Analysis Of Fahrenheit 451

1943 Words4 Pages

Gil de Montes 1 Emma Gil de Montes Mrs. Montanez-Ramirez Honors English 3-4 8 April 2014 Setting Fahrenheit 451 takes place in a ‘future’ America. The city and state in which it actually takes place is unknown. We know it takes place in America due to the reference to Benjamin Franklin as the first firemen. The time period is vague but we can assume that it was supposed to have been set after the 1990s which makes sense since the book was written in the 1950s. I’m assuming it mostly takes place in a rather large city because the author, Ray Bradbury, constantly describes both suburban and urban scenes. He describes the boulevard where Montag lives and the firehouse. These places add to the ‘suburban’ feel. He also describes the freeway which must be rather long. Fahrenheit 451 takes place in a very hostile environment. The world is ridden with wars. In fact, according to the book, there had already been two atomic wars and a war in the process. There were ten million soldiers deployed but the media lied and said only one million were sent out. Also, they live in an age of ignorance. They burn books to keep them from learning things and would rather lie to them than risk having them get upset. Family and religion has been replaced with television. A yearly salary was reduced to a mere $6,000. This shows that the value of the money decreased. Gil de Montes 2 I think it’s symbolic that Bradbury never identified the city. This makes me feel like it could have happened anywhere, even L.A. I think the purpose was to make the reader think about their town when they read the book. Also, I think it’s significant that this was pictured in the future. Since it was about this society that had basically crashed and burned, it can be seen ... ... middle of paper ... ...ildred sounds like dread which would be fitting since she must be depressed as she attempted suicide in the beginning of the book. There are a few minor characters in the story. There’s Clarisse and there are the firemen. The firemen are only mentioned to give you a better perspective of their world. They are very obedient and don’t seem to have minds of their own. Their personalities are not shown and they don’t really play a significant role in the novel. Clarisse, however, is a big player. She is the reason that Montag decides to quit and print books instead. She is used to get things going and ignite the rebellion, but she is soon killed off. So, she doesn’t have a big enough role to be considered a major character. Most of the minor character4s are there to show contrast with some major characters. This way, you have a better insight as to who they really are.

Open Document