Literary Analysis of Fahrenheit 451

Symbolism: What Ray Bradbury Is Really Saying

                Ray Bradbury’s dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 is set in a futuristic world where owning and reading books is illegal, and if a citizen is caught with one, it’s burned. Throughout Fahrenheit 451 Bradbury uses the literary device of symbolism; with the symbols ranging from aspects of the firemen’s uniforms, to the fire itself, and the Phoenix at the conclusion of the story.

                In Part 1, “The Hearth and the Salamander”, Bradbury describes the uniform all of the firefighters wear. The reader is introduced to Guy Montage, the protagonist of the story; Montage is a firefighter that comes from a long line of firefighters before him, including his father and grandfather. The uniform he wears everyday consists of the number 451 on the helmet, as well as a salamander patch on his arm. The number 451 is not only on the firefighter’s helmets, but it is part of the title of the novel as well, and Bradbury comes right out and tells the reader that it’s symbolic, stating that Montage wears “his symbolic helmet numbered 451 on his stolid head…” (Bradbury 33). In the Introduction of Fahrenheit 451 Bradbury explains that he chose the number because, “book-paper catches fire at 451 degrees Fahrenheit” (29). The only job the firefighters have in this novel is to burn books, which shows why the number 451 on their helmets is symbolic. The salamander is the second symbol used, not only on the firefighter’s uniforms, but it’s etched on the side of the ignitors they use to start fires, and it’s what they call their firetrucks. According to R. Sydlowski’s Salamandra Salamandra in traditional folklore Salamanders were thought to be able to survive fire because they could be seen crawling out of logs tossed on to fires. Due to folklore causing people to think salamanders are fireproof and the fact that the only thing to survive fires in Fahrenheit 451 are the firefighters, making them seem fireproof as well, it’s possible that this is the reason Bradbury associates salamanders with firefighters and therefore uses salamanders as a symbol in the novel.

                The most common and ever-changing symbol that appears in Fahrenheit 451 is fire itself. At the beginning of the novel, as Alan Lenhoff points out in his article, Making Fire Mean More Than Fire. How Authors Use Symbols fire stands for something that causes destruction. Fire is described with words such as venomous, blazing, burning, and ruin, all words that Bradbury uses with a negative connotation. The reader learns that Montage enjoys watching things burn, “It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed” (Bradbury 33). However, the symbolism of fire changes as the book progresses. When Montage meets Clarisse McClellan, his young neighbour, he stares into her eyes and he is struck by a memory of his mother from when he was a child. The electricity had gone out and his mother lit a candle, the two of them spent hours rediscovering life without TV walls or Seashell earphones. When fire is discussed in this passage, words such as illumination, comfortably, rediscovery, and transformed are used in a way that points to peace, not damage. Fire changes yet again when Montage is walking down a set of railroad tracks and sees a fire burning. “That small motion, the white and red colour, a strange fire because it meant a different thing to him. It was not burning, it was warming” (Bradbury 171). At this point in the novel Montage is on the run and is looking for a group of men that are said to live along the railroad tracks, some of the men have Harvard degrees and are wanted for the same reason Montage was at the beginning of all the madness, possessing and reading books. The symbolism of fire at this point in the novel is for warmth, and survival, not destruction. Montage realizes that he is once again seeing fire in a different light, “He hadn’t known fire could look this way. He had never thought in his life that it could give as well as take.” (Bradbury 171)(Lenhoff).

