Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

1610 Words4 Pages

Fahrenheit 451 takes place in a futuristic dystopian society where a fireman, Guy Montag, questions what he has been told his entire life. The novel begins when Guy, more commonly referred to as Montag, leaves the fire station late at night. Montag is a fireman; however, in this novel, firemen are portrayed as men who start fires rather than put them out. While walking home, Montag runs into a young girl named Clarisse who is very out of the ordinary. They begin to have a conversation about Montag’s job, which consists of burning the books that are forbidden in the society they live in. Montag and Clarisse begin to have daily conversations but one day Clarisse simply disappears, and this causes Montag to question his beliefs. Montag somehow smuggles a great deal of books into his home and hides them since he and all other people are banned from having books in their possession. Eventually, Mildred Montag, Guy’s wife, locates her husband’s stash of books in their home and becomes frantic. Montag promises that he will not get caught. However his boss at the fire station, Beatty, discovers his books also. Beatty tells Montag to get rid of the books in a certain amount of time but when Montag does not follow order, Beatty attempts to make Montag burn down his own home. Montag then turns on Beatty and burns him instead. Montag attempts and succeeds to escape from his town. He then meets with a group of renegades known as the Book People. Montag joins their group and one day while they are traveling, they see Montag’s old hometown get destroyed by jets dropping bombs. The Book People go to the city and help the survivors rebuild their society, which was now in ruins. Theme: The theme of Fahrenheit 451 is that when you rebe... ... middle of paper ... ...ality of gathering. Genre: The main genre of Fahrenheit 451 is science fiction. Science fiction is “a form of fantasy in which scientific facts, assumptions, or hypotheses from the basis, by logical extrapolation, of adventures in the future, on other planets, in other dimensions in time or space, or under new variants of scientific law” (Harmon 468). Fahrenheit 451 is a science fiction novel because Bradbury is basing the novel on the fact that in some sort of dystopian futuristic society books will be banned and if you are caught owning books; your home must be burned. Fahrenheit 451 can be grouped in the subgenre ‘problem.’ I believe that the novel can be categorizes as such because one of the main interests is Montag’s goal to legalize books again and bring back the ability for the society to become independent people and gain knowledge at their own will.

Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451
568 Words | 2 Pages
Fahrenheit 451 involves such characters as Guy Montag, Mildred Montag, Captain Beatty, and Clarisse McClellan. Fahrenheit presents the firemen as the tools of censorship and illegal books. Since books rarely exist in their society they look not to things of intellectual worth, but to things with physical and non-thinking pleasure. As the people become zombies to television and the "four walls," which is a form of television in their society they become resistant to change. They like everything to happen neatly and predictably, just like the television shows. Mildred, Montag's wife, becomes totally dependent upon the "four walls" to not only bring her entertainment throughout the day, but to be a source of consistency. The programs on the television are extremely unintelligent and Montag's question why Mi...
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Fahrenheit 451
515 Words | 2 Pages
Fahrenheit 451 Montag, a fireman who ignites books into glowing embers that fall into ashes as black as night. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, a message in which society has opened its doors to mass devastation. Guy Montag, a “fireman”, burns houses that have anything to do with books instead of putting fires out like the job of a real fireman. In Montag’s society, books are considered taboo, and owning books can lead to dire consequences. Ray Bradbury portrays a society in which humans have suffered a loss of self, humanity, and a powerful control from the government resulting in a fraudulent society.
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Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
1080 Words | 3 Pages
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.
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The Significance of Technology Depicted in Bradbury's Novel, Fahrenheit 451
1219 Words | 3 Pages
Ray Bradbury's novel, Fahrenheit 451, is based in a futuristic time where technology rules our everyday lives and books are viewed as a bad thing because it brews free thought. Although today’s technological advances haven’t caught up with Bradbury’s F451, there is a very real danger that society might end up relying on technology at the price of intellectual development. Fahrenheit 451 is based in a futuristic time period and takes place in a large American City on the Eastern Coast. The futuristic world in which Bradbury describes is chilling, a future where all known books are burned by so called "firemen." Our main character in Fahrenheit 451 is a fireman known as Guy Montag, he has the visual characteristics of the average fireman, he is tall and dark-haired, but there is one thing which separates him from the rest of his colleagues. He secretly loves books.
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Theme Of Happiness Vs. Discontentment In Fahrenheit 451
744 Words | 2 Pages
Fahrenheit 451 is an exotic novel by Ray Bradbury published in 1953. The theme of this story is happiness vs. discontentment. People in this book are unhappy because society does not allow books which is very different from our society and some people in Fahrenheit 451 actually enjoy reading books which makes them unhappy that they are not allowed to. In this society they can’t because if you read books you will die.
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A Burning Intellect in Fahrenheit 451
1202 Words | 3 Pages
In the 1950 novel Fahrenheit 451, AUTHOR Ray Bradbury presents the now familiar images of mind controlING worlds. People now live in a world where they are blinded from the truth of the present and the past. The novel is set in the, perhaps near, future where the world is AT war, and firemen set fires instead of putting them out. Books and written knowledge ARE banned from the people, and it is the firemen's job to burn books. Firemen are the policemen of THE FUTURE. Some people have rebelled by hiding books, but have not been very successful. Most people have conformed to THE FUTURE world. Guy Montag, a fireman, is a part of the majority who have conformed. BUT throughout the novel Montag goes through a transformation, where he changes from a Conformist to a Revolutionary.
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Dystopian Society In Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451
874 Words | 2 Pages
Ray Bradbury introduces in his novel, Fahrenheit 451 (1953), a dystopian society manipulated by the government through the use of censored television and the outlaw of books. During the opening paragraph, Bradbury presents protagonist Guy Montag, a fireman whose job is to burn books, and the society he lives in; an indifferent population with a extreme dependence on technology. In Bradbury’s novel, the government has relied on their society’s ignorance to gain political control. Throughout the novel, Bradbury uses characters such as Mildred, Clarisse, and Captain Beatty to show the relationships Montag has, as well as, the types of people in the society he lives in. Through symbolism and imagery, the audience is able to see how utterly unhappy Clarisse, as well as Faber and Granger, represent the more thoughtful minority population.
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The Hearth And The Salamander
2452 Words | 5 Pages
The beginning of the novel begins with the main character Guy Montag burning down a house. Montag uses a kerosene pack to burn down the home with the specific objective of burning all the books that are inside to ash. After Montag successfully destroys all the books and the home, he returns to the fire station. Montag, while at the station, shines his helmet, hangs his jacket and takes a shower. After a short period of time, Montag leaves the fire station to go to the subway and go home. After Montag gets off the subway and walks down the street, he walks into a girl name Clarisse McCiellan, who he later finds out during their walk to be his new neighbor. During McCiellan and Montag’s talk, they discuss his firefighter career, how long he has been a firefighter, how she is not afraid of him and if firemen put fires out instead of starting them in the past. After walking for a few streets, they reach their homes. Before McCiellan leaves, she asks Montag if he is happy. However, he is unable to respond because she leaves. Montag then enters his house and goes to his bedroom. Montag, before being able to make it to his bed, trips on an object on the floor. He uses his lighter to light his room. Then, Montag sees his wife barely alive because she has taken a bottle of sleeping pills. Montag grabs the phone and calls for medical assistance for his wife. Two men respond to the house and use two machines to pump her stomach and clean her blood. After the two men leave, Montag goes outside to the porch of McCiellan’s house. After a while, he returns to his house and goes to sleep. The next morning, Montag wakes up with his wife Mildred cooking breakfast in the kitchen. The two o...
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Book Report Fahrenheit 451
659 Words | 2 Pages
Fahrenheit 451 is set in a futuristic world where it is illegal to posses books, and if you own them they will be burned by firefighters, which is what the main character, Guy Montag, is. On Montag’s way home from work he meets a girl named Clarisse McClellan who is very different from everyone else because she asks questions and wonders about things that many people don’t think about. After the walk, Montag comes home to find that his wife, Mildred, has overdosed on pills. He calls for help and two strangers come to save her with their snake like machine. The next morning Montag attempted to question Mildred about the other night, but she changes the subjects to her new script for her television. He heads off to work confused, and on his way he meets Clarisse again who again
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How Clarice Influenced Montag in Fahrenheit 451
814 Words | 2 Pages
Guy Montag is a fireman who is greatly influenced in Ray Bradbury's novel, Fahrenheit 451. The job of a fireman in this futuristic society is to burn down houses with books in them. Montag has always enjoyed his job, that is until Clarisse McClellan comes along. Clarisse is seventeen and crazy. At least, this is what her uncle, whom she gets many of her ideas about the world from, describes her as. Clarisse and Montag befriend each other quickly, and Clarisse's impact on Montag is enormous. Clarisse comes into Montag's life, and immediately begins to question his relationship with his wife, his career, and his happiness. Also, Clarisse shows Montag how to appreciate the simple things in life. She teaches him to care about other people and their feelings. By the end of the novel, we can see that Montag is forever changed by Clarisse.
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Individuality In Fahrenheit 451
546 Words | 2 Pages
When Montag meets Clarisse, his neighbor, he starts to notice that there is more to life than burning books. Montag states, “Last night I thought about all the kerosene I have used in the past ten years. And I thought about books. And for the first time I realized that a man was behind each one of those books” (Bradbury 49). It begins to bother Montag that all he has done for the past years is burn books. He starts to rethink his whole life, and how he has been living it. Montag goes on to say, “It took some men a lifetime maybe to put some of his thoughts down, looking around at the world and life and then I come along in two minutes and boom! It is all over” (Bradbury 49) Before, Montag never cares about what he has been doing to the books, but when he begins to ignore the distractions and really think about life he starts to notice that he has been destroying some other mans work. Montag begins to think more of the world
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Fahrenheit 451
568 Words | 2 Pages
It takes a great catastrophe for Montag to really look into life’s true beauty, but he still gets there. While the bombs are dropped towards the end of the novel, Montag and the group in the woods area ...
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Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury: Three Mentors
937 Words | 2 Pages
...radbury the protagonist Guy Montag had three mentors that helped him along his journey; Clarisse, Faber and Granger. Clarisse is the one who first opens his eyes to the world around him, Faber teaches him how he should approach this new way of thinking, and Granger establishes him as an intellectual who can help society rebuild after the destruction from the war. A line from the Book of Ecclesiastes Montag remembers very well sums up his transformation: “And on either side of the river was there a tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” (158) Now Montag is finally learning who he is and what he should do with his life; through his three mentors he has found his identity.
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Fahrenheit 451 Ignorance Vs Knowledge Essay
673 Words | 2 Pages
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.
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Meaning of Fire in "Fahrenheit 451"
774 Words | 2 Pages
Montag then makes his escape from the city and finds the book people, who give him refuge from the firemen and Mechanical Hound that is searching for him. The burning of his house and his Captain as well as the fire trucks symbolizes Montag's transformation from a mechanical drone that follows orders, to a thinking, feeling, emotional person, who has now broken the law and will be hunted as a criminal. He is an enemy of the state; once he turns his back on the social order and burns his bridges, so to speak, he is set free, purified and must run for his life.... ... middle of paper ...
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Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451