After reading the “Afterword to the Novel”, I have a better idea of where Ray Bradbury was coming from when he wrote Fahrenheit 451. Reading about his writing process as well as how his own views shifted somewhat over the years was very interesting. I feel more connected to the book and the characters now that I have insight from the author himself. In the “Afterword to the Novel”, Bradbury explains his start as a writer and how his thoughts evolved since the publication of his stimulating and thought-provoking novel, Fahrenheit 451. I found that reading the “Afterword to the Novel” shed some light on the unanswered questions I had about the book, specifically about Clarisse and Captain Beatty. Bradbury decided to write a “two-act dramatization” …show more content…
After hearing about his past love of books, Montag wonders what happened to change Captain Beatty’s outlook on reading. Captain Beatty states, “Why, life happened to me… Life. The usual. The same. The love that wasn't quite right, the dream that went sour… the deaths that came swiftly to friends not deserving, the murder of someone or another, the insanity of someone close, the slow death of a mother, the abrupt suicide of a father … And nowhere, nowhere the right book for the right time to stuff in the crumbling wall of the breaking dam to hold back the deluge… opened the pages of my fine library books and found what... no help, no solace, no peace, no harbor, no true love, no bed, no light” (Bradbury 177). Bradbury reveals a different side to Captain Beatty in this passage. You are able to see his pain, suffering, and sadness. He was forced to watch his world breakdown, as people turned away from knowledge and settled for ignorance, and when he turned to books for a solution, all he could see was his problems magnified. To an extent, I understand Captain Beatty’s perspective. Books bring attention to the world’s problems, but they are supposed to inspire you to rise up and fight for change, not silence you and make you lose …show more content…
In Fahrenheit 451 the people chose to censor the information that was available to them. They refused to look into anything that would compromise the structure of society. Censorship created a society filled with emptiness (Montag refers to them as ghosts). The people did not live fulfilling lives because they did not question the information being given to them. This is not a foreign concept in today’s world. People cover up controversial opinions that go against the majority. Books do get banned as in Fahrenheit 451. Vonnegut Jr.’s letter brings attention to this topic and reveals the truth; people need exposure to different ideas to broaden their
...vel FAHRENHEIT 451, the main character is influenced by many different sources. Bradbury writes of a fire fighter that has realized that the society he lives in isn’t right and makes the protagonist want to make a change. Guy Montag is influenced by a teenage girl that makes him realize the beauty’s of the world. Guy is also influenced by a fire that burns a woman alive. Montag steals a book from that fire and that is the beginning of when he begins his mission to find out why his society has become the way it is, and his greater mission of changing society so that everyone in it can think for themselves. Captain Beatty is one of the greatest influences in Guy’s life because of his knowledge, the information of Clarisse’s death and when guy is forced to murder the fire captain. Making Montag’s greatest influences, Clarisse, the fire on Elm Street and Captain Beatty.
Ray Bradbury points out many thinks in this novel some obvious some not so clear. He encourages readers to think deep and keep an open mind. Ray Bradbury wrote a short story that appeared in Galaxy science fiction in 1950, which later became the novel Fahrenheit 451 in 1953. This novel takes place in a dystopian society where books are illegal and firemen start fires.
In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by author Ray Bradbury we are taken into a place of the future where books have become outlawed, technology is at its prime, life is fast, and human interaction is scarce. The novel is seen through the eyes of middle aged man Guy Montag. A firefighter, Ray Bradbury portrays the common firefighter as a personal who creates the fire rather than extinguishing them in order to accomplish the complete annihilation of books. Throughout the book we get to understand that Montag is a fire hungry man that takes pleasure in the destruction of books. It’s not until interacting with three individuals that open Montag’s eyes helping him realize the errors of his ways. Leading Montag to change his opinion about books, and more over to a new direction in life with a mission to preserve and bring back the life once sought out in books. These three individual characters Clarisse McClellan, Faber, and Granger transformed Montag through the methods of questioning, revealing, and teaching.
By censoring the knowledge found in books, the government attempts to rid the society of corruption caused by “the lies” books are filled with in hopes the people will never question. In Fahrenheit 451, censorship is a paradox. Fahrenheit 451 was first written in 1951, a time when television was becoming a viral piece of mass communication. As a writer, Bradbury had to make a choice that, in his eyes, allowed readers to be captivated by a literal story but be able to read between the lines as if reading through eyes that aren’t their own (Foster 226).
