Fahrenheit 451
Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury
• Born 1920
• Wrote for Weird Tales, Alfred
Hitchcock Presents, and The
Twilight Zone
• Consultant for 1963 World’s Fair
• Helped design Spaceship Earth
at EPCOT Center in Orlando
• Sci-fi focus
Fahrenheit 451
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Short story “The Fireman” 1951
Expanded in 1953
Sci-fi, social commentary
Warning of censorship, government
control
• Limits on thought, creativity, and
freedom
• Ironic commentary on limits to
authors (novel was edited for coarse
language)
• Society is a “dystopia” – futuristic,
technology- based
• Government uses propaganda to
“persuade” or control people
• Individual rights are sacrificed for
safety and order of all (Sound
familiar?)
• Nazi Germany’s oppression of
intellectualism
• McCarthyism – U.S. 1950’s
Setting
• Unnamed American city
• Spring, non-specific year
(sometime after 1991)
• Extensive war in background
• Books are banned for the
harmony of all people
• politically correct
• Lives revolve around technology
Characters
• Guy Montag – fireman, 30
• Firemen burn books and the buildings
that house them
• Content with life at start
• Becomes disillusioned after meeting
Clarisse
• Questions life, purpose, etc, then
seeks answers
• Mildred (Millie) – Montag’s wife of
10 years
• No children, no job
• Representative of society: shallow,
self-centered
• Caught up in brainless technology;
obsessed with TV
• Seeks escape from reality
• Not really happy either
• Clarisse – neighbor to Montag, 16
• Antagonist to society
• Challenges him to seek happiness
and self-awareness
• Symbolizes hope for the future
• Demonstrates what happens when
one refuses to conform to society’s
rules and expectations
• Captain Beatty – his fire captain
• Mentor, then foe
• Professor Faber
• Former English professor, lover of
knowledge
• Powerless to stop censorship
• new mentor to Montag
• Helps Montag rebel against the
government and society
• Shows what society used to be like
• Mechanical Hound – tool used
by firemen
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Robot resembling dog
Programmed by firemen
Hunts prey through “scent” (genes)
Needle-like nose injects paralytic
agent
• Immobilizes or kills
• Montag is, and always has been,
afraid of it
Propaganda
• Techniques designed to influence
opinions, emotions, attitudes, and
behavior of a group to benefit a
sponsor
• Attempt to persuade us to believe/do
something we typically wouldn’t
• Most commonly seen in TV
commercials and political ads
Bandwagon
• “everyone else is doing it!”
• Peer pressure!
Everyone in Hollidaysburg is
behind Jim Duffie for Mayor.
Shouldn't you be part of this
winning team?
Testimonial
• A celebrity endorses a product,
candidate, or philosophy
• Even just a photo of a celeb
wearing a product or at an
event
Michael Jordan endorses “Hanes”
products; we should want to
buy them because he wears
them
Plain Folks
• Candidate or cause is related to
the average person to make
him/her/it appear “all-American”
Senator Obama bowling with the
locals in Altoona during his
campaign!
Transfer
• Like testimonial but:
• Uses symbols, quotes, or photos of
celebs
• Not necessarily endorsed
• Indirect use of something we
respect (religious, patriotic,
famous, etc)
On my poster to advertise my run for
student government, I put a
picture of President Obama.
Fear
• Used by parents and teachers
as much as anyone else
• Politicians’ favorite
• Present a dreaded
circumstance, then behavior to
avoid it
A political ad shows photos from
soup lines during the Great
Depression, then advises the
public to vote for John McCain.
Logical Fallacies
• Use of logic (albeit misguided)
where the premise is accurate but
the conclusion isn’t
• Candidate #1 supports universal
healthcare.
• Communists supported universal
healthcare.
• Therefore, candidate #1 must be a
communist
Glittering Generalities
• Related to transfer, except:
• A virtue used to stimulate positive
feelings
• Use of key words “patriot,” “freedom,”
“American,” “rights,” etc
• A political ad for a certain candidate
states “I’ll defend your right to own
guns!”
Name-Calling
• Opposite of Glittering
Generalities
• Ties a product, cause or person to
a negative image
Calling a candidate who supports
stem cell research a “baby-killer.”