Fahrenheit 451
An Introduction
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
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Predict or Prevent?
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Bradbury claimed he
was trying to “prevent
the future”.
He did foresee many
future developments:
•
Walkmans, earbuds,
big-screen and
interactive t.v., rise in
violence, growing
illiteracy, condensation
of info into “sound
bites”
Settings
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Historical Setting
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Physical Setting
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Social Setting
Themes To Watch For
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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
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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
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Fire
Burning
Water
The salamander
The Mechanical
Hound
Seashells
Parlor Walls
Titles of each
section
Names

Guy Montag
Guy Fawkes, who
attempts to change
current state of affairs
through nonconformist
actions.
• Name of a paper
company
•

Clarisse
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
Connections & Background
Info: The Hearth and the Salamander
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.
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Connections & Background
Info: The Hearth and the Salamander
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Dante: Dante Alighieri was an Italian poet
who wrote The Divine Comedy
Jonthan Swift: Author of Gulliver’s Travels
Marcus Aurelius: Roman philosopher and
emperor
Hamlet: Written by William Shakespeare
Little Black Sambo: children’s book with
racial stereotypes that are offensive
Uncle Tom’s Cabin: novel that condemns
slavery
Connections & Background
Info: The Sieve and the Sand
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Authors mentioned
by Montag:
Thomas Jefferson
 Henry David
Thoreau: author of
famous essay on
civil disobedience,
and Walden.
Connections & Background
Info: The Sieve and the Sand
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Texts:
 “Dover Beach” by
Matthew Arnold
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-Reflects a
personal sense of
isolation and doubt.
Montag does not
read aloud the first
two stanzas.
Connections & Background
Info: The Sieve and the Sand
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Texts:
The Bible:
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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 translated into
English by William Tyndale, copies were seized
and burned. (He was also burned at the stake as
a heretic.)
Connections & Background
Info: The Sieve and the Sand
Beatty’s Quotes and Paraphrases:
 Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice
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“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.”
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Connections & Background
Info: Burning Bright
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William Blake’s “The Tyger”
Tyger! Tyger! Burning bright
 In the forests of the night,
 What immortal hand or eye
 Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
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Connections & Background
Info: Burning Bright
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“Old Montag
wanted to fly
near the Sun
and ... he's
burned his
wings”
–
Daedalus and
Icarus
Connections & Background
Info: Burning Bright
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Thomas Hardy: British novelist & poet
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Charles Darwin: Survival of the fittest
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Aristophanes: Ancient Greek playwright
Connections & Background
Info: Burning Bright
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“Mr. Lincoln”: yes, it’s Abraham Lincoln
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Machiavelli: The Prince
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The Phoenix