Symbolism In Fahrenheit 451

Superior Essays
Fahrenheit 451 takes place in a dystopian society where independent thought is discouraged. The most prevalent example of this is the main topic of the novel, burning books.
The firefighters burn books because society is not allowed to read them. If people are not allowed to read books, they do not have documentation of history or other areas of the world and will have less reason to question the way they live. This society is suppressing its citizens of knowledge as a means of maintaining peace and happiness. There are numerous themes contained in this novel as well as symbolism. Such themes include death, the value and power of knowledge, and the role of technology in society.
The death of a few important characters make a strong impact on
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Peter Sisario also analyzes Bradbury’s message regarding the impact of technology on culture. He discusses the idea that literature is banned as a means of eliminating worry and controversy, and media slowly fills the entertainment gap, becoming increasingly more
“mediocre” and “bland”. Sisario takes his analysis a step further, noting that Bradbury’s message does not stop here. Sisario claims that the “Biblical allusions point subtly toward a solution to
Normington 5 help us out of our intellectual ‘Dark Age’”. Bradbury does not allude to the idea that we have reached our intellectual demise for the purpose of lost hope, but rather that this is a natural cycle of life, a cycle of which we are currently at the bottom, but soon will move towards the top once again. Granger speaks to this message towards the end of the novel when he tells Montag, “and when the war’s over, some day, some year, the books can be written again, the people will be called in, one by one, to recite what they know, and we’ll set it up in type until another Dark
Age, when we might have to do the whole thing over again” (Bradbury, 146). Bradbury describes the process as simply a waiting game, where people gradually pass down
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It must be their choice (Sisario).
Ultimately, Ray Bradbury has written a multidimensional novel that can be analyzed from many different viewpoints. Fahrenheit 451 is a fun and entertaining read, despite the fact that you are indeed reading about a society where the general population no longer finds entertainment in books. I would call this novel a “must-read”, as it is interesting to imagine a world different from our own. Fahrenheit 451 challenges the reader to be aware in their daily life, and conscious of their actions and decisions. It asks them to take a step back in order to understand the bigger

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