Analytical Essay On Fahrenheit 451

The future is a wondrous place. Everyone knows where is lies, yet no one has ever been there. It is constantly imagined, yet all ideas of what the future contains are affected by each action that takes place in the present. Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 is of a futuristic dystopian society characterized by complete government control. Its main source of power comes from limited access to knowledge—books are illegal. Guy Montag is a firefighter; however, his job is to start fires instead of put them out. He enjoys his job, takes pleasure in the orange blaze, but his whole perspective changes when he meets Clarisse McClellan. Their conversations cause Guy to realize the importance of thinking, of knowledge, and how the society lacks these

aspects. Bradbury effectively creates unique characters and an ominous societal culture to develop the themes of the dangers of technology and censorship.
Throughout the novel there are multiple characters and their foils, such as Guy and Mildred, which create a distinct, contrasting atmosphere.

Guy Montag is the protagonist of the novel, and he represents some of the most rudimentary components of mankind—compassion, inquisition, and imperfection. His role becomes clear in the end of the novel when Bradbury writes, “There was a silly damn bird called a phoenix back before Christ, every few hundred years he built a pyre and burnt himself up. He must have been the first cousin to Man. But every time he burnt himself up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself born all over again” (Bradbury 156). Montag is a theoretical phoenix and the embodiment of mankind. He burns himself and the pyre when he decides to read the stolen books. Guy’s delirious struggle over his unhappiness and limited access to knowledge points out the civilization has neared its lowest point. However, he figuratively reaches rebirth when he reaches the river. The water cleanses him of his past, and Guy starts anew with the railmen and life on the tracks. He realizes that fire can provide as well as take away, and that there is still hope for the people. The bomb effectively pushes society into rebirth, but the survivors are ready to

rebuild and learn from the previous mistakes. Contrastingly, Guy’s wife Mildred represents an antagonist of the novel. She embodies the typical individual of this time period: “She’s nothing to me; she shouldn’t have had books. It was her responsibility, she should’ve thought of that. I hate her. She’s got you going and next thing you know we’ll be out, no house, no job, nothing” (Bradbury 48). Her ability to think only of herself in this situation shows how the importance of relationships and compassion has negatively evolved. Mildred is selfish. Lazy. Uncaring. She is totally encompassed in her TV family that she ignores the happenings of reality. Her total conformity to the society and acceptance of the oppression backfires and wipes her out within a single blast. The contrasting characters show how delicate life is and how easy it is to waste into nothing when one is complacent in his or her life.
Ray Bradbury creates a distinct culture for the dystopian society.

It glorifies a fast-paced life and devotion to entertainment, yet unbeknownst to the people the government uses this as a way for control. The first aspect of culture implemented for control is the overall rushed way of life. Clarisse comments on the increased rush when she says, “I sometimes think drivers don’t’ know what grass is, or flowers, because they never see them slowly… If you showed a driver a green blur, Oh yes! he’d say, that’s grass!” (Bradbury 6). The reason for quickness of everything is that it doesn’t allow people to have any idle time. There is no time for them to think, for them to question what is going on in the daily life. If the people are always doing something, and doing it as quickly as they can, then they will always be compliant and unknowing of what’s surrounding them. Another large part of the society is the focus on entertainment. Entertainment and technology combine to create a gross addiction that distracts the people from the issues in society: “ ‘How long you figure before we save up and get the fourth wall torn out and a fourth wall-TV put in? It’s only two thousand dollars.’ ‘That’s one-third of my yearly pay’ ” (Bradbury 18). Bradbury predicts what will happen to our future if society continues in the way we are going. Many people today are addicted to the technology we have at our fingertips, and interpersonal connects are dwindling because of it. This leads to

decreased communication, and therefore decreased sharing of opinions—of ideas—which no longer spurs questioning of the world surrounding everyone.
In essence, Fahrenheit 451 is a warning of what the future could become if society continues travelling down the path that it is. Bradbury incorporates many different issues, such as the dangers of technology and government imposed censorship. Technological advance can bring great progress to a society, yet it a dangerous aspect within the novel. Faber believes that technology is a greater evil than books, despite what the government thinks: “Books can be beaten down with reason. But will all my knowledge and skepticism, I have never been able to argue with a one-hundred-piece symphony orchestra, full colour, three dimensions, and being in and part of those incredible parlors” (Bradbury 80). The technology of this society completely overtakes ones senses, yet there is no substance to the information it presents. It offers addiