Imagine living in a world where you are not in control of your own thoughts. Imagine living in a world in which all the great thinkers of the past have been blurred from existence. A world without books and not being part of the literary adventures is a world without meaning and truth. Ray Bradbury’s dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 takes place in a futuristic world where books are illegal to read and keep, and if a citizen is caught with one, it’s burned. In this society, all works of literature have become a symbol of unnecessary controversy and are outlawed. Individuality and thought is outlawed. The human mind is outlawed. All that is left is a senseless society, unaware of their path to self-destruction, knowing only what the government
…show more content…
In Part 1, “The Hearth and the Salamander”, Bradbury describes the uniform that the firefighter’s wear. The reader is introduced to Guy Montag, the protagonist of the story. Montag is a firefighter that comes from a long line of firefighters before him, including his father and grandfather. The uniform he wears every day consists of the number 451 on the helmet, as well as a salamander patch on his arm. The number 451 is not only on the firefighter’s helmets, but it’s part of the title of the novel as well, and Bradbury comes right out and tells the reader that it’s symbolic, stating that Montag wears “his symbolic helmet numbered 451 on his stolid head…” (1). In the Introduction of Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury explains that he chose the number because, “book-paper catches fire at 451 degrees …show more content…
When first hearing the words fire, one thinks destruction or flames. Some words to describe fire are venomous, blazing, burning, and ruin, all words that Bradbury uses with a negative connotation. The reader learns that Montag enjoys watching books burn, “It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed” (1). However, the symbolism of fire changes as the book progresses. When Montag meets Clarisse McClellan, his young neighbor, he stares into her eyes and he is struck by a memory of his mother from when he was a child. The electricity had gone out and his mother lit a candle. The two of them spent hours rediscovering a life without TV walls or Seashell earphones. When the fire is discussed in this passage, words such as illumination, comfortably, and rediscovery are used in a way that points to peace, not damage. Fire changes yet again when Montag is walking down a set of railroad tracks and sees a fire burning. “That small motion, the white and red color, a strange fire because it meant a different thing to him. It was not burning, it was warming” (Bradbury 171). At this point in the novel, Montag is on the run and is looking for a group of men that are said to live along the railroad tracks, some of the men have Harvard degrees and are wanted for the same reason Montag was at the beginning of all the madness, possessing and reading books. The symbolism
In Part 1, “The Hearth and the Salamander”, Bradbury describes the uniform that the firefighter’s wear. The reader is introduced to Guy Montag, the protagonist of the story. Montag is a firefighter that comes from a long line of firefighters before him, including his father and grandfather. The uniform he wears every day consists of the number 451 on the helmet, as well as a salamander patch on his arm. The number 451 is not only on the firefighter’s helmets, but it’s part of the title of the novel as well, and Bradbury comes right out and tells the reader that it’s symbolic, stating that Montag wears “his symbolic helmet numbered 451 on his stolid head…” (1). In the Introduction of Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury explains that he chose the number because, “book-paper catches fire at 451 degrees …show more content…
When first hearing the words fire, one thinks destruction or flames. Some words to describe fire are venomous, blazing, burning, and ruin, all words that Bradbury uses with a negative connotation. The reader learns that Montag enjoys watching books burn, “It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed” (1). However, the symbolism of fire changes as the book progresses. When Montag meets Clarisse McClellan, his young neighbor, he stares into her eyes and he is struck by a memory of his mother from when he was a child. The electricity had gone out and his mother lit a candle. The two of them spent hours rediscovering a life without TV walls or Seashell earphones. When the fire is discussed in this passage, words such as illumination, comfortably, and rediscovery are used in a way that points to peace, not damage. Fire changes yet again when Montag is walking down a set of railroad tracks and sees a fire burning. “That small motion, the white and red color, a strange fire because it meant a different thing to him. It was not burning, it was warming” (Bradbury 171). At this point in the novel, Montag is on the run and is looking for a group of men that are said to live along the railroad tracks, some of the men have Harvard degrees and are wanted for the same reason Montag was at the beginning of all the madness, possessing and reading books. The symbolism