Walt Whitman's Allusion In Fahrenheit 451

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Walt Whitman was an American poet and journalist born on May 31, 1819. Whitman was influenced by transcendentalism, which was an idea emphasizing that to understand nature, one must analyze the reasoning or process behind it. Whitman had done many writings throughout his life that had been inspirations for other poets. For example, in the spring of 1855, Whitman published “Leaves of Grass”, which was a collection of twelve unnamed poems. This writing was enticed by Ralph Waldo Emerson, who thought that the collection of poems were “the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom.” Many people throughout the century noticed the ideologies that Whitman portrayed in his writings, and it is still evident today. In “Fahrenheit 451”, Ray Bradbury …show more content…

The dystopian society in “Fahrenheit 451” is known for destroying books to destroy the history and truth behind them as well because it can spark revolutions amongst people. The society also does this because they think it promotes more equality and less destruction. Another reason that this allusion is important to “Fahrenheit 451” is because it can be compared to characters in the story. This specific importance gives insight to the book. A very prominent example would be of Clarisse McClellan. Clarisse, like Whitman, wanted to know how and why something was done, not just what happened. Clarisse wanted to find the truth in things, and ultimately she died for trying. Both of the ideas that Clarisse and Whitman wanted to pass on were destroyed by the society. Another character that can be compared to Whitman would be Guy Montag. Montag, like Whitman, re-evaluates himself a lot. In many of Whitman’s writings, multiple meanings can be interpreted. This is similar to Montag because Montag has two sides to him. One side fulfills his duty as a fireman, while the other side makes him want to rebel and have books to read. This shows how both Whitman and Montag contradict ideas in