FAHRENHEIT 451

Ray Bradbury

Ray Douglas Bradbury was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th- and 21st-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres including fantasy, science fiction, horror, and mystery fiction.

Historical period

The novel, even though it is remarkably timely, spoke to the concerns of the time it was written. It was published in 1953 at the peak of the Cold War. Cold War kindled widespread paranoia and fear throughout Bradbury’s home country of the United States, amplified by the suppression of information, brutal government investigations and communist targeting. Bradbury was then reminded of the book burning of fascist regimes and based his book on the combination of these two close periods.

When and where “Fahrenheit 451” is set

“Fahrenheit 451” takes place at an unreported time in the future, in an unspecified society, where books are forbidden. There are firemen whose job is to burn books. Meanwhile, the majority of people’s free time is dominated by fast rides on the highways with gigantic billboards surrounding, them which show advertisements full of colors and fancy titles and excessive amounts of television on wall-size sets, which take over people’s houses. These TV-sets are dominated by the “parlors”, the “family”, which is the sole entertainment for the society. The “family” provides scripts to the audience for them to reply passively to the given questions with preconceived answers. There are also radio podcasts on “Seashell Radio” sets attached to their ears all day every day, which provide non-stop relaxing music. All these dominate people’s everyday life making them “happy” and “filled”. Meanwhile, atomic war is about to be declared…

Plot

The protagonist, Montag, is a fireman responsible for destroying books. As his pleasure gives way to doubt, the story raises critical questions of how to preserve one’s mind in a society where free will, self-expression and curiosity are under fire. In Montag’ s world, mass media has monopoly on information, erasing almost all ability for independent thought and critical thinking. But as Montag meets the “weird” seventeen-year-old Clarisse, wonders about the apathy of his wife, Mildred, sees an old woman passionately refuse to die rather than leave her books, his mind occasionally wonders to the contraband that lies hidden in his home. Gradually, he begins to question the basics of his work, the values of his society and the true meaning of his life.

Character Analysis

Montag: Montag is the protagonist of “Fahrenheit 451”. Montag, a “normal” fireman of the novel’s pointless society represents the person who, being immersed in the meaninglessness of modern technocracy, materialism, lack of thinking and wondering, realizes the emptiness of his life after being asked the simple question: “Are you happy?” Therefore, he gets desperate to define and comprehend his own life and purpose by means of books, which in his opinion contain the true meaning of life. He tries to make people, like his wife and her friends, realize the unhappiness that is hidden behind the mask of happiness that people wear every day. He wants to overthrow the status quo and resist to the government and the media. He is rebellious. He wants to enhance himself, to redefine his values, to reclaim his humanity and at the same time change the world and change it for the better.

Mildred Montag: Mildred represents the people of Fahrenheit’s 451 society. Mildred, and by extension, the whole society, after complete detachment from books, and generally thinking, become a shell of a human being, a human being devoid of any sincere emotional, intellectual or spiritual substance. Her only attachment is to the “family”, its scripts and its virtual reality.

Captain Beatty: Captain Beatty is probably the most complex character of the book. He is a passionate book burner with a vast knowledge of literature. He is a man who seemed to care about books in the past, but now prefers his life of instant pleasure. He says that he has tried to understand the universe, the true meaning of life, but the outcome of his attempts was only vanity, melancholy and loneliness. Despite that, his sarcastic and ironic tone when referring to the “happiness” of his society betray his true feeling about books and generally thinking.

Clarisse McClellan: Clarisse McClellan is a free-spirited person. She enjoys spending time alone, interacting with nature, asking questions, thinking, and spending time with her family talking. She is considered odd by the rest of the society, as she doesn’t like fast rides on the highways, loud and constant music or the “family”. Her innocently asked questions to Montag are the ones which awaken him from his spiritual and intellectual slumber and make him realize his unhappiness.

Main themes

1. The value of thinking, wondering, questioning.

2. The value of forming dialogues with others.

3. The essence of books in people’s awareness and meaning of life.

4. The power of knowledge against the weakness of ignorance.

5. The repercussions of materialism, technocracy, homogenization and the displacement of spiritual and intellectual growth which dominate the modern society.

6. The repercussions of the lack of independent thought and critical thinking and the manipulation of thinking by mass media.

7. Low-quality use of people’s free time.

Symbols

Fahrenheit 451: The temperature at which paper is burnt

Montag: name of a paper-manufacturing company

Books: Every reference to the noun “books” does not convey their practical and materialist meaning. It conveys all of the values found in books; critical and independent thinking, imagination, wonder, self- expression, dialogue, willing to observe the true meaning and the real purpose of life.

Fire: Fire in the beginning of the book is presented as a means of destruction of critical and independent thinking, wondering and expressing. It is the vehicle of a restrictive society full of passive people governed by mass media and technology. However, in the end of the book, fire is a sign of rebirth along with warmth and compassion.

The Phoenix: In the end of the book, mankind is compared to a phoenix that burns itself up and then rises out of its ashes over and over again. Man’s advantage, however, is his ability to recognize when he has made a mistake, so that eventually he will learn not to make that mistake anymore. In this way, books are the manuals which will inform humankind about their mistakes and encourage them not to repeat them.

My impressions and thoughts about the book

“Fahrenheit 451” is a source of knowledge. I have read the book three times and each and every time I discover something new. What really impressed me about Ray Bradbury’s world was the fact that the apathy, the passiveness, the manipulation of the mass, the conversion of man to an empty and meaningless being, the destruction of thinking and wondering and the need for instant but pointless pleasure were not part of a well-planned governmental scheme. They were all wanted by people who found “happiness” in them. In this way, “Fahrenheit 451” can teach us a lot. Its timely message is perfectly apt for the intellectual crisis the modern world is facing and cannot only make us redefine our way of living but also teach us about the repercussions of the dominance of mass media, technocracy and materialism.

Do we want citizens of the future as “Mildreds”?

Μαρία Κορωνιού (Β2), Πρότυπο ΓΕΛ Ευαγγελικής Σχολής Σμύρνης