’ve lived with for possibly the majority of our lives and regardless of whether our opinion will have

Show More
Related
524 Words | 3 Pages

Under the control of the British Parliament in 1775, the American colonies consider going to war in order to gain independence from Britain. In “Patrick Henry’s Speech in the Virginia Convention,” Henry addresses the need for American colonists to work together to stop the British from controlling them. Thus, Henry’s periodic sentence, rhetorical questions, antithesis, and anaphora successfully convince the American colonists to unite against the British and to bring awareness to their wrongdoings. Firstly, Henry applies periodic sentences and rhetorical questions to convey the idea that the American Colonists must fight back against the British by working together if they want to gain freedom. Henry believes that “if [they] wish to

Read More
1051 Words | 5 Pages

In a future totalitarian society, all books have been outlawed by the government, fearing an independent-thinking public. Fahrenheit 451 is a futuristic novel, telling the story of a time where books and independent thinking are outlawed. In a time so unenlightened, where those who want to better themselves by thinking, are outlawed and killed. Guy Montag is a senior firefighter who is much respected by his superiors and is in line for a promotion. He does not question what he does or why he does it until he meets Clarisse.

Read More
807 Words | 4 Pages

Ray Bradbury actually has “argued till the cows come home that Fahrenheit 451 is not about government censorship. In his mind, the novel is about the scary potential for TV to replace books, causing us to forget how to think for ourselves. ”(Shmoop Editorial Team) Fahrenheit 451 becomes a classic Anzaldua 3 and Ray Bradbury’s best-known work because of “its exploration of themes of censorship and conformity. In 2007, Bradbury himself disputed that censorship was the main theme of Fahrenheit 451, instead explaining the book as a story about how television drives away interest in reading: "Television gives you the dates of Napoleon, but not who he was.

Read More
566 Words | 3 Pages

Sam Weller begins by introducing Ray Bradbury and his first prominent novel, Fahrenheit 451. Weller describes the book as “the story of the near-future society” and categorizes alongside other dystopian literature such as Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and George Orwell’s 1984. The article sounded like any other analyses of the book, until the author made an unexpected statement: Sam Weller had personal relationship with Ray Bradbury. Here was Sam Weller, a man who worked for 12 years as Bradbury’s “authorized biographer”, sharing his thoughts about his subject and the novel. The main issue in this article is that Fahrenheit 451 has been widely praised as “one of the great works of anti-censorship”, until in

Read More
752 Words | 4 Pages

Patrick Henry, an eloquent speaker during the independence movement, gives his speech in the Virginia Convention in order to inspire revolution and to state that the colonies’ pleas to their mother country Britain has been unsuccessful in getting a beneficial response. The allusions and parallelism implemented throughout the passage help rile up the colonists to fight. Allusions are employed by Henry to display the need to split from the British government. First, Henry refers to the poem Odyssey by Homer in order to compare Britain to the enticing “sirens” that lure people to them by singing mesmerizing “songs” with the devious intention of “transform[ing these people] into beasts” (Henry 14).

Read More
459 Words | 2 Pages

In the fictional novel "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury, the two character Montag and Clarisse, lived in the future where the government is corrupted. As time evolve and the world is changing, the sense of logic become twisted in this society. The world in "Fahrenheit 451" is a place where the idea of "firemen put fires out" appeared to be "long ago" (Bradbury 25). Firemen in this society no longer put out fire, but instead going to start them. The action of a firemen spraying "kerosene" over burning fire is described as an "amazing conductor playing all the symphonies" suggest that this society is twisted (Bradbury 2).

Read More
416 Words | 2 Pages

Some people get distracted and they go with the flow of society but people need to stop and go with their own flow. “We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal, as the constitution says, but everyone made equal”(Bradbury 58). The quote speaks for itself in the sense that it says everyone is made equal but not everyone is born free. Uneducated, self- absorbed, and distracted citizens are necessary for totalitarian governments to control their citizens.

Read More
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.

Read More
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,

Read More
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

Read More
968 Words | 4 Pages

Gatlin Farrington 12/1 P.4 Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is an excellent utopian/dystopian fictional story about a man who fights for the freedom to read. The government in this world has made almost every book (with a few exceptions) illegal. They have done this due to the contradictory ideas found in them. It was thought that all of the contradictions might confuse citizens on what is the truth and what isn’t.

Read More
710 Words | 3 Pages

Hwan Seong Pak Kelli Karg Grade 9 English 17/12/14 Title: Subtitle Fahrenheit 451 written by Ray Bradbury was published in 1953. The novel depicts a future society where books are devalued and firemen burn books. It is one of the representative dystopian fictions.

Read More
613 Words | 3 Pages

In the years leading up to the American Revolution, there was a tense relationship between the colonists and their British rulers. Large gatherings in the colonies to discuss the grievances caused by the actions of the British were common. Patrick Henry applies the rhetorical strategies of allusions and repetition in his “Speech in the Virginia Convention” to assert that the colonists should believe fighting for their freedom and rights is necessary and that they must fight as soon as possible. Although Henry has rather radical beliefs in comparison to the other members of the Convention, he connects with them through religious and literary allusions that are able to convince them of his assertions. In his speech, Henry alludes to

Read More
862 Words | 4 Pages

The novel exploits human desire for the now and the easy, critiques human dependency on technology and the media, and shows the effects of extreme government control. This causes the reader to examine their actions from a different perspective. Fahrenheit 451 was also written to show the importance of knowledge. It causes the reader to think of valuable questions about the need for the information located in books. Ultimately, knowledge is power.

Read More
526 Words | 3 Pages

Ray Bradbury, the author of Fahrenheit 451, presents a society in which humans suffer from depression, fear, and loss of empathy which are the result of censorship of free thought and knowledge. Humans suffer from loss of empathy due to their lack of human interaction. People live in fear of the government as the dystopian society deprives the people of knowledge. Depression is evidenced by suicidal tendencies caused by hollow lives. Bradbury uses the loss of empathy in order to demonstrate the effects that censorship of free thought and knowledge have upon the individual and society.

Read More

More about Rhetorical Analysis Of Fahrenheit 451

Related Topics

Open Document