Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451, has been immortalized as a classic example of American literature studied in public and private school curriculums. It is often studied not only for its lyrical prose, but for its social commentary on censorship and the dangerous effects that follow suit. I had no trouble reading this novel originally, and felt that I was very able to connect not only with the plot and the main character, but the writer as well. The themes and motifs discussed in my class, as it is in most literary discussions regarding Fahrenheit 451, were certainly discussed with evidence and were consistent throughout the novel, but it never felt like enough to me; there was much more to take note of. I needed to know why Bradbury came
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Bradbury seems to have constructed an consumerist and informationally reduced society, filled with censorship, presidential elections based on physical appearance, televisions that span across all four walls of a room, and robotic hounds created to chase and subdue criminals. This essay will be examining how Ray Bradbury expressed fears of an imminent consumerist and informationally reduced society in his novel, Fahrenheit 451. Throughout the novel, Bradbury’s astonishingly accurate predictions as to what this “twenty-fourth century” society would consist of shines a bright light on his thoughts of society at the time: the 1950’s. These predictions of consumerism and an informationally reduced society must have had roots or instances of growth that had caught Bradbury’s attention during his early life. Since Bradbury once claimed that Fahrenheit 451 is his only novel “based on reality” ("About Ray Bradbury" 1), it makes the reader think about where Bradbury would place himself within this novel, and exactly how it is that he was able to base his seemingly farfetched fictional society off of what he saw and experienced at the time he was writing …show more content…
One of those most significant parts of Bradbury’s childhood is that he spent the vast majority of his leisure time in public libraries, absorbing as much science fiction by artists such as H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, and Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of Tarzan of the Apes. In his twenties, he stopped reading genre books and embraced a wide field of non-fiction essays. He attributes the lyrical power of his prose to the amounts of poetry he reads every day, saying that “[his] favorite writers have been those who’ve said things well.” (Weller, "Ray Bradbury, The Art of Fiction No. 203) Bradbury was often labeled as a science fiction writer, but he resisted that categorization. “I don’t write science fiction. I’ve only done one science fiction book and that’s Fahrenheit 451, based on reality… Science fiction is a depiction of the real. Fantasy is a depiction of the unreal.” ("About Ray Bradbury") Even though several of his other published novels; A Graveyard for Lunatics, Death Is a Lonely Business, and Let’s All Kill Constance have very feasible settings and plots that could take place in the natural world, Bradbury states that only one of his books, Fahrenheit 451, is based on
Bradbury seems to have constructed an consumerist and informationally reduced society, filled with censorship, presidential elections based on physical appearance, televisions that span across all four walls of a room, and robotic hounds created to chase and subdue criminals. This essay will be examining how Ray Bradbury expressed fears of an imminent consumerist and informationally reduced society in his novel, Fahrenheit 451. Throughout the novel, Bradbury’s astonishingly accurate predictions as to what this “twenty-fourth century” society would consist of shines a bright light on his thoughts of society at the time: the 1950’s. These predictions of consumerism and an informationally reduced society must have had roots or instances of growth that had caught Bradbury’s attention during his early life. Since Bradbury once claimed that Fahrenheit 451 is his only novel “based on reality” ("About Ray Bradbury" 1), it makes the reader think about where Bradbury would place himself within this novel, and exactly how it is that he was able to base his seemingly farfetched fictional society off of what he saw and experienced at the time he was writing …show more content…
One of those most significant parts of Bradbury’s childhood is that he spent the vast majority of his leisure time in public libraries, absorbing as much science fiction by artists such as H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, and Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of Tarzan of the Apes. In his twenties, he stopped reading genre books and embraced a wide field of non-fiction essays. He attributes the lyrical power of his prose to the amounts of poetry he reads every day, saying that “[his] favorite writers have been those who’ve said things well.” (Weller, "Ray Bradbury, The Art of Fiction No. 203) Bradbury was often labeled as a science fiction writer, but he resisted that categorization. “I don’t write science fiction. I’ve only done one science fiction book and that’s Fahrenheit 451, based on reality… Science fiction is a depiction of the real. Fantasy is a depiction of the unreal.” ("About Ray Bradbury") Even though several of his other published novels; A Graveyard for Lunatics, Death Is a Lonely Business, and Let’s All Kill Constance have very feasible settings and plots that could take place in the natural world, Bradbury states that only one of his books, Fahrenheit 451, is based on