Analysis Of Ray Bradbury 's ' Fahrenheit 451 '

Well, in this city, a hound is completely different. It is a mechanical ‘hound’ that has eight spider-like legs and has a needle which ejects euthanasia into its victims. It uses this to kill them, or hold them down. When Montag breaks the law, the hound is set off on him, keeping his scent through chemical imprint. The hound is set on Montag, there is a chase for several hours and finally Montag makes it into the forest. Upon arriving, he meets some other people, and Montag find out that the hound was used to kill an innocent man, for the government did not want to worry the public (It does not seem as though they care about the public, quite

They all turned in unison and dashed, the hound giving chase. The sounds of their footsteps were the only sounds they could hear, possibly the only sound in many miles in any direction. The hound was silent, and this provided a false sense of safety. Granger slowed and turned, the hound pounced on his leg, the needle protracting. Montag had a look of horror as he ran back to his friend, no sooner than they had all set off, and kicked the creature with his heavy boots. The same boots he had worn as a fireman, he hadn’t even noticed. The hound was destroyed, but as for Granger, Montag wasn’t sure.

Throughout the book, Montag notices that the Hound does not like him. The Hound is also frequently a part of his thoughts. Whenever he goes to the station he is kind of frightened of the Hound, and makes sure he knows where it is.

Since the hound has the inability to think for itself, and because it can, “remember and identify ten thousand odor indexes on ten thousand men” (Bradbury, 127), it is the perfect solution to tracking and abolishing nonconformists. This is seen in the novel, with the search for Montag. The government’s persistence on the ridding of individualists is clearly observed when Montag destroys the first hound, and a second is immediately sent, with news reporters stating to the citizens, “--Mechanical Hound never fails. Never since its first use in tracking quarry has this incredible invention made a mistake” (Bradbury, 126). It is obvious just how desperate the government is to obliterate rebels. The Mechanical Hound is a clear portrayal of a uniform, undeviating society with a fear of anything “abnormal” or unique. It can ultimately be described as the watchdog of their society, constantly on the lookout for novelty and innovation. Montag expresses his sympathy for the hound by stating, “…all we put into it is hunting and finding and killing. What a shame if that’s all it can ever know” (Bradbury, 25). The government is so radically engrossed in maintaining the norm, that the creature is never permitted the opportunity to know anything other than destruction. The Mechanical Hound is “a fitting representative of unrelenting pursuit and execution for those

The narrator explains, “-Mechanical Hound never fails. Never since its first use in tracking quarry has this incredible invention made a mistake. Tonight, this network is proud to have the opportunity to follow the Hound by camera helicopter as it starts on its way to the target-“(133). Commentary Analysis: The police, who work for the government, are trying to make people believe that the Mechanical Hound is a perfect, totally effective machine, and it helps the police to track down a fugitive, Guy Montag, who has burned Captain Beatty, the fire captain, and is a dangerous man. The police want the people to believe what their doing is for the people’s welfare.

This study examines the issue of freedom of information in the story of literary oppression found in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Bradbury presents the oppression of an authoritarian state that does not allow its citizens to reads books. Guy Montag is initially a servant of the state that requires him to locate and persecute members of the community that still collect books. In various cases, Bradbury defines the rights of certain citizens to rebel against Guy and the other “book burners”, which suggest liberation from tyranny and the freedom of information. Guy also becomes convenient that the policy to destroy books is a threat to civilization, and the rebellion allows him to change his views and to rebel against the government. More importantly, Clarisse’s role in inspiring Guy to revolt becomes a major catalyst for freeing the society from banning books that are deemed a threat to the social order. In essence, an analysis of freedom of information will be examined in this study of literary oppression found in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451.

​In a world where everything surrounding one is so different and so similar in the exact same time… Imagine a society where everything an individual can mentally and physically do is under the power of the government. Self-difference does not exist. In a futuristic setting of the novel ‘Fahrenheit 451’ written by Ray Bradbury, and the short story ‘Harrison Bergeron’ written by Kurt Vonnegut are both two very eventful and interesting readings that will keep one’s mind running on about the outlook on futuristic life and the governments strict needs and wants throughout a society. These two stories can be compared and contrasted by the strict outlook on the governments control, demand and want over a society, the close relation the two main characters from both stories portray and the similar theme demonstrating loss of individuality.

Visual media, such as the computer and television distract people from the natural world, and instead blinds them from reality. Fahrenheit 451 exposes the idea that mass visual media initiates problems of violence, unawareness, and ignorance. The advanced technology causes the people of society to stray farther away from reality, and they become trapped in their own world of unawareness. Thus, unlike in nature where everything is free, the advanced technology confines people within the boundaries that technology allows. The boundaries created by visual media imprison the people of society into a world of mental incapacity and illiteracy. This unfamiliarity with the world, shown by numerous characters, shows how society is negligent. For

Montag is someone who is shy and keeps his thoughts to himself, but thinks many things. He shows that he is distracted instead of being happy throughout the book. At the time, he was walking home from work and was looking at Clarisse. Clarisse is a girl who would roam the streets and was also Montag's neighbor. She walks over to Guy and they start to have a conversation while walking to their houses. They discussing if talking about to see if Montag is really happy or if he was lying. She keeps questioning him. Bradbury explains “He was not happy. He was not happy. He said the words to himself. He recognized this as true state affairs. He wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run across the lawn with the mask and the way

Finally arriving at Faber's house, Montag is told about a group of exiled intellectuals who will give him refuge. Through careful planning and determination, he manages to stay ahead of the new and improved Mechanical Hound, who is trying to hunt him down and destroy him. By jumping into the river and floating downstream, Montag cannot be detected by either the Hound or the helicopters. He finally comes ashore by a forest and finds the exiles within. They welcome Montag into their midst and share their plans of saving books and knowledge with him. Montag is given the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes to memorize.

The average person in our society spends 7-8 hours a day(The Washington Post) using technology; that is stuff like television, video games, surfing the web, etc. Let that set in; that’s a long time. Our society procrastinates also is constantly distracted by technology like no other. We are practically glued to technology; before we become slaves of technology we must change that. The theme of technology in Fahrenheit 451 informs us that the overuse of technology makes people lazy/procrastinate, that technology will overpower people’s lives, and technology takes away from people’s education.

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is a display of how humans are relying more and more on technology for entertainment at the price of their ability for intellectual development. It is a novel about technological dystopia, often compared to other novels such as, George Orwell’s 1984 and Asimov Ender’s Game. Although today’s technology has not quite caught up with Bradbury’s expectations, the threat of having his vision of a dystrophic society is very realistic. He sees a futuristic society in which this submission of thought is highly valued. In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury displays a futuristic utopian society where "the people did not read books, enjoy nature, spend time by themselves, think independently, or have meaningful conversations" (Mogen, Pg. 111).

The Montag that is introduced at the beginning of the novel seems quite similar to Mildred, while he does manage to utilize his hands, they are only employed for cataclysmic purposes. Bradbury describes Montag’s hands as "the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning to bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history" (1). Montag seems to exemplify destruction in this passage, his hands, however, are the enforcers, acting as a completely separate organism. The Mechanical Hound, Mildred, and Montag’s hands have all been described in the same way; as being both alive and deceased, ironically all three objects with that connotation have proven to be extraordinarily disastrous. As time progresses, and Montag manages to maintain control over his own bodily functions, his actions become more positive. This change in him is provoked by his realization of the importance that novels hold, Bradbury explains that his “hands had been infected, and soon it would be his arms. He could feel the poison working up his wrists and into his elbows and his shoulders, and then the jump-over from shoulder-blade to shoulder-blade like a spark leaping a gap. His hands were ravenous” (38). This is the turning point for Montag; he has been infected with his own harsh reality. His hands have been affected and altered from the way they had been before; independent and dominant. Montag is gaining control over his own actions, this is a metaphor for how the government is losing its power over him now that he understands the truth. The less of a grip the government has on Montag, the greater chance he has to create a legacy for himself. At the end of the novel, after the decimation of the entire city, there is no longer a government to constrict Montag and his ideas for

2. Montag goes to Faber 's house where he learns a new hound is on his trail.

(Watt 41). Bradbury reinforces this contrast by causing Mildred to relate only to the subject of herself, while Clarisse's favorite subject is other people. When Montag meets the Mechanical Hound, he discovers that it is a "dead beast, [a] living beast" (Bradbury 24). Donald Watt describes it as a "striking and sinister gadget" and it "is most terrifying for being both alive and not alive" (41; Huntington 113). The Hound becomes "Montag's particular mechanical enemy…[and it] becomes more suspicious of him" as time passes and Montag develops a greater freedom from his society (Johnson 112). Thus, Montag is thrust into the realization that his culture is not flawless, but instead is rife with abuses of human freedoms.