                At the end of Fahrenheit 451, the Phoenix is another symbol used. The war that has been spoken about since the beginning of the novel finally comes to fruition. After the bombing is over and the dust has settled, Granger, one of the men Montage meets along the railroad tracks, says, “Phoenix… …There was a silly damn bird called a Phoenix back before Christ” (Bradbury 188). According to Encyclopædia Britannica’s article, Phoenix | Mythological Bird, the bird itself was “widely interpreted as an allegory of resurrection and life after death.” The life cycle of the Phoenix was said to be long, and at the end of the cycle the bird built a pyre and was consumed within the flames. Out of the ashes the Phoenix was born again and the cycle continued on, with only one Phoenix living at a time. The symbolism of the Phoenix is fitting in this situation because the town has been burnt down by the bombs dropped on it; this is similar to the Phoenix setting itself on fire. However, what the towns people have that the Phoenix didn’t was the ability to realize what caused the fire that led to its destruction, and as Granger points out, “…as long as we know that and always have it around where we can see it, someday we’ll stop making the goddamn funeral pyres and jumping in the middle of them” (Bradbury 189). Not only does the Phoenix symbolize the character’s ability to start over, but the fire the bird burns itself in is related to the symbolism of fire discussed earlier. The symbolism behind the fire caused by the bombings and the burning of the Phoenix is one of purity and purging, not destruction. (Encyclopædia Britannica).

                Symbolism in writing is an idea that has been used and debated in some of the best literary works of all time, not just in Fahrenheit 451. Symbols aren’t always obvious and can be ever-changing throughout a novel, as shown by Bradbury. In the end, it’s not vital for a reader to understand the symbolism used in this novel or any other novel for that matter; the novel can be enjoyed even if only taken at face value. However, by taking the time to consider the symbolism an author uses and what it could mean, we can open up a whole new meaning of the story.

Works Cited

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Simon& Schuster, 2003. Print.

Lenhoff, Alan. Making Fire Mean More Than Fire. How Authors Use Symbols. Writing 22.2 (1999): 14. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Mar. 2015

Singh, Shiveta. Phoenix | Mythological Bird. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 17 Apr. 2008. Web. 11 Apr. 2015.

Sydlowski, R. Salamandra Salamandra. Animal Diversity Web. 1 Jan. 2000. Web. 9 Apr. 2015.

Reviews

Bahrani.CreditCreditMichael Gibson/HBO
By James Poniewozik May 16, 2018

- Early in “Fahrenheit 451,” Montag (Michael B. Jordan) readies himself in front of his bathroom mirror, which doubles as a supersize smart screen, pulsating with news updates and a never-ending river of responses from his social-media followers.

Am I a bad person if my first response was, “Wow, if I had one of those, I would never have to worry about dropping my iPhone in the sink again”?

Probably. Even if you are not familiar with the Ray Bradbury source novel, “Fahrenheit” makes it quickly, hammeringly clear that it is a cautionary tale. You’ll get that from the urban-noir aesthetic, the school-indoctrination sessions and the fact that Montag’s job as a “fireman” involves not fighting fires but starting them — burning humanity’s last remaining books as well as their digital reproductions, all of which have been outlawed.
Electronic media change, but the anxiety about them remains. In Mr. Bradbury’s day, it was the sudden rise of TV as America’s pastime; today it’s the ubiquitous screens that have us checking Twitter during our morning ablutions. (I know, I know, I’m trying to quit.)
But the dystopia of the new “Fahrenheit 451,” airing Saturday on HBO, is generic, its critique muddled and its tone as subtle as a flamethrower.
Mr. Bradbury’s novel, published in 1953, required some technological and conceptual updating. Some of its concerns are timeless, others specifically 1950s. It worries about postwar social conformity, anti-intellectualism, McCarthyism and the homogenizing power of the new medium of TV to flatten out differences in thought and make its audience placid.
That last concern — mass media imposing what Dwight Macdonald called “masscult” — is in one sense flipped today. Critics of niche and social media today also see a dumbed-down society, but one that’s polarized and agitated, divided and subdivided into mutually hostile subcultures and media bubbles.

The director, Ramin Bahrani, who wrote the screenplay with Amir Naderi, is trying to retrofit the “Black Mirror” anxieties of today onto a story built of “Twilight Zone”-style Cold War preoccupations. Some elements translate, but often the strains show.
Mr. Bahrani’s most effective innovations are visual. Where Bradbury envisioned “parlor walls” — video screens that turned homes into immersive televisions — in HBO’s version, nearly everything is a screen. That includes the sides of skyscrapers, which broadcast the exploits of Montag and his crew as a kind of pyromaniacal propaganda reality show.

