Historically, the symbol of the salamander has been developed as representative of an excitable passion. Since early depictions of a salamander in folklore, they consistently feature an ability to extinguish fire with their harsh and scaly bodies. Featured on firemen uniforms seen in Fahrenheit 451, at face value, demonstrates a fireman’s determination when it comes to the burning of books. However, a dual meaning is observed of the extinguishing of the fire promoted by Montag and Clarrise, as they rebel against the destruction of literature and the mechanization of the human consciousness. In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, a salamander's resilience to fire demonstrates the resistance of Montag to the burning of the books, representing the
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Its presence on the regular utilities of firemen, such as their “badge with [an] orange salamander burning across it” and the “salamander etched on [the] silver disc” of a lighter (10-17, Bradbury), serves as a constant reminder of their sole duty: to burn books. Imagery associated with the work of a fireman reassures their role in the society as firemen, while at the same ironically representing destruction in a symbol embodying fire resistance. Although the salamander opposes itself as the symbol of the firemen, subconsciously a salamander persuades a common fireman into the false narrative of true passion regarding the task of burning books. The myth of a salamander is typically associated with the ability to endure, or possibly extinguish, flame. One of the earliest records of a salamander’s symbolic importance stems from the fire salamander, Salamandra Salamandra, which survives–or even thrives– as the logs are used for the sake of fire-starting. Notably, Pliny the Elder, a Roman philosopher in the first century CE, described the salamander as a creature with skin “so chilly that it puts out fire by its contact” (116, Book …show more content…
One who persists through the fiery passions and oppositions of the world resonates heavily with the idea of a salamander. The fire resistant mythology of a salamander within ancient history, at face value, makes a salamander a perfect contender for the firemen in Fahrenheit 451. At further examination, however, a salamander persists through immense pressure and stress, and reveals itself as resilient in the end, similarly to the development of Montag rebellion against corrupt and overbearing government control throughout the novel; as Faber states: “the salamander devours its tail” (82, Bradbury). A salamander’s true strength is its ability to maintain through intense pressures, Beatty reveals, the “real beauty” of burning books “is that it destroys responsibility and consequences” (109, Bradbury). In other words, Montag’s passion to accept his humanity in a society that frowns upon knowledge reveals a withstanding for a society that appears impenetrable and suffocating in its own ineptness. Montag refuses to buy into a robotic and absent-minded life, as he discovers the potential of true happiness, whether through Clarisse’s strange antics or his own
Its presence on the regular utilities of firemen, such as their “badge with [an] orange salamander burning across it” and the “salamander etched on [the] silver disc” of a lighter (10-17, Bradbury), serves as a constant reminder of their sole duty: to burn books. Imagery associated with the work of a fireman reassures their role in the society as firemen, while at the same ironically representing destruction in a symbol embodying fire resistance. Although the salamander opposes itself as the symbol of the firemen, subconsciously a salamander persuades a common fireman into the false narrative of true passion regarding the task of burning books. The myth of a salamander is typically associated with the ability to endure, or possibly extinguish, flame. One of the earliest records of a salamander’s symbolic importance stems from the fire salamander, Salamandra Salamandra, which survives–or even thrives– as the logs are used for the sake of fire-starting. Notably, Pliny the Elder, a Roman philosopher in the first century CE, described the salamander as a creature with skin “so chilly that it puts out fire by its contact” (116, Book …show more content…
One who persists through the fiery passions and oppositions of the world resonates heavily with the idea of a salamander. The fire resistant mythology of a salamander within ancient history, at face value, makes a salamander a perfect contender for the firemen in Fahrenheit 451. At further examination, however, a salamander persists through immense pressure and stress, and reveals itself as resilient in the end, similarly to the development of Montag rebellion against corrupt and overbearing government control throughout the novel; as Faber states: “the salamander devours its tail” (82, Bradbury). A salamander’s true strength is its ability to maintain through intense pressures, Beatty reveals, the “real beauty” of burning books “is that it destroys responsibility and consequences” (109, Bradbury). In other words, Montag’s passion to accept his humanity in a society that frowns upon knowledge reveals a withstanding for a society that appears impenetrable and suffocating in its own ineptness. Montag refuses to buy into a robotic and absent-minded life, as he discovers the potential of true happiness, whether through Clarisse’s strange antics or his own