Multiple Themes In Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

The theme of the novel Fahrenheit 451 is incredibly complex and completely entwined with almost every description and word choice the author chose to employ. On the surface, it appears to be simple commentary on the incompetence of those unwilling to cooperate with the system and the agitation they caused by their socially-aberrant behaviors, i.e. Clarisse McClellan’s love for talking about unconventional topics and a deep appreciation for nature. Yet, once one looks deeper into the metaphorical wording and progression in the novel’s character-arcs and shift in tones, you come to find it is instead exploiting the deeper, sicker behaviors of those in charge and the silencing effect they have on the public. An example is the burning of

Fahrenheit 451 is a book by Ray Bradbury, written after World War II and it examines the corruption of technology in a dystopian society. This book explains how a dystopian society works and how people are so attached to television and cars and do not enjoy the natural world. People in a dystopian society are full of fear and sadness. They do not have equality or freedom, they are all so soaked up in technology that it is illegal for them to do simple stuff, such as, reading books. The book, Fahrenheit 451 explains how firefighters start fires rather than stopping them. A firefighter’s job is do burn books, since books are illegal to have because they go against the power of technology and modernization. In a dystopian society, people should be unhappy, unequal, violent, and brutalized and that is what is exactly being seen throughout this book. As Ray Bradbury captures the attention of many readers, he captures our attention on how the future could be if technology would become so extreme. Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451 is not about control, but it is a novel about how television destroys curiosity in reading literature.

Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel written by Ray Bradbury that depicts a futuristic American society where books are banned and independent thought is persecuted. Bradbury uses his imagination to take a hard look at a world consumed by technology, and he presents predictions about pleasure, violence and anti-intellectualism that are alarmingly similar to the modern American society. Notably, in both societies people find pleasure in entertainment that is endlessly preoccupying. Second, people are violent and careless. Finally, anti-intellectualism and suppression of independent thought affect both societies, as firemen ban books in Fahrenheit 451 and, in the

In Montag 's case, he understands that he is unhappy with the way he is living, and he begins to rethink his ways of destruction. In like manner, a literary criticist, Rafeeq McGiveron, gives a good analysis of the character of Montag when he says that Montag has a “blithely clear and pathetically blank conscience” towards burning books until he relives his childhood through walks with Clarisse (p.6). Clearly, Clarisse tugged and Montag 's heart and helped him understand the heartlessness of burning books. Most definitely, it was Montag 's hand and not his brain or mind that was the true monster. In another example, the reader sees Montag 's private life during a conversation between he and Mildred, his wife, when she says, “when can we have a fourth wall television put in? It 's only two thousand dollars” and Montag responds by saying that two thousand dollars is one-third of his yearly pay (Bradbury 33). The example presented adds more depth to the grim life of the main character because Montag is married to a woman that is selfish and has no interest for any part of Montag 's life. Similarly, because Montag is faced with unhappiness in both his professional and private life, he is quick to accept the words of Clarisse that there is a better and brighter life possible for him. Overall, Bradbury successfully acomplishes a sense of sympathy for Guy Montag by revealing the

Fahrenheit 451 is a novel of little happiness. Society as a whole has become content with watching television and wasting away their lives, while a few individuals ponder the true meaning of life and happiness. Bradbury throughout the book depicts what our world could become, and almost sends a warning to the reader on how to avoid this unfriendly fate.

The character of Montag expresses the theme of the ability to think for oneself and the importance of self-reflection. The main character Montag transforms throughout the story. At first, Montag is content with his job as a fireman. Montag is comfortable with his life. Shortly into the story, the character of Clarisse McClean is introduced. Montag tells Clarisse, “You think too many things” (Bradbury 6). Reading further Bradbury’s dialog between Clarisse and Montag demonstrations Montag lacks critical thinking. Clarisse enlightens Montag and the character of Montag awakens. Montag begins to understand the world around him and comes to realize he is unhappy. In a way, Montag rebels against his society. Montag begins to think for himself. Montag reflected upon his happiness and the theme of self-reflection is conveyed for the first time within the novel. “He wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run off across the lawn with the mask and there was no way of going to knock on her door and ask for it back” (Bradbury 9). It wasn’t until Clarisse asked Montag “are you happy” did Montag stop to consider if he was happy. Bradbury expresses the importance of self-reflection by displaying Montag as content and then developing Montag’s character to awaken and identify he is unhappy. In addition, Bradbury illustrates the ability to think for oneself creates happiness. Bradbury creates an overzealous Montag towards the end of

The world of burning books, talking parlor walls, and speeding cars captivated the readers who read Ray Bradbury’s dystopian novel, Fahrenheit 451. Through the use of figurative language, Bradbury creates a complex, yet a dull-minded, society where literature and human philosophy are degenerating. Bradbury illustrates this society through the protagonist, Guy Montag, who develops and changes his mentality on his society throughout the novel after realizing the truth behind it. However, Bradbury does not only paint the truth about Montag’s society, but he also conveys a representation of our society through the media of Fahrenheit 451. The media of Fahrenheit 451 displays a rather disillusioned, ‘perfect’ image of how this society portrays itself to be even though it is the opposite.