Books however still survive on the state-approved internet, but condensed into single emoji-strewn paragraphs, "Moby-Dick" now begins: "Ishamael (right-pointing arrow) (anchor_ an a (Whale) (boat)." This kind of literature is "all you need," says Montag's rigid superior Captain beatty (Michael Shannon). "Anything else will make you sick, crazy." This future America has no patience for nuance.

Nor does this “Fahrenheit.” Its aesthetic can best be described as Standard Totalitarian Future. Electronic signs read “HAPPINESS IS TRUTH.” Americans have happily surrendered literacy in favor of propaganda and opiate entertainments consumed in virtual-reality lairs. The film also includes, as has become semi-mandatory these days, a clunky allusion to Trumpism in the firemen’s chant, “Time to burn for America Again!”
The critique is passionate. But it feels incoherent, maybe in part because “Fahrenheit” has been adapted to a more fragmented era of media.
Mr. Bradbury’s midcentury warning was that TV was supplanting the culture of the word and the sort of complex thought it promoted. Then video culture further evolved into the cacophonous one of the internet. America, Mr. Bahrani’s “Fahrenheit” tells us, rejected that culture along with books, in the name of societal cohesion (too many offensive ideas).
So we replaced it with … more social media? Except with more terrifying men carrying flamethrowers? “Fahrenheit 451” explains this, sort of, in expository downloads that feel like spackle on the narrative cracks.

Mr. Jordan (“Creed”) puts flesh on Montag’s conflict — he finds himself drawn to the books he’s charged to destroy, brought blinkingly awake by encountering the willful anti-logic of Dostoyevsky’s “Notes From Underground.” But the script does little to give him inner life beyond some flashbacks. Mr. Shannon’s imperious enforcer lacks the eccentric spark he brings to his best roles.
The two firemen eventually fall out as Montag becomes close to Clarisse (Sofia Boutella), a member of the Eels, a grim set of rebels who say things like, “The revolution is not a dinner party.” They conserve not just novels, which they have committed to memory, but visual art, films and vinyl LPs. (Vintage record stores, evidently, will be the arsenals of the #resistance.)
Mr. Bahrani, whose past work includes closely observed films like “Chop Shop” and “99 Homes,” does prove adept at directing scaled-up action, as the film’s final act moves into thriller mode, building to a pyrotechnic climax and resolving on a lovely visual metaphor. Its passion for the word notwithstanding, “Fahrenheit” works better in the end as image than text.

Fahrenheit 451 is set in a grim alternate-future setting ruled by a tyrannical government in which firemen as we understand them no longer exist: Here, firemen don't douse fires, they ignite them. And they do this specifically in homes that house the most evil of evils: books.

Books are illegal in Bradbury's world, but books are not what his fictional—yet extremely plausible—government fears: They fear the knowledge one pulls from books. Through the government's incessant preaching, the inhabitants of this place have come to loathe books and fear those who keep and attempt to read them. They see such people as eccentric, dangerous, and threatening to the tranquility of their state.
But one day a fireman named Montag meets a young girl who demonstrates to him the beauty of books, of knowledge, of conceiving and sharing ideas; she wakes him up, changing his life forever. When Montag's previously held ideology comes crashing down around him, he is forced to reconsider the meaning of his existence and the part he plays. After Montag discovers that "all isn't well with the world," he sets out to make things right.
A brilliant and frightening novel, Fahrenheit 451 is the classic narrative about censorship; utterly chilling in its implications, Ray Bradbury's masterwork captivates thousands of new readers each year.
Andrew LeCount - Barnes and Noble

Related Texts

"Whose Life Is It Anyway?" by Brian Clark

"Shawshank Redemption"

"1984" - by George Orwell

Human Experiences Portrayed in this Text

Fear
Knowledge
Ignorance
Hostility
Envy
Tension
Equality
Self-understanding
Spiritual resurrection
Futility
Misery
Surrender
Authority
Ruthlessness
Innocence
Materialism
Aging
Charity
Equality
Loneliness
Relationships
Death
Tension

Symbolism, Imagery & Allegory

Fire, Heat, Light

As you might expect from a novel about burning books, there’s a whole lot of fire in Fahrenheit 451. We’re not just talking about the burning houses, either. When people are angry, they’re burning with rage inside. When Montag senses Clarisse’s presence, it’s because he feels body heat. When Granger and Co. pick themselves up after the bombing, we get the image of a phoenix rising up from the ashes. This imagery is all over the place.

Fire seems to mean a lot of different things at different moments in Farenheit 451 Beatty and his fireman minions use it to destroy. But the woman whose house they burn interprets it another way: "Play the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out." For her, it represents strength. Montag himself discovers an alternative use for fire at the end of the novel, when he realizes that it can warm instead of destroy. Like that whole cycle of life thing, fire has a constructive and destructive half. And like the books that are burned, each character in the novel is forced to interpret for themselves and confront contradictory perspectives –
just like Beatty said about the books.

Insects and Other Unpleasant Animals:

There are several references throughout Fahrenheit 451 to essentially yucky animals an insects (that’s the technical term). When Mildred gets her stomach pumped, the machine is like a snake. The earpiece she wears at night is like a praying mantis. The helicopters in the chase scene are described as insects. Even the Mechanical Hound has eight legs, like a spider. Notice a pattern here? These references all have to do with technology – destructive technology that the government uses to control its citizens. It’s basically a perversion of nature and of the natural order, which fits into the larger themes of Fahrenheit 451 (because in this world of destruction without construction, the natural order is off).
Getting Naked in the River - We thought that would get your attention. When the chase draws to a close, Montag ditches his clothes, bathes in the river, and dons Faber’s attire instead. For a man who’s been through three or more identity crises, this is significant. He’s leaving the old Montag behind, cleansing himself of his old identity, and assimilating a new one for the time being (Faber’s). The fact that another man is captured and killed in Montag’s place is a great ancillary to this moment.

Setting:

Somewhere in the U.S. in the future, sometime after 1990 (remember that the novel was written in the 1950s). We get a sense of the world in which this story takes place from a variety of details. From Clarisse’s comments we know that violence is prevalent. From the plumbers who come to the Mildred’s rescue, we know that everyone is unhappy and death isn’t taken seriously. We know wars are casual – there have been two atomic wars since 1990, and Mildred’s friends' husbands are off at war...again. Family has gone by the wayside to be replaced by television, and the same goes for religion. We even get a monetary scale – 6,000 dollars is Montag’s yearly salary. Bradbury skillfully creates an entire world for his story and characters.

Point Of View:

Third Person (Limited Omniscient). While the narrative is third person, it’s limited to Guy Montag. We spend a good amount of time in his brain hearing his thoughts, learning who he is, and understanding his many, many personal crises. This keeps us on his side and allows us insights into the world of Fahrenheit 451 we would otherwise have been denied.

Tone:

Dramatic

It’s probably remnants from his hardcore science fiction days, but Bradbury shows a clear flair for intensity here. Characters are extreme rather than realistic (Clarisse is the kooky yet wise outsider, Beatty the secretly intellectual, moustache-donning-villain, Mildred the
vacant wife, Faber the reluctantly rebellious ex-professor, etc.). Events are apocalyptic (big fires, lots of bombs), and confrontations exist only on the grandest of scales (cars swerving to hit pedestrians, the occasional flame-thrower murder).

Themes:

Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.

Theme of Literature and Writing:

In the futuristic world of Fahrenheit 451, books are considered subversive, are banned, and are burned upon discovery. The novel's characters present a variety of points of view. One believes that books are problematic in that they present so many varying and often contradictory viewpoints. They leave the reader confused. Another believes that books themselves are not important, rather what matters is the information that the best of them contain: reflections of life and the world at large. A third character insists that those who study literature stay off the metaphorical pedestal–they are merely receptacles for the knowledge they carry. Either way, the novel reminds us that knowledge is nothing without experience, and that lessons are learned more ways than one.

Theme of Technology and Modernization

TV is the enemy in Fahrenheit 451. It’s responsible for replacing literature, intellectualism, and curiosity. On top of that, it’s become a substitute for family, friendship, and any sort of real conversation. The reason cited is "happiness." People are happier when they don’t have to think, or so the story goes. TV aside, technology is the government’s means of oppression, but also provides the renegade’s opportunity to
subvert.

Theme of Wisdom and Knowledge

In Fahrenheit 451, wisdom and knowledge are gained through both experience and scholarship. Most important is critical thinking challenging ideas rather than accepting them as absolutely correct. Mentors and teachers are integral to this process, not only for passing on knowledge but for opening the door to independent thought.

Theme of Violence

Excessive violence in the futuristic world of Fahrenheit 451 betrays a problematic underbelly to the status quo. Teenagers go around killing each other, TV is filled to the brim with violence, and even driving a car brings on the crazed thirst for speed and destruction. Violence is an outlet, and the cravings for such behaviour mark the dissatisfaction of the general populous.

Theme of Identity

The crisis of identity is at the core of Fahrenheit 451. As the main character learns from a series of mentors and teachers, he sees his own identity melding with that of his instructors. This is also a means of scapegoating – if your identity is not entirely your own, then you are not entirely responsible for your actions. The novel explores the question of how to define the self, and seems to answer: actions.

Theme of Man and The Natural World

Fahrenheit 451 creates a dichotomy between the world of technology and the world of nature. The former is cold and destructive, while the latter is engaging and informative. It is only in nature that the novel’s main character is able to think clearly and draw conclusions from his experiences. The novel argues that nature, in fact all of life, is a cycle of construction and destruction. This is the natural way of things, but technology has focused only on destruction and violence, leaving man in a devastating, unnatural state.

Theme of Dissatisfaction

In the world of Fahrenheit 451, everyone seems to be happy. They watch TV all day, they never ask difficult questions, they’re never forced to face anything unpleasant, and they’re never truly bothered by anything. That being said, everyone is horribly dissatisfied. It’s just that no one is willing to admit it. The deep boredom that runs through the population is subdued by mindless activity and an insistence on happiness,
both on the part of the government and the citizens themselves.

Major Characters:

Guy Montag

A third - generation fireman who suddenly realizes the emptiness of his life and starts to search for meaning in the books he is supposed to be burning. Though he is sometimes rash and has a hard time thinking for himself, he is determined to break free from the oppression of ignorance. He quickly forms unusually strong attachments with anyone who seems receptive to true friendship. His biggest regret in life is not having a better relationship with his wife.

Mildred Montag

Montag’s brittle, sickly looking wife. She is obsessed with watching television and refuses to engage in frank conversation with her husband about their marriage or her feelings. Her suicide attempt, which she refuses even to acknowledge, clearly indicates that she harbors a great deal of pain. Small-minded and childish, Mildred does not understand her husband and apparently has no desire to do so.

Captain Beatty

The captain of Montag’s fire department. Although he is himself extremely well-read, paradoxically he hates books and people who insist on reading them. He is cunning and devious, and so perceptive that he appears to read Montag’s thoughts.

Professor Faber

A retired English professor whom Montag encountered a year before the book opens. Faber still possesses a few precious books and aches to have more. He readily admits that the current state of society is due to the cowardice of people like himself, who would not speak out against book burning when they still could have stopped it. He berates himself for being a coward, but he shows himself capable of acts that require great courage and place him in considerable danger.

Clarisse McClellan

A beautiful seventeen year old who introduces Montag to the world’s potential for beauty and meaning with her gentle innocence and curiosity. She is an outcast from society because of her odd habits, which include hiking, playing with flowers, and asking questions, but she and her (equally odd) family seem genuinely happy with themselves and each other.

Granger

The leader of the “Book People,” the group of hobo intellectuals Montag finds in the country. Granger is intelligent, patient, and confident in the strength of the human spirit. He is committed to preserving literature through the current Dark Age.

