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, bigscreen 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
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.
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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
Fire
Burning
Water
The salamander
The Mechanical
Hound
 Seashells
 Parlor Walls
 Titles of each
section
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Names
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Guy Montag
–
–
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Clarisse
–
–
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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
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.

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: Shakespeare play
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
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
Texts:
 “Dover Beach” by
Matthew Arnold
-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
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 & Background
Info: The Sieve and the Sand
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 & Background
Info: Burning Bright
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
“You think you can walk on water”
 There is no terror, Cassius, in your
threats, for I am arm’d so strong in
honesty that they pass by me as an
idle wind, which I respect not”

–
Julius Caesar, IV, iii
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