Science Fiction
& Ray Bradbury
The Background of Fahrenheit
451
What is Science Fiction?
• Science fiction often involves one or more of the
following elements:
• A setting in the future or on an alternative time line.
• A setting in outer space or involving aliens or unknown
civilizations.
• The discovery or application of new scientific principles,
such as time travel or psionics, or new technology, such
as nanotechnology, faster-than-light travel or robots.
• Political or social systems different from those of the
known present or past
Many critics cite the following as
the main components of
Science Fiction
1) use of satire
2) use of technology
3) desire to control environment , other lives and
to live forever
4) utopian/dystopian visions
Who is Ray Bradbury?
Born on the 22nd of August. 1920, in Waukegan. Illinois, Raymond Douglas
Bradbury spent his childhood in this small town located north of Chicago. Many of
his stories are set in towns similar to Waukegan. As a young child he was
exposed to the horror movies of the period, such as The Phantom of the Opera
and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Like Montag in Fahrenheit 451 the heroes of
these stories are social outcasts. Many of the themes found in Fahrenheit 451 are
related to Bradbury's early exposure to books by an aunt and his regular trips to
the Waukegan Public Library with his brother. His family moved to Los Angeles in
1934 and Bradbury completed his education at Los Angeles High School,
graduating in 1938. He began writing stories at the age of fifteen and in 1937 he
joined the Los Angeles Science Fiction League. In 1938 he published his first
short story, "Hollerbochen's Dilemma." During the 1940s, Bradbury wrote for pulp
magazines such as Weird Tales and Amazing Stories. His first collection of short
stories. Dark Carnival, was published in 1947. Even these early fantasy stories
reveal elements of Bradbury's concern for the value of human imagination.
When The Martian Chronicles was published in 1950, Bradbury was
hailed as a sophisticated science fiction writer. While it is a collection of
related stories set on Mars, critics often discuss the book as a novel.
Bradbury uses the framework of the settling of Mars to present issues
like censorship, technology, racism, and nuclear war. The book has
been praised for its allegorical treatment of important social issues.
Other collections of stories by Bradbury that have received critical
attention are The Illustrated Man, published in 1951, and / Sing the
Body Electric!, published in 1969. His other novels include Something
Wicked This Way Comes (1962) and Dandelion Wine (1957). Many of
his stories have been televised on shows like The Twilight Zone, Alfred
Hitchcock Presents and the Ray Bradbury Theater. The sheer volume
of Bradbury's science fiction writing guarantees his importance in that
genre. Fahrenheit 451 remains one of his best known works. The
human values he explores in that work and his many other writings also
assures his place among the other noted writers of dystopias, or works
that suggest negative futures where humanity is oppressed.
Fahrenheit 451
Of the hundreds of stories Ray Bradbury has written, none are better
known than Fahrenheit 451. Published in 1953 during the Cold War
and McCarthy Eras, the novel reflects Bradbury's concerns about
censorship and conformity during a period when free expression of
ideas could lead to social and economic ostracization. The book
expands the concept of a short story that Bradbury wrote in 1947
under the title "Bright Phoenix," which was published in a revised
form in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1963. Galaxy
published an expanded version of the premise under the title of "The
Fireman" in 1951. Fahrenheit 451 is twice as long as "The Fireman."
Book burning and the memorization of texts for preservation are the
central actions of all three versions of the story.
Fahrenheit 451
• While viewed as a science fiction work, Fahrenheit 451
has led to mainstream critical acclaim for Bradbury's
ability as a prose stylist and as a writer of ideas. The
novel is often compared to other dystopias—works which
create societies where people lead dehumanized and
often dangerous lives—such as Aldous Huxley's Brave
New World and George Orwell's 1984. Bradbury has
been praised for the richness of his imagery in
Fahrenheit 451. The thematic elements of the novel
have gained it the reputation as a book of social criticism
which focuses particularly on American consumerism
and cultural decline.
What’s with the title?
•
•
•
The title Fahrenheit 451 represents the temperature at which paper burns.
Based on a 1951 short story, "The Fireman," the novel depicts a future
America where television dominates culture and all books are banned.
Montag, the main character, is a fireman, a member of an elite, Gestapo-like
organization whose purpose is to seek out and burn the few books that
remain.
Fahrenheit 451 makes no attempt to describe the workings of a totalitarian
state. Instead, Bradbury is concerned with developing a parable of sorts
about intellectual freedom. The novel can be seen as an attack on Senator
Joseph McCarthy's early 1950s anti-Communist crusade, during which the
senator and his supporters attempted to subject government workers,
politicians, journalists, and artists to strict government scrutiny. In a broader
sense, Bradbury addresses the issues of mass media induced illiteracy and
antiintellectualism in general.
Based on a 1951 short story, "The Fireman," the novel depicts a future
America where television dominates culture and all books are banned.
Montag, the main character, is a fireman, a member of an elite, Gestapo-like
organization whose purpose is to seek out and burn the few books that
remain.