Fahrenheit 451 - Symbolism

First there are many examples of what the symbol for The hound mean in “Fahrenheit 451”. For example when they first introduce the Hound “ The mechanical hound slept but did not sleep,lived but did not live” (Bradbury 21). This means that even tho it looks like it's resting it doesn't that it still works while people think it doesn't work at night. Which the government still wants to see what people do any suspicious stuff at night. Another quote that can back up this is “It doesn't think anything we don't want it to think” (Bradbury 25). What this means is that the hound wants everyone to think the same and that it doesn't want people to think like there's something weird about the hound. Another example that explains how no one can run from the government (hound) is when the firemen went to Montag's house to burn the

Throughout English literature there are a number of authors who use symbolism to get a point across to the reader. Symbolism is a chance for the author to show the reader instead of tell. The futuristic book Fahrenheit 451 is a novel based around symbolism and ulterior meanings. Water and fire are symbols commonly used in all types of literature. These elements are especially apparent in mythology. Also, within the novel the parlor walls proved themselves to be more than what was initially apparent. These symbols give this book a very specific tone and mood.

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.

Montag begins to question every aspect of his life, “I don’t know. We have everything we need to be happy, but we aren’t happy. Something’s missing. I looked around. The only thing I knew was gone was the books I’d burned in 10 or 12 years. So I thought books might help.” (Pg.82) Censorship puts Montag in the dark; a place he no longer wants to be. Montag wants to be passionate about something worth fighting for. That passion leads him on a hunt for knowledge, guides him to books, and sets him free.

Among all the people who influenced Montag, the old woman is the one who influence the most about books. The old woman said to Montag ‘”Snap out of it! The people in those books never lived. Come on now!’’’ (pg 38). The old woman impresses Montag with her passion. Also, through her, Montag gets confused on the truth of the society. She cannot leave her books, therefore “The woman on the porch reached out with contempt to them all and struck the kitchen match against railing” (pg 40). Through the old woman’s action, Montag decides to read a book himself. She had to influence him the most by doing this. ”’so it was the hand that started it all… his hands had been infected, and soon it would be his arms… his hands were ravenous.’” Montag portrays his action and he thinks that it was the action, but he had to do it over the curiosity about book. He felt he is the last on to read a book.

Firstly, Montag faces the conflict of having to burn down a house with a woman in it, which led him to thinking that something important may be hidden within the books that could be different from what he has learning in this new version of society; Montag becomes more curious through this event and starts to wonder. Eventually, the protagonist is so deeply engrossed in his curiosity that “his hand closed like a mouth, crushed the book with wild devotion, with an insanity of mindlessness to his chest” (Bradbury 34). This quote illustrates

Therefore, through books, Montag becomes conscious of the monotony of his previous life, and now rebels against the very foundations of his society. Due to this intellectual illumination, Montag begins to acknowledge the details of the world around him, details he had once ignored: ‘”Bet I know something else you don’t. There’s dew on the grass this morning.”’As enlightenment dawns on Montag, he finally begins to realise the power within books (i.e. they hold the key to power through knowledge) and this is his ‘crime’ against society: ‘There must be something in books, things we can't imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house...’ Despite his newfound interest, Montag is still struggling to understand the concept of literature. Once again however, Montag is pushed in the right direction by Professor Faber. Under Faber’s guidance, Montag recognises that ‘There is nothing magical about [books] at all. The magic is only with what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment.’ This quote exemplifies the fact that although books are the combination of mere ink and paper, it is the beliefs and the knowledge within a book that are so incredibly powerful.

Bradbury uses the symbol of fire to describe much of what is happening to Montag. Like the phoenix that appears often in the novel, Montag's life is finally purified and reborn by the very fire he has been spewing for years. During the course of the plot, Montag

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.

In the the novel Fahrenheit 451, multiple different abstract and concrete ideas are represented. Those ideas include the use of the outsiders to represent the old society, the use of the mechanical hound to represent the resistance to change, and the usage of the atomic bomb to symbolize a new reality. However, this specific examples of representation within the novel are highlighted due to the fact that they together compose an allegory.

Montag is now at the point where his views are being tested and new beliefs of life are being created. “Montag had done nothing. His hand had done it all, his hand, with a brain of its own, with a conscience and a curiosity in each trembling finger, had turned thief” (35). Here Montag sees a plethora of books inside of Mrs. Blake’s house and seemingly of its own accord Montag’s hand takes a book. He has now broken a rule that everyone in Montag’s society knows, never to take or read books. Mrs. Blakes, instead of coming with the firemen out of the house decides to burn with the books. This confuses Montag and piques his curiosity to figure out what inside the book could drive someone to die with

Dating all the way back to Ancient Roman times, organized firefighting has always been a necessary part of civilization. For thousands of years, the sole purpose of a firefighter has been to extinguish fires. However, this is not the case in the novel Fahrenheit 451. This timeless classic written by Ray Bradbury is the story of a futuristic society in which books are burned by firemen as a means of censoring intelligence. Guy Montag, the novel's protagonist, is an unassuming third-generation fireman who takes pride in his book-burning job.

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

Montag had no idea why books were so important to people until something made him reconsider the way he did everything. Montag pondered, “There must be something in books, things we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing,” (Bradbury 48). While at the Martyr’s house, Montag stole a book just to see why they were such a disgrace to his society. Since he didn’t really understand, Montag went to get help from someone who knew books more than anyone else, Faber.

For instance “No, no, boy,’ said Montag, his heart pounding… He was trembling and his face was green-white… Montag stood, letting the fears pass, by the drop-hole” (Bradbury 23). This illustrates that Montag is scared of the hound. The Hound represents as a tool that can detect that Montag is reading books.