Fahrenheit 451 has been called an ingenious and life changing work of literature. It could not have had this effect on people, however, without the incredibly pivotal part 3 of the novel. This part is what shows the inherent hopeful nature of the writing. Ray Bradbury’s intent when writing Part 3 of Fahrenheit 451 was to show how even a dark and dystopian world like the one in the novel can be reborn into a new and better society, and that even the most hopeless of situations can be fixed. He demonstrates this intent through an analogy about the seasons, similes involving wax dolls, and finally the overarching metaphor of the phoenix.

The focus then changes as Bradbury narrows in on Montag so readers can see where he stands mentally. When Montag gets the chance to think through all that has happened, his thoughts are

Ray Bradbury captured the minds of millions with his atrocious vision of the future in his book Fahrenheit 451. In Fahrenheit 451 Bradbury tries to reach out to the reader and show them the importance of keeping a strong hold on their humanity. He does this by setting the story in a frighteningly hollow society. These people aren’t allowed to read books, and no conflicting ideas are presented to the people. As a result, the people of this society are unable to think for themselves, and they start to lose their humanity because of this. As the reader gets deeper and deeper into the world that Bradbury has created in Fahrenheit 451 they start to realize what it truly means to be human and how important it is to stay human.

The setting of the novel, Fahrenheit 451, takes place in a large city in the year 2053. The author Ray Bradbury. The mood of the story is dark, and gloomy. The reason why that everyone is watching tv and are sad because they sit inside all day and can’t read because it is against the law.

Fahrenheit 451 takes place in a dystopian future, where the main character Guy Montag works as a fireman. At the beginning of the novel, he meets a 17-year old named Clarisse McClellan. They build a strong friendship, but after a few weeks, she dies from a car crash (according to Montag’s wife, Mildred Montag). And talking about Mildred, she overdosed on sleeping medication and some men had to pump her stomach with a machine that looked like “a suction snake” (Bradbury 6). During the period of the night she overdosed and the next morning, she denies having too much medication and goes to her “family,” which are the people on her “TV”. When I talk about her “TV”, they are wall-sized TVs (sometimes called parlors), which in this society have

Mary and Jane were at a party. It was there first “cool kid party”. Mary promised herself that she wouldn’t do anything bad that night. Eventually though she was peer pressured into doing something she didn’t want to do which involved drinking. Jane noticed that Mary did not like it when people were surrounding her and yelling at her to drink.. Jane decided to walk in and do what was best for both her and her friend and leave the party.

Through poetry, literary fiction, and many other forms of media, authors can easily convey intense and powerful themes. Certain works show the story of those who push away the ordinary for something even greater. While relationships are lost and people disappear, life for those portrayed in the works becomes extraordinary. Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and songs like “Come To Your Senses”, “Let It Go”, and “Goodbye” allow characters to push away from societal normatives.

Bradbury uses symbolism to show how people struggle to find themselves within a society that is deprived of individuality. This individuality wasn’t always missing, the more people came into their society the less room they had to be any different from each other. How could one expect a society-programmed Montag to even attempt to understand that there’s a possibility to be something else than what he was taught. “Once books appealed to a few people, here, there, everywhere. They could afford to be different. The world was roomy. But then the world got full of eyes and elbows and mouths.” (Bradbury 51) Throughout Fahrenheit 451 Montag is always who he’s “supposed to be”, but to himself he is not happy, he doesn’t even know he is feeling this way. He wore his happiness like a mask, a mask that covered his face and didn’t really show what was going on underneath. A girl named Clarisse removes the mask and makes Montag realize there is something you could be other than what others think you should be, “He wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run off across the lawn with the mask and there was no way of going to knock on her door and ask for it back.” (Bradbury 9) Clarisse took it forever, and Montag could never wear it the same again. The use of symbolism here gives a good understanding as to how Montag is first hit by the realization that things can’t ever be the same for him, his “happiness” is now Clarisse’s and she took this cover he’s always used and took it