Fahrenheit 451’s Relevance to Today Fahrenheit 451’s relevance to today can be very detailed and prophetic when we take a deep look into our American society. Although we are not living in a communist setting with extreme war waging on, we have gained technologies similar to the ones Bradbury spoke of in Fahrenheit 451 and a stubborn civilization that holds an absence of the little things we should enjoy. Bradbury sees the future of America as a dystopia, yet we still hold problematic issues without the title of disaster, as it is well hidden under our democracy today. Fahrenheit 451 is much like our world today, which includes television, the loss of free speech, and the loss of the education and use of books. Patai explains that Bradbury saw that people would soon be controlled by the television and saw it as the creators chance to “replace lived experience” (Patai 2).
Wood, Diane S. Essay on: "Fahrenheit 451" Novels for Students. Ed. Diane Telgen. Vol.1. Detroit: Gale1997.pg 153-55
e a world where books were banned and all words were censored. Freedom of speech has always been considered to be the most fundamental of the human rights. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury emphasizes the importance of freedom of speech by giving readers a glimpse of how the world would be if written works were prohibited. The novel is considered to be a classic because it can usually be linked to society. The novel’s relevance is connected to its themes and its overall message. The themes of loneliness, alienation, conformity, and paranoia play a crucial role in the novel by showing how censorship can transform society negatively.
In the novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury creates a world resembling our current world. This novel is about Montag, a fireman who burns books instead of preventing fires, because it is against the law to have books. Without the use of books, people are dumb, and they don’t know what they are talking about. Montag hates the idea of books, but throughout the novel he learns why they are necessary, resulting in him becoming a dynamic character. A definition of a dynamic character is a character that grows and changes throughout a story. At the end of the story, Montag changes emotionally and mentally. Three major events result in a dynamic change in Montag’s perspective.
Imagine being in a society, where one is not allowed to have their own thoughts and ideas. Crazy, right? Well, it happens in Fahrenheit 451. The novel is written by Ray Bradbury and it occurs in a community where the right of freedom of speech is confiscated by their government. Individuals in the society are banned from the right to own books. Firefighters, instead of putting out fires, set fires. Montag, a thirty-year-old firefighter never questioned the pleasure of the joy of watching books burn until he met a young woman who told him of a past when people were not afraid. In this hectic story, there is one significant character known by the name of, Clarisse. The young, seventeen-year-old woman is an imperative character due to her motivations
In class we read the book Fahrenheit 451. The main character Montag has several qualities that change his views and decisions throughout the book. In the beginning of the story Montag was very confirmative and just went along with everything the government and didn’t really question anything but by the end of the book he was completely different. He had changed his views completely. One reason that motivated Montag to change so drastically was his curiosity. This caused him to question things and that led to some of his other qualities such as his open-mindedness. Questioning everything and talking to new people for information allowed Montag to become more open-minded and become open to more ideas. Another quality that Montag has that lead to his in change in the story was his change over time was his childhood memories.
People can change due to the influence of other people. Guy Montag changes from being a book burning monster to an independent knowledge seeker due to the influences of Clarisse McClellan. Montag in Fahrenheit 451 by: Ray Bradbury shows how he acted before he changed, after meeting Clarisse, and after meeting Faber.
Fahrenheit 451 is a best-selling American novel written by Ray Bradbury. The novel is about firemen Guy Montag and his journey on discovering the importance of knowledge in an ignorant society. There are many important themes present throughout the novel. One of the most distinct and reoccurring themes is ignorance vs knowledge. Bradbury subtly reveals the advantage and disadvantages of knowledge and ignorance by the contrasting characters Montag and his wife Mildred. Montag symbolizes knowledge while Mildred on the other hand symbolizes ignorance.
“One person’s craziness is another person’s reality”- Tim Burton. In the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the protagonist Guy Montag learns this as the book progresses. In the beginning of the book, he comes across situations that he finds preposterous, like the suggestion of reading books. In the end of the book, those unhinged ideas become his reality. As the book advances, we get glimpses of how Montag’s thoughts of society change. Guy Montag goes through a special character transformation throughout the book, starting as a loyal fireman and ending up as a book-reading rebel.
While many people might think that because Guy Montag started out as a firefighter he can not be considered a ‘good guy’ or a hero, but it should be noted that his thoughts and actions are those of a person with good intentions despite starting out as a ‘bad guy’. In my first paragraph I will be stating reasons on why guy Montag should be considered a good guy or a hero. In the second paragraph I will state why his actions and thoughts do not make him a bad person. Lastly, I will state why Montag's actions and thoughts make him a good person.
Captain Beatty is perhaps one of the most critical characters in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451: he is expertly cruel and malicious, adroit at skewing the truth into a web of hypocrisies, and ultimately surrenders his own life. While Beatty attempts to continue the holocaust of books that his generation had started, in reality he is only depriving himself of a world of knowledge, imagination, and insight. Beatty proves that giving up ones dreams and aspirations may be the easy way out of conflicts and insecurities, but will quash the marvelous revolutions that can be brought upon by one with the will and determination to persevere.