Fahrenheit 451
by Ray Bradbury
The temperature in which paper
burns
• A much shorter version was published in 1950
under the name “The Firemen”
• The current edition was first published in
Playboy magazine in March, April, and May
issues in 1954
genre
Science Fiction
A type of writing that deals primarily with the
impact of actual or imagined science upon
society or individuals.
If science concerns itself with discovery, then
science fiction concerns itself with the
consequences of discovery
Science fictions writers have foretold
the future
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Seashells
Mechanical hounds
Moving escalators
Air propelled train
Parlor walls
Electric eyed snake
Summary of novel
• Guy Montag is a fireman who burns books in a
futuristic American city. In Montag’s world,
firemen start fires rather than putting them
out.
• The people in this society do not read books,
enjoy nature, spend time by themselves, think
independently, or have meaningful
conversations.
• Instead, they drive very fast, watch excessive
amounts of television on wall-size sets, and
listen to the radio on “Seashell Radio” sets
attached to their ears.
• Their lives are filled with pleasure and
entertainment. Anything “disturbing” or
emotionally impacting is ignored.
• Montag encounters a gentle seventeen-yearold girl named Clarisse McClellan, who opens
his eyes to the emptiness of his life with her
innocently penetrating questions and her
unusual love of people and nature. Over the
next few days, Montag experiences a series of
disturbing events.
Why schools want students to read
Fahrenheit 451?
• In the real world, firefighters are heroes.
Firefighters risk their lives to save people,
putting out fires rather than starting them.
Imagine living in a world similar to the one
depicted in Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. Book
burning is real. Censorship is still alive and
thriving today. It exists in many forms. Believe
it or not, it affects YOU.
Censorship
• If advocates for censorship have their way, we
eventually could have a world without books,
music, film, and art.
• Every written or recorded piece of work
deemed offensive to one single human being
would be thrown into a fireplace and burned.
If you think about it, doesn't that apply to
everything?
This means no more anger infused pop, rock,
and rap music, no more thought provoking
novels to read in English class, and no more real
time footage on the news.
• Everything that mirrors reality or relates to the
inner workings of your adolescent minds and
experiences will probably be destroyed.
• As you read the novel, here are some key
topics, or themes, that we will be exploring.
• When you finish the novel, you’ll be expected
to show your understanding and knowledge of
these topics based on our class discussions
and your reading of the novel.
Book Banning and Censorship
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Explore censorship in society, historically
and currently. What kind of music, literature,
and thought is censored in modern society?
Entertainment
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“Entertaining Ourselves to Death”: the role
of entertainment in society
• Can entertainment be considered for some
people a drug or addiction?
Political Correctness
•
One of the key reasons books are banned
in F451 is that books offend minorities, which
means any group with a common link of some
kind. Is there a point when political correctness
can go too far?
Happiness
•
Are we really happy when we are kept
occupied or amused?
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Think about the stress, pressure and speed
in life and how it affects us. For one week, set
aside 30 minutes each day of quiet time: no
television, music, reading, talking -- no activity.
Can you do it? Why don’t more people do this?
Government Control
•
How much control should a government
have over its people?
• In what ways can a government control how
we think and act?
• In what ways is government control good?
Bad?
Individuality or nonconformity
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In F 451, Montag fights for his rights as an
individual; he refuses to conform to society:
instead, he must sacrifice his happiness, life, and
peace of mind to achieve independence from
the government.