Archetypes Of Dark In Ray Bradbury's 'Fahrenheit 451'

In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, he uses light and dark as contrasts is used as a motif to help further develop differences between people in society through characterization and plot. Light symbolizes knowledge and purity; on the other hand, darkness shows ignorance in the society, while also being a form of safety.

The darkness in Montag’s life is his wife, Mildred; who would much rather be dead than still in her world of the parlor. Mildred, Montag’s wife, is continuously described through the darkness as she does not have much of a personality nor shows any interest in real life: “It was like coming into a cold dark room of a mausoleum after the moon has set. Complete darkness, not a hint of the silver world outside, the windows tightly shut, the chamber a tomb-world where no sound from the great city could penetrate. The room was not empty” (Bradbury 9). As Mildred lays in the dark room associated with a mausoleum which she is referenced as being dead and without thoughtful cause in a dark tightly shut room. A darkness grows around Montag as he becomes distant of his pursuit of knowledge. Mildred gets her stomach pumped as she overdosed on medication, proving her loss of interest for living in her attempted suicide: “They had this machine. They had two machines, really. One of them slid down into your stomach like a black cobra down an echoing well looking for all the old water and the old time gathered there. It drank up the green matter that flowed to the top in a slow boil. Did it drink up the darkness?” (Bradbury 12). Mildred influences on his mental health because he feels tethered to the watchful eye. The watchful yet forgetful eye of Mildred causes distress for Montag as she attempts to replicate the parlor walls ideas of a socially perfect

Mildred always seems to ignore Montag and loves her TV family way more. When Montag and Clarisse discuss the dandelions, Montag believed that theory of if you love someone was wrong, but he couldn’t stop wondering about Mildred. A question filled his mind saying “how do you get so empty? he wondered. Who takes it out of you? And that awful flower the other day, the dandelion! It has summed up everything, hadn’t it? ‘What a shame! You’re not in love with anyone!’ And why not?” (pg 44). This sums up the connection they have. After Mildred got sick and that medical snake down her throat, it sucked up everything full of life out of her. That what brought Montag asking when she was became empty. Also relating to the addiction the TV family, “no matter when he came in, the walls were always talking to Mildred” (pg 44). Montag discovers how society has become and that brought a wall between him and

Being blind to reality is also demonstrated by Montag when he encounters Clarisse. Montag seems to find out he isn’t happy after seeing Clarisse's way of life. Montag also seems to really question his way of life after Clarisse shows Montag how if you rub a dandelion under your chin and it turns yellow then you are in love, however Montag's dandelion does not change color (Bradbury,10). Montag becomes angry thinking that he is not in love with Mildred because marriage seems to entitle love. Montag continues to think about Clarisse throughout the next few

“With rebellion, awareness is born,” quoted by Albert Camus. An act of rebellion can cause awareness and open people's eyes to horrendous acts. In the book Fahrenheit 451 written by Ray Bradbury, when Montag realizes that the government wasn’t being fair, he decided he needed to make the society aware. Montag knew a rebellion was the only way to show that the government was not treating citizens right. It is acceptable to rebel when it is believed that the government is being unfair to their citizens because citizens should have the right to freely speak their opinions. People shouldn’t be told what they can or can’t-do for pleasure and they should be able to express their uniqueness.

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

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 once stated, “I never consciously place symbolism in my writing. That would be a self-conscious exercise and self-consciousness is defeating to any creative act … During a lifetime, one saves up information which collects itself around centers in the mind; these automatically become symbols on a subliminal level and need only be summoned in the heat of writing.” (The Paris Review). Bradbury’s may not have consciously placed symbolism in Fahrenheit 451, but his use of symbolism throughout the story allows the reader to relate back to their most basic instincts, all while seeing a deeper meaning to what they are really looking at.

Montag’s Awakening highlights the phases of fear and enlightenment Montag goes through towards the end of Fahrenheit 451 which reminds us of the similar change the prisoner in The Allegory of the Cave goes through.

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).

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is a book established on a disordered culture in which the government gets along with the people via traditionalism. Conformity is the method of matching beliefs and attitudes. Characters such as Beatty, Mildred, and others obey the government since that is how their culture exists. The government destroys any type of individuality a person has and does not tolerate any type of education since they will come up with a way to reprimand an individual. As it is shown at the beginning of the story, individuality outlines the dissimilarities of an individual by creating an exceptional personality of a person such as the one Clarisse McClellan disclosed to Montag.

In 1953, American author and screenwriter, Ray Bradbury, in his novel, Fahrenheit 451, utilizes a dramatic and depressing tone alerting the effects of social issues in a dystopian society, such as order and identity in the world. During the 1950's new technological advances were being created that helped alter the world such as the first ever commercial computer or television. Bradbury's purpose in this novel was to prevent what was to come in the future with the minds of human minds be consumed by new toys and gadgets. With this book Bradbury wanted to change his audience's perspective on the way they perceive books and the social outcome it can have. He implements many Biblical allusions, paradoxes, and imagery to help develop his major themes that factor what is happening in society.