The Phoenix In Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

My appreciation of a literary work was enhanced by understanding symbol when I read Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. The science fiction novel is about Guy Montag, a man who is a firefighter. In this time, the job of a firefighter is to burn and destroy all books because reading or having books is illegal. He does his job, day by day, burning books without giving it a thought. As the novel continues, Montag realizes that books are not bad and tries to save them. He remembers a time when fire was not a destructive force; fire was also a source of warmth and comfort. In this novel, fire represents two opposing forces, depending on how it is used. The firemen use it to destroy, but Montag learns that it gives a source of a warm and comforting affect when used correctly.

In this society that is gradually becoming increasingly dependent on technology, will literature slowly disappear from the minds of the population? This is the question that Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451, attempts to answer. In this book, he describes a hypothetical world in which the population not only avoids reading, but has made owning books an unthinkable crime, with all books discovered burned, along with the houses of those who hoarded them. In this dystopian future created by Bradbury, the beauty that is literature has been replaced in society by television programs and radio stations. This reveals Bradbury’s obvious fear that modern technology would completely replace books- a legitimate concern to have. In 2015, the value of books differ between groups of people. The disadvantage of this is that books provide the readers opportunity to allow their imaginations to run wild, something that television and radio never could. Fahrenheit 451 addresses the problem and fear of overwhelming technology through its fictional world, which shows what would happen should people render literature completely useless through the use of television and radios.

The science fiction novel, Fahrenheit 451, was written by Ray Bradbury in 1953. This book is about a society based in the future, where thinking and feeling is considered antisocial, and books were banned in an attempt to keep people happy. Bradbury shows the reader a society that wars against itself, that loses its humanity, until it eventually destroys itself so that it can be reborn and reshape itself into something new and the cycle can start all over again. This book contains many symbols, the strongest of which would be the Phoenix. The first time the Phoenix is introduced, it is an emblem on the firemen’s chest. This symbol represents rebirth, and recreation.

Ray Bradbury’s use of similes and metaphors to compare books to birds is key to the connection of the phoenix. The comparison shows how knowledge can spread given “wings” or word of mouth. In the world of Fahrenheit 451, knowledge is interrupted by the inclination of technology. Bradbury’s figurative language is similar to a phoenix because of its ability to burn and come back alive. In Granger’s perspective, he hopes that society will change even though he knows that society is stubborn.

Ray Bradbury used the literary technique of symbolism. A phoenix is a symbol of rebirth or the renewal of the society. Every time a phoenix burnt itself up it sprang out of the ashes. The Phoenix’s are the book readers (Montag, Granger, Faber) and all the other travelers on the road . As the war goes, and city is turned to ashes on the salamanders (town folk) hide and are quiet and “live in the fire” but Montag and the other Phoenixes rise above the flames and reach out of a new

Montag's house was on fire. He ended up burning all to forget about his past for example his wife whom he never loved and never knew her. “Fire was the best for everything” Montag felt this because Fire was the only way out of everything, his feeling and thoughts. In this this Montag showed that he is “unhappy” with his life because of everything such as Clarisse’s death. Clarisse is a young lady who loves adventures and have new experiences she died on a car crash. She showed Montag the way of life and why it’s important to live every second of

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, is a prime example of social criticism. The story sets in the 24th century where people race jet cars; the author’s idea of the future. It shows a flawed social structure, controlled by the media and government with banning and burning of books, and suppressing society’s minds from history. Their logical thought was that it would keep society from thinking too much, which in turn would prevent bad thoughts, and to keep them “happy all the time”. The book tells a story of Guy Montag, the protagonist, and his life as a book burner. He was an “instrument” of the government, a firefighter that was used to suppress information from people by burning all books. The characters live in a world where the past is hidden from them. The government has brain washed society and they are forced to contemplate on what is true and what is not. Montag plays a round character that undergoes change throughout the story. He starts as a narrow-minded character that does what he is told, no questions asked. He has lived his life thinking he was happy. As a reader, you will begin to sense a character change in Montag as this paper will analyze certain events that occur in his life representing an individual fighting against conformity. It begins with control of the masses by censorship as society is censored from history by book burning and oppressive technology. The rise of Montag’s character development starts to socially rebel from societies norms causing him

In the novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury states the negative effects of technology. Bradbury illustrates a society where books are banned and people entertain themselves with parlor walls, which is a TV. One of the characters Mildred, who is the wife of Montag, a fireman who is paid to burn books. Mildred is always attached to technology and can’t get away from it. She is usually watching the parlor or listening to her seashell earbuds. Bradbury uses the literary element of indirect characterization on Mildred to suggest how she is selfish and thoughtless, examining the negative effects of technology when one constantly uses it and relies on it which causes obsession and over-reliance towards technology leading one to not think critically

At the end of the novel, war has begun and a bomb has destroyed Montag's city. From a distance, the intellectuals watch the flames of destruction and determine they will go back and rebuild a new society, where books and new ideas are not only permitted, but eagerly welcomed. As the novel closes, they are seen walking toward the bombed out ruins to begin their task; the hope of their recreating the city is the one bright spot in the entire novel.

Furthermore, the transformation of the world of Fahrenheit 451 is the main idea behind the symbolism of the phoenix. The symbol of the phoenix represents rebirth. The phoenix was a mythical bird that “periodically burned itself to death and resurrected from its own ashes to a restored youth” (Sisario 1). The symbolism of the phoenix myth turns fire into an instrument of renewal (Telgen 12). This renewal is apparent in Montag’s murder of Captain Beatty. Montag chose to kill Captain Beatty because Captain Beatty was trying to prevent Montag from reading books and gaining a conscience. Montag took the flame-thrower that Captain Beatty had been using to burn down Montag’s

The book Fahrenheit 451 is set in a dystopian, authoritarian world. The main character, Guy Montag, joins a movement for books when he begins to go against his society’s and government’s regulations. It is a book about censorship, individualism, and mass media.

Each individual finds his unique place in the world by going through a journey of self-discovery. One who cannot surmount the tests and trials faces the possibility of not completing the cycle, and will be labeled a tragic hero. A hero rises as a master of two worlds when he utilizes the help of mentors and disregards the hindrances placed by other characters and the unknown world. The typical hero in literature is depicted as the one who conquers all, faces what no other dares to, and fights to make good triumph over evil. Ray Bradbury presents the fictional story, Fahrenheit 451, of such an individual, whose perspective opens up another world previously hidden from him. The story exhibits turning points in Guy Montag’s journey and gives

The end also has quotes from others who had read the book, trying to figure out as to what has occurred in the book to show its impact on the readers. Also near the end, Montag remembers a bible verse that he had been pondering on since he met granger and his friends, but the moment the city/ country is destroyed he remembers the verse. It is as if they are restating the whole phoenix theory again, but instead of a rebirth, it is the creation of something after it is destroyed. All of these reason are all also related to the bible or God, maybe trying to state a religious view point such as the the phoenix being Gods way to show rebirth or the bible verse that Montag

When the secondary characters of a book are written in a unique way than in most other novels, it can bring up challenging questions regarding their lives. This is most apparent in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, where everyone seems happy in a futuristic life without books and instead uses a vast array of technology to occupy their downtime. But when we look at how they live everyday, even though they seem happy, are they really? Most citizens in the novel do the same routine day in and day out, not really questioning why everything is the way it is. It is almost as if they have been brainwashed in a way to make them seem happy, but in actuality they wouldn’t really know compared to our day’s standards. Though they might be happy living in their lifestyles, the people of Fahrenheit 451 are not actually sure of what happiness is, and therefore cannot be happy when they do not know what brings happiness.

According to Storytelling, an Encyclopaedia of Mythology and Folklore, the Phoenix is “a legendary bird… When the phoenix felt itself near death built a nest of aromatic wood and set it on fire. The flames consumed the phoenix and a new (or renewed) phoenix sprang up from the pyre”(364). The Phoenix is a symbol of resurrection and immortality. Granger, one of the intellectual Montag meets, compares their situation, after the city is destroyed, to the Phoenix bird. Although everything is burned, they now have a chance to change the society that rejected them. There is also a connection between Montag and the Phoenix. Despite his wife’s death and all that he has lost, he now has a chance to rise up from the ashes of his previous life and create the life he desires. His new life starts by remembering a verse from the book of Revelations, “on either side of the river was there a tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month; And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (Bradbury 77). The fact that, Montag managed to remember lines form a book, proves that the dystopia of Fahrenheit 451 has fallen and that the protagonist has defeated the