Symbolism In Ray Bradbury's 'Farenheit 451'

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.

Fire and flames have been used as symbols by many authors. Fire is representative of Montage. He was a fireman who made fires rather than put them out. He was around them all the time, whether it was around a campfire or burning down a house. Montag and fire were

Andrei Tarkovsky said, “A literary work can only be received through symbols, through concepts - for that is what words are”. In Fahrenheit 451’s society, the reading of books is illegal and punishable by death. The protagonist Guy Montag stands against the burning of the books and attempts to be happy with his life, even though he is a fireman. Ray Bradbury, uses many literary devices in his story, but the most important device is symbolism. In Fahrenheit 451, a handful of symbols advance the plot by giving the novel a deeper meaning that what appears on the surface. Each symbol included in the Fahrenheit 451 is a piece of Guy Montag’s life that is helping his journey.

Imagine living a life where everything stayed the same – nobody ever learned anything, and everyone acted the same way day in and day out. Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 is set in a futuristic time where knowledge and thinking is outlawed. The novel represents a time so dreadful where those who wanted to better themselves by learning are outlaws as well. Books are burned physically by the firemen and valuable ideas are burned from the mind. In this case, Guy Montag who is the protagonist of the novel, believes that he is satisfied with his life. An inquisitive teenage girl named Clarisse comes into Montag’s life and shows him all the important details that he is missing– one example being happiness. Throughout the novel Montag realizes that he is not enjoying his life and decides to take action. He is determined to find the true meaning of life and put an end to destroying valuable knowledge and thinking. Ray Bradbury uses the symbol of fire to demonstrate the ever-changing meaning of purification, destruction, and balance to reveal that everything in life has a light and dark side.

When Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451, he allegedly chose the title for the temperature that book paper catches fire. The idea was that the firemen use flamethrowers to burn books, and the fire needed to be at least 451 degrees Fahrenheit to properly burn the paper. Right off the bat, the number 451, in Fahrenheit 451, is stated on the first page of the book. It also symbolizes the ‘burning’ and failing of Montag's society. Essentially, it's the temperature at which society burns. This symbol is the most significant one since it is in the title of the book and is stated directly on the first page.

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 salamander is one symbol of the firemen, as well as the name they give to their fire truck. Both of these symbols have to do with fire, the dominant image in Montag’s life. The hearth because it contains the fire that heats a home, and the salamander because of ancient beliefs that lives in fire and is unaffected by flames.

Worldwide, one in five people are illiterate. Even in the United States where one receives a free education, fifty percent of American adults are not able to read at an eighth grade level (Reading Statistics, 1). This is the complete opposite scenario in the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, where he describes a world where people are no longer allowed to certain literature and are limited in expanding their knowledge. The protagonist, Montag, works as a fireman who instead of putting out fires, sets books on fire. And throughout the story tries to find the true reason for his unhappiness through the banned books. Meanwhile, his wife projects as the basic representation of their society in where she doesn’t think for herself and follows blindly. Bradbury foresees a future world where people are censored in what they can think about. Books, which allow them to explore their imagination, are out of public’s reach. The people are easily distracted and do not find a reason for being alive. Bradbury 's prediction of society 's state of ignorance and mental laziness has become true due to the fact that the United States’ population in relation to technology, irrationality, and violence has made us have more in common with Mildred’s mindless behavior.

As the world continues to innovate and technology becomes an ever-increasing aspect of our lives, the society in which we live in changes. These technological changes usually connect more of us together. However, when everyone voices their opinion, a lot of disagreements will occur. In order to avoid such disagreements, communities began to gradually censor themselves. In the novel Fahrenheit 451, the government was trying to keep everyone happening by not offending minorities so they begin gradually censoring society to the point where books are illegal. The author, Ray Bradbury, wants us to know that it is important for us to be aware of censorship happening in our community and state. This message is conveyed through the story in the form of setting, symbolism, and an allegory.

Change, no matter how vast or unimportant, is inevitable; one just needs notice it. Different permutations of story lines work their way into movies, books, and more importantly, characters such as Guy Montag. Consequently, in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, a mindless and insensitive part of the majority named Montag meets a girl named Clarisse who shows him the joys of awareness, which transitions him from travelling aimlessly through life to realizing that it is better to be cognizant of the world and to try to gain knowledge even when it might make one feel the godawful reality of society; a first push from a friend made him stop and ponder the world, his own actions made him further his knowledge and seek others to help change what was already a dying country, and a group helped him realize that fighting fire with fire is worse than preserving the motive to fight in the first place.

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

A dystopian society is defined as a futuristic, imagined universe in which oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through corporate, bureaucratic, technological, moral, or totalitarian control. This is different from a utopian society that can be defined as a place, state, or condition that is ideally perfect in respect of politics, laws, customs, and conditions. Some of the characteristics of a dystopian society are information, thought, or freedom being restricted, a concept being worshipped by the society, and a dehumanized state being present. The novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury shows many characteristics that qualify it to be categorized as a piece of dystopian literature. A technological control can be seen through instances such as the tv walls, electronic bees, mechanical hound, and the machines. Also, a philosophical control is seen through the idea that books are bad and should be burned. In addition, the fact that there is a dystopian protagonist in the book shows proof of a dystopian society. The dystopian protagonist is important because they help the reader identify a book as a piece of dystopian literature by pointing out the negative aspects of the society.

changed his whole life around because of books. This book is taking place in a dystopian society

Fahrenheit 451, refers to the temperature at which paper burns, therefore symbolizing the plot of the story and the job of the protagonist. The firemen are required to burn any books that are not influential to entertainment purposes such as novels, short-stories, and even the Bible. At first, Fahrenheit 451 began as a series of ideas that later developed into what it is today. In the 1940s, Ray Bradbury wrote a short story known as “Bright Phoenix” that centered around a librarian who confronted a book-burning character. Many years later, Bradbury had written another short story known as “The Pedestrian,” in which a man is stopped by the police for simply walking, and later taken to a psychiatric center for being unlike the other neighbors. Bradbury later expanded both “Bright Phoenix” and “The Pedestrian” into a story called “The Fireman.” Guy Montag was created, and the thought of a world who burned books instead of saving them was developed. Bradbury decided the story needed to be longer, so in the basement of UCLA’s Powell Library, he typed away on a typewriter until the story was completed and titled what it is today. In Fahrenheit 451, there are three main titles that appear throughout the novel. The first portion of the novel is called “The Hearth and the Salamander,” with hearth meaning the floor of a fireplace, and furthermore, the fire that heats the home. This is very symbolic in the fact that fire is the main objective in Montag’s life. In ancient times, it was

Written by Ray Bradbury and originally published in October of 1953, was the book Fahrenheit 451. A book on the shorter side which shows a bleak, dystopian future, with some claims being similar to Orwell’s book, 1984. Having fully read the book myself, I can say that this book is completely deserving of the praise it receives, being an amazing book, that truly should be read by everyone at least once. The book has many lessons to learn about it, and many warnings that are important, but in today’s age of information, these warnings are crucial to know and understand. Here’s why Fahrenheit 451, truly is a great book.