“Do not play with fire” is something that all kids are taught, but most children- and even adults- still get burned. There is something that causes humans to gravitate towards it. It captures people with its glow, warmth, and mystification. This is could by how Bradbury holds the attention of readers in focusing on the many views of fire. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, fire is a significant part of the story that changes throughout the plot, from taking away, giving, and offering a chance of renewal.
In the beginning, fire is used to destroy and to take away things that are prohibited by the government. “What is fire? It's a mystery… Its real beauty is that it destroys responsibility and consequences. A problem gets too burdensome, then …show more content…
“There was a… bird called a Phoenix… every few hundred years he built a pyre and burned himself up… But every time he burnt himself up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself born all over again. And it looks like we're doing the same thing, over and over…” (Bradbury 69). Granger relates the phoenix to society in that when it is destroyed by the war that has started, a new society can be formed. This is where books and literature would not be destroyed, but it can be taught and preserved. He explains this comparison to give hope in that with the knowledge of history, the same mistakes will not be made again. That people can learn from mistakes of others in hopes of bettering themselves and the society in which they live in. Once the war brought down the society that Montag and Granger live in, they would have a chance of bringing back the books to teach the next generation about what was in them. That is why all books needed to be preserved in the minds of others like them. The fire may destroy, but then offers a chance for something new to be put in that place. In many religious practices, an offering or altar is burned to cleanse and purify their soul. In Christianity, they used to do this to get rid of their sins. This cleansing makes what was before poisoned and no good, clean and fresh. It offers a new chance, a new beginning.
Fire is a continuous symbol through Fahrenheit …show more content…
"About the Symbolism of Fire in Neoltihic." Acta Terrae Septemcastrensis, vol. 14, Jan. 2015, pp. 29-48. EBSCOhost, login.libsrv.wku.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=117830214&site=ehost-live.
Lenhoff, Alan. "Making Fire Mean More Than Fire. How Authors Use Symbols." Writing, vol. 22, no. 2, Oct. 1999, p. 14. EBSCOhost, login.libsrv.wku.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=2716163&site=ehost-live.
Watt, Donald. "Burning Bright: Fahrenheit 451 As Symbolic Dystopia." Contemporary Literary Criticism, edited by Daniel G. Marowski and Roger Matuz, vol. 42, Gale, 1987. Contemporary Literary Criticism Online, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=LCO&sw=w&u=westky12&v=2.1&id=QAUMMA596266092&it=r&asid=cb10bc2816c26b87178db9286c6ad13e. Accessed 9 Mar. 2017. Originally published in Ray Bradbury, edited by Martin Harry Greenberg and Joseph D. Olander, Taplinger Publishing Company, 1980, pp.
In the beginning, fire is used to destroy and to take away things that are prohibited by the government. “What is fire? It's a mystery… Its real beauty is that it destroys responsibility and consequences. A problem gets too burdensome, then …show more content…
“There was a… bird called a Phoenix… every few hundred years he built a pyre and burned himself up… But every time he burnt himself up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself born all over again. And it looks like we're doing the same thing, over and over…” (Bradbury 69). Granger relates the phoenix to society in that when it is destroyed by the war that has started, a new society can be formed. This is where books and literature would not be destroyed, but it can be taught and preserved. He explains this comparison to give hope in that with the knowledge of history, the same mistakes will not be made again. That people can learn from mistakes of others in hopes of bettering themselves and the society in which they live in. Once the war brought down the society that Montag and Granger live in, they would have a chance of bringing back the books to teach the next generation about what was in them. That is why all books needed to be preserved in the minds of others like them. The fire may destroy, but then offers a chance for something new to be put in that place. In many religious practices, an offering or altar is burned to cleanse and purify their soul. In Christianity, they used to do this to get rid of their sins. This cleansing makes what was before poisoned and no good, clean and fresh. It offers a new chance, a new beginning.
Fire is a continuous symbol through Fahrenheit …show more content…
"About the Symbolism of Fire in Neoltihic." Acta Terrae Septemcastrensis, vol. 14, Jan. 2015, pp. 29-48. EBSCOhost, login.libsrv.wku.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=117830214&site=ehost-live.
Lenhoff, Alan. "Making Fire Mean More Than Fire. How Authors Use Symbols." Writing, vol. 22, no. 2, Oct. 1999, p. 14. EBSCOhost, login.libsrv.wku.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=2716163&site=ehost-live.
Watt, Donald. "Burning Bright: Fahrenheit 451 As Symbolic Dystopia." Contemporary Literary Criticism, edited by Daniel G. Marowski and Roger Matuz, vol. 42, Gale, 1987. Contemporary Literary Criticism Online, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=LCO&sw=w&u=westky12&v=2.1&id=QAUMMA596266092&it=r&asid=cb10bc2816c26b87178db9286c6ad13e. Accessed 9 Mar. 2017. Originally published in Ray Bradbury, edited by Martin Harry Greenberg and Joseph D. Olander, Taplinger Publishing Company, 1980, pp.