Mrs. Phelps

One of Mildred’s vapid friends. She is emotionally disconnected from her life, appearing unconcerned when her third husband is sent off to war. Yet she breaksdown crying when Montag reads her a poem, revealing suppressed feelings and sensibilities.

Mrs. Bowles

One of Mildred’s friends. Like Mrs. Phelps, she does not seem to care deeply about herown miserable life, which includes one divorce, one husband killed in an accident, one husband who commits suicide, and two children who hate her. Both of Mildred’s friends are represented as typical specimens of their society.

Stoneman and Black

Two firemen who work with Montag. They share the lean, shadowed look common to all firemen and go about their jobs unquestioningly.

LINKS

https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/451/summary/e

https://www.nytimes.com/.../books/review/fahrenheit-451-read-by-tim-robbins.html

https://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20180514-film-review-farenheit-451-the-place-where-books-are-burned

https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/f/fahrenheit-451/summary-and-analysis/part-1

https://www.shmoop.com/fahrenheit-451/literary-devices.html

https://studylib.net/doc/7387761/fahrenheit-terminology-grid

Discussion Questions

1. Why would society make "being a pedestrian" a crime? (Clarisse tells Montag that her uncle was once arrested for this.)

2. One suicide and one near-suicide occur in this book. One woman, who shuns books but loves TV and driving fast in her car, anesthetizes herself,; "We get these cases nine or ten a night," says the medical technician. Another woman, who cherishes her books, sets herself on fire with them; "These fanatics always try suicide," says the fire captain. Why would two people who seem to be so different from each other try to take their own lives? Why does suicide happen so frequently in Montag's society?"

3. Captain Beatty quotes history, scripture, poetry, philosophy. He is obviously a well-read man. Why hasn't he been punished? And why does he view the books he's read with such contempt?

4. Beatty tells Montag that firemen are "custodians of peace of mind" and that they stand against "those who want to make everyone unhappy with conflicting theory and thought." How well are the firemen accomplishing these objectives? Are conflicting ideas the only source of unhappiness in their society? What other sources might there be? Can conflicting ideas exist even without books that have been destroyed and outlawed?

5. Why do you think the firemen's rulebook credited Benjamin Franklin—writer, publisher, political leader, inventor, ambassador—as being the first fireman?

6. Why does Beatty program the Hound to track Montag even before Montag stole the book? Do you believe Beatty had seen him steal books before? Or is it that Beatty had detected a change in Montag's attitude or behavior? Cite incidents in the book that support your answer.

7. Montag turns to books to rescue him; instead they help demolish his life- -he loses his wife, job and home; he kills a man and is forced to be a nomad. Does he gain any benefits from books? If so, what are they?

8. Do you believe, as Montag did, that Beatty wanted to die? If so, why do you think so?

9. Since the government is so opposed to readers, thinkers, walkers, and slow drivers, why does it allow the procession of men along the railroad tracks to exist?

10. Once Montag becomes a violent revolutionary, why does the government purposely capture an innocent man in his place instead of tracking down the real Montag? Might the government believe that Montag is no longer a threat?

11. Granger, spokesperson for the group on the railroad tracks, tells Montag, "Right now we have a horrible job; we're waiting for the war to begin and, as quickly, end...When the war's over, perhaps we can be of some use in the world." Based on what you've read of the world these men live in, do you believe that the books they carry inside themselves will make a difference? Might this difference be positive or negative? Point out episodes in Fahrenheit to support your response.

12. What does Granger mean when he says, "We're going to go build a mirror factory first and put out nothing but mirrors for the next year and take a long time to look at them?" Why would "mirrors" be important in this new society? (Note: In Part 1, Clarisse is said to be "like a mirror.")

13. Although Ray Bradbury's work is often referred to as science fiction, Fahrenheit has plenty to say about the world as it is, and not as it could be. As you review the book, list examples of the themes mentioned below, as well as others you notice. Discuss how you feel about the stands the author or characters take in Fahrenheit.