Fire In Fahrenheit 451 Analysis

Ray Bradbury brilliantly employs the element of symbolism to chronicle fire’s diverse role in his novel Fahrenheit 451. In the novel’s futuristic setting, the term “fireman” refers to those whose occupation is to destroy every printed document possible using kerosene and flame. The government has given jurisdiction to these firemen to destroy not only the documents, but also the homes of those found to possess printed works. The novel’s protagonist, Guy Montag, is one of the firemen entrusted to eradicate these documents. However, as Montag’s dynamic character develops he experiences revelations leading to new perceptions of fire. In Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury encompasses the plot with symbolic implications of fires’ contribution to destruction, serenity, and resurrection. The destructive symbolism of fire is illustrated as Bradbury introduces the “new” duties of firemen to the audience. Montag explains, “It’s fine work, Monday burn Millay, Wednesday Whitman, Friday Faulkner, burn ‘em to …show more content…
As Granger interprets to Montag how the mythological “Phoenix” destroys itself with fire, he also reiterates that it rises from the ashes in the line, “But every time he burnt himself up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself born all over again” (Bradbury 156). This account is intended to provide Montag with hope that a new, and better society will emerge from the ruin of imminent war. Regarding this reference Lenhoff explicates, “Granger, one of the book people Montag joins at the end of Fahrenheit 451, probably is speaking for the author when he decodes the symbol of fire one more time, by retelling the legend of the mythological bird, the Phoenix” (Lenhoff 1). These lines establish restoration as an indispensable symbolic referral to fire in the novel by illustrating society, and literature alike, will be reborn out of its