Summary Of Ray Bradbury's 'Fahrenheit 451'

Improved Essays
Jacob Dolleton
Etheridge
AP Literature and Composition Period 2
1 December 2014

Title: Fahrenheit 451
Year of Publication: 1953
Author: Ray Bradbury
Setting and Time Period: 24th century United States
Primary Characters:
• Guy Montag- The protagonist of the novel, his profession as a “fireman” to burn books. He becomes shaped by events in his life leading down a path to understand his own life.
• Mildred Montag- The wife of Guy Montag, life is consumed by technology, Inside her façade she is unhappy and technology is her escape.
• Captain Beatty- The main antagonist of the novel, the captain of the fire department, hates books although he is a reader himself.
• Professor Faber- Retired English professor, coward and heroic but a manipulator
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The author follows Guy Montag’s quest for self-discovery and goes inside his thoughts. Since the author limits to going inside the mind of only Guy Montag it is classified as limited omniscient. The third person point of view allows viewing the world of Fahrenheit 451 in a holistic perspective of the characters.
Key Turning Points:
• One of the key points for the protagonist, Montag is when he meets Clarisse McClellan. She becomes the spark to Montag’s curiosity to find his inner-self of happiness. This sets the major conflicts in for Montag and themes of Fahrenheit 451.
• A key turning point also occurs during the burning of the old woman’s house. The old woman was willing to die with her books to show the passion for her books. This is when Montag first hides the books and becomes curious to why this lady gave up her life for the books.
• Another turning point begins when Montag decides to hide the books in his backyard although he was told to destroy them. This starts Montag’s rebellion against the censorship of the government.
• The final key turning point is in the end when Montag meets Granger the leader of the of highly intellectual hobos. The city is bombed and marks the beginning of a new life for
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Censorship is evident throughout the novel because it creates the main conflict of the novel. The censorship of books affects the world around them intellectually and socially. It also shows how the government maintains control over the country through their censorship. Montag breaks through this theme and becomes a free and independent thinker as a result from reading books. Another theme is this novel is Knowledge vs. Ignorance. The fireman ignores the contents of books and their meaning in order to maintain equality in the world. Mildred is an ignorant individual as she only cares for her virtual family than the world around her. Most of the citizens believe books are dangerous weapons because they have become ignorant to the world around them as

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