Rhetorical Appeals In Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel written by Ray Bradbury. Part one is titled The Hearth and The Salamander. It is about a guy named Montag who is living in a futuristic world, where literature is banned and everyday things like being a pedestrian and reading a book are illegal.
Montag is a fireman who takes pleasure in his job of burning books, until one day when he meets a girl named Clarisse Mclennan. She talks about unusual things and makes Montag realize that he is not happy, changing his outlook on life. His wife, Mildred, tries to end her own life by overdosing on sleeping pills, but when she is rushed to the hospital, the doctors don’t see it as a big deal due to them seeing suicide attempts so often. All these things help Montag

He uses ethos to illustrate the power of knowledge and the importance of questioning authority. He does this by using the characters in his story, and their interactions with each other. Specifically, through Clarisse and Montag when she questions whether or not firemen have always burned books. He responds to her seemingly absurd statement by saying, “No. Houses have always been fireproof, take my word for it.” This is ethos because Montag uses his authority as a fireman to get Clarisse to believe that firemen have always burned books, and have never put out fires since that’s what the government wants everyone to think. By highlighting the importance of questioning authority and using knowledge as a tool for resistance, Bradbury effectively conveys the idea that knowledge is a powerful force that should not be taken lightly. He also uses pathos to illustrate this theme with Mildred’s suicide attempt. After Mildred overdoses on sleeping pills, she is rushed to the hospital, where the doctors act very casually about suicide and even have a special machine made just for overdoses. This shows that suicide happens so often, that nobody takes it seriously anymore. Pathos This situation demonstrates Bradbury’s use of pathos because he is trying to reach the audience on an emotional level, using the prevalent issue of suicide. Since suicide rates keep rising every year, he is

For example, he uses irony when describing the firemen who are tasked with burning books instead of putting out fires. This ironic situation serves to emphasize the absurdity of their society’s censorship laws. Allusions to other works of literature are also used to draw comparisons between the dystopian world of Fahrenheit 451 and our society. For instance, there is an allusion to William Shakespeare, and to Job and Ruth from the bible. When Montag is feeling guilty for secretly reading books, he states, “For these were the hands that had acted on their own, no part of him, here was where the conscience first manifested itself to snatch books, dart off with Job and Ruth and Willie Shakespeare, and now, in the firehouse, these hands seemed gloved with blood.” This allusion connects to ethos because he is alluding to important historical figures, therefore using them as credibility. Additionally, Brandbury utilizes metaphors to convey his message about the dangers of censorship and the power of knowledge. He uses a metaphor to express people’s fear of books and knowledge, “A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon. Breach man's mind. Who knows who might be the target of the well-read man?.” This displays how affected society is by the government, because of its credibility/ethos. Through these