Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 takes place in a world where books have been banned and are burned by firemen if they are found. The story begins by describing the pleasure the protagonist, fireman Guy Montag, experiences when he burns books. He spews the volumes with kerosene and they are engulfed in flames of black, red, and yellow as “the flapping pigeon-winged books died on the porch and lawn of the house” (Bradbury 3). The description in the opening connects to the story’s overall theme of the death and rebirth of ideas. The first significant character to die in the novel is seventeen-year-old Clarisse McClellan. Montag meets Clarisse on the way home from work one night. Clarisse is a very unusual girl. She dislikes the method of
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One of the images he often uses is a ravine, which is to show that the transition from life to death is similar to other changes on Earth. Similar imagery is used at the end of the novel as Montag goes down the river to escape the city (Fahrenheit 451 Themes; Bradbury 139). Although the river does not connect to the book as a whole, by traveling down the river Montag accepts the death that has occurred and moves on, changing himself and preparing for whatever lies ahead.
The deaths of Clarisse and the unnamed woman represent the killing of original thought by the government as they are both thoughtful people and they die because of who they are. The deaths of the unnamed woman and Beatty portray rebellion as the woman refuses to leave her books and Beatty is a major, antagonistic figure who perishes when Montag turns against him. The destruction of the city represents how things need to be destroyed in order to start anew. Through these concepts, Bradbury uses Fahrenheit 451 to explain how thought and ideas should never die and how destruction is a necessary in order to have
One of the images he often uses is a ravine, which is to show that the transition from life to death is similar to other changes on Earth. Similar imagery is used at the end of the novel as Montag goes down the river to escape the city (Fahrenheit 451 Themes; Bradbury 139). Although the river does not connect to the book as a whole, by traveling down the river Montag accepts the death that has occurred and moves on, changing himself and preparing for whatever lies ahead.
The deaths of Clarisse and the unnamed woman represent the killing of original thought by the government as they are both thoughtful people and they die because of who they are. The deaths of the unnamed woman and Beatty portray rebellion as the woman refuses to leave her books and Beatty is a major, antagonistic figure who perishes when Montag turns against him. The destruction of the city represents how things need to be destroyed in order to start anew. Through these concepts, Bradbury uses Fahrenheit 451 to explain how thought and ideas should never die and how destruction is a necessary in order to have