“The Pedestrian”
Fahrenheit 451
Science Fiction

A genre of literature that deals with the combination
of scientific knowledge and imagination.
 The Giver by Lois Lowry
 The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

A story about the future, based on guesses by the
author about how the author thinks the future will be
 robots, space travel, interplanetary war, invasions from
outer space


Stories are often based on or describe events about
some scientific or technological idea
Science Fiction utilizes verisimilitude – realistic
elements (possibly dates, events or times) to make
literature appear more truthful and plausible.
Ray Bradbury (1920 – 2012)


Born in Illinois, by
the age of 8 he was
an avid reader of
science fiction and
comic books (Buck
Rogers and Flash
Gordon)
Moved to Los
Angeles at the age
of 13 – he fell in love
with Hollywood.
Career



After graduating high school, he worked in a
theatre and worked on his writing. He became
a newsboy to help finance his writing career.
Bradbury became a full time writer by 1945
after selling several short stories.
Bradbury has written hundreds of short stories
and a number of novels, plays, poems as well
as screenplays, musicals, and operas.
 He helped design a ride at Disney World
 He had a moon crater named “Dandelion Crater”
after a novel.

Bradbury is often called “the world’s greatest
science fiction writer”
Science Fiction Writer

Instead of emphasizing the
wonders and future of
technology, Bradbury
seems to warn us against
becoming consumed with
it because our morals and
creativity are
compromised.
 His literature concerns the
negative effects technology
might have on people and
the history of mankind.
 Unlike traditional fiction
writers, Bradbury tries to
persuade his readers accept
his views.
“The Pedestrian”


Bradbury said that the automobile was
“beginning to destroy society by devouring
cities, poisoning the atmosphere, and killing
millions of people.”
In the 1950s, while living in southern California
he refused to learn to drive and often walked
everywhere, which was unusual. Bradbury
was often stopped and harassed by police
wanting to know what he was doing.
 Questioned – if an innocent walk was so suspicious
in the mid20th century in America – how might this
be viewed in the future….
“The Pedestrian” page 47

Read the first paragraph on page 47.
 How would you describe the setting?
 How would you describe the mood?
○ Which descriptive terms help set the mood?
○ As you read the rest of the story, think about
how Bradbury uses the mood and setting to
suggest his particular world view. Be ready to
answer this after reading.
Fahrenheit 451

Warning! This book
contains mild
profanity, sexual
situations, suicide
and drug use…. (try)
to be mature!
Fahrenheit 451

Set in an anti-utopian United States.
 An anti-utopian society is engineered to be
perfect, and may actually appear perfect, but in
reality is dangerous or harmful.

Government controls the lives of all citizens
and the country is on the verge of war.
 All books are banned
 The job of fireman is not to put out fires, but to
burn down any houses in which books are
found.
○ The title, Fahrenheit 451, comes from the
temperature at which paper burns.
Fahrenheit 451

Written in 1953 – an era following World War II when the United
States is known for productivity, affluence, and social
conformity.
 The popularity of television, air travel and the transistor made “the future”
a reality
Levittown – the famous low-cost housing developments that
eventually created suburbia – cookie cutter houses,
neighborhoods, and households.
 Women, for the most part, were wives, mothers, and
homemakers.
 Individuality was frowned upon – it was best to conform or
maintain status quo and enjoy the prosperity of post war
America

 Korean War, Cold War, and atomic age
 Senator Joseph McCarty – HUAC
 Censorship -- communist accused in press and comic books
condemned
Introduction to the novel