Fahrenheit 451
The purpose!

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is a
type of DYSTOPIC novel. That means
it is about a future that is bleak, dark
and dreary.

The novel focuses on two central
themes:
1.
CENSORSHIP
2.
IGNORANCE OF KNOWLEDGE
The beeps in your life…

CENSORSHIP:
 is the suppression of speech or deletion of
communicative material which may be
considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive,
or inconvenient to the government or media
organizations as determined by a censor.
Why would something be censored?
 What are the dangers of censorship?

Historical Context
World War II had ended only a few
years before
 Era of McCarthyism
 Threat of nuclear warfare loomed
 Many Sci-Fi books and movies
reflected this fear

Historical Context Explained

Fear of robots and other technology was prevalent in the
1950s (“mad scientist” movies compounded such fear by
portraying machines that turned on their creator).

Mentality of hard work and following orders to get ahead was
prevalent at this time.

Atmosphere of fear and repression left over from WWII,
development (and use) of atomic bomb, communist scare, the
Cold War, and McCarthy made it possible for government or
any other powerful group to manipulate public opinion.
Book Burning
Adolf Hitler in Germany and Josef Stalin in
the Soviet Union had used book-burning
demonstrations to rally supporters and
intimidate those with opposing views.
 Authors had been suppressed through
state-directed writers' organizations.
 Persistent writers with challenging views
were thrown into jails or exiled.

Nazi Book Burning
SATIRE
Satire: The use of
irony/sarcasm/ridicule to criticize faults
 Some societal faults Bradbury satirizes
in F451:

–
Technology
– Mass media
– Organized sports
– High-speed automobiles
Dystopia
Dystopia: an imaginary place or state
in which the condition of life is
extremely bad, as from oppression
and/or terror.
 Hunger Games
 1984
 Divergent
 Animal Farm

Predict or Prevent?


Bradbury claimed he
was trying to “prevent
the future”.
He did foresee many
future developments:
–
Walkmans, earbuds, bigscreen and interactive
t.v., rise in violence,
growing illiteracy,
condensation of info
into “sound bites”
Settings

Historical Setting

Physical Setting

Social Setting
Themes To Watch For
Individual selfexpression is
important.
 Violence is selfdestructive.
 Mindless pleasure
seeking and
materialism make for
an empty life.
 Humanity should
preserve and value the
culture of the past.

More Themes




Humanity has the
ability to be reborn or
revived.
In the wrong hands,
modern technology can
be dangerous.
Commercialism can
erode spiritual values.
People lose their
humanity when not
able to communicate
and interact with each
other on a personal
level.
Symbols To Investigate
Fire
Burning
Water
The salamander
The Mechanical
Hound
 The names
 Parlor Walls
 Titles of each
section





Names

Guy Montag
–
–

Clarisse
–
–

Guy Fawkes?
Name of a paper
company
Form of Clara, from the
Latin for “bright”
Clarisse is often
associated with a
brightness different
from that of a fire
Faber
–
Name of a pencil
company
Fire Imagery

Many cultures have
gods associated with
fire
–

Many myths try to
explain the origin
–

Egyptian goddess Sekhet
Greek myth about
Prometheus stealing fire
from the gods
Scientists used to
believe all matter was
made of the 4
elements: fire, earth,
water, & air
Symbols

The numbers 451: the temperature at
which paper will burn

The mechanical hound: symbolizes
destructive technology that is not easily
destroyed. Demonstrates why people
are better than machines to Bradbury
Symbols
The salamander: represents the
destructive forces of fire. Mythological
lizard born from the fire. Name of the
fire trucks that carry kerosene not
water.
 The phoenix: in this myth, fire is a
source of renewal/rebirth. Contrast to
the salamander.

Your turn

What might the parlor walls represent?
Connections
Ben Franklin helped
organize America’s
first fire company
and founded its
first circulating
library.
 Franklin was also a
writer and printer
who believed in
free speech and
press.

Connections
Authors mentioned by
Montag:

Thomas Jefferson
 Henry David
Thoreau: author of
famous essay on
civil disobedience,
and Walden.
Connections
Texts:
 The Bible:
Montag attempts to read a portion of Jesus’s
Sermon on the Mount that criticizes materialism.
– Another character reads to Montag from the Book
of Job, about a man whose faith is tested by a
series of great calamities.
– The Bible has often been a target of censorship.
– When the New Testament was 1st transalted into
English by William Tyndale, copies were seized
and burned. (He was also burned at the stake as
a heretic.)
–
Connections
Beatty’s Quotes and Paraphrases:
 Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice
“Truth will come to light; murder cannot be
hid long.”
– “He doth nothing but talk of his horse.”
– “The Devil can cite Scripture for his
purpose.”
–
Connections

“Old Montag
wanted to fly
near the Sun
and ... he's
burned his
wings”
–
Daedalus and
Icarus
Connection to Plato’s
“Allegory of the Cave”
Plato’s cave

Prisoners are there since
childhood; it is all they
know
 They can only see
shadows, and the images
are “real” to them
 The people are chained,
they cannot leave or
move
 Fire is a source of light
behind them, it casts the
shadows
Montag’s cave




His grandfather and
father were firemen, it is
expected of him.
His world of burning is all
he knows
What are his chains?
Mildred, Beatty, and the
media try to hold him
back
Fire is at 1st a source of
pleasure and destruction.
It casts the shadows of
Montag’s “happiness.”
If a prisoner is released…
Prisoner is free
He will feel pain.
His eyes will hurt in the light.
He will feel confused.
He will prefer the shadows,
and previous life.
He will eventually adjust.
He will become acustomed
to the fire and light.
He will have an instructor to guide him.
Other prisoners will think he is crazy, and want to harm him.
When Montag is released…
Montag is free
He sweats, has headaches.
He vomits as he thinks of
the woman.
He is very confused at 1st.
"Of course I am happy."
He soon prefers thinking
for himself.
He is curious, seeks
conversations, and interactions.
He has Clarisse and Faber to guide him.
Mildred and Beatty think he is crazy, and want to harm him.
Other important similarities

Plato refers to the
 Montag spends most
intense confusion of
of the novel in a state
the released prisoner
of confusion
 Plato mentions the
 Bradbury mentions
use of reflection when
mirrors often as a
the prisoner is outside
symbol. Clarisse
the cave. He will see
reflects Montag’s
himself and objects
reality, then Granger
first through
says they will build a
reflection, then he can
mirror factory to
see the true realities.
rebuild society.
What is real?
Plato says reality is that we are
prisoners, and we must seek
enlightenment through searching.
 We should not believe our eyes or the
physical world, because they can be
wrong.
 What does Bradbury say? What is his
message or theme about reality?

Literary Devices Review!
“I Remember the newspaper dying like
huge moths.”
 Montag discovers that the house he is
about to burn is his own.
 “Denham’s Dandy Dental Detergent,
Denham’s Dentifrice…”
 Job of firemen in Montag’s society


How relevant is Farenheit 451’s society
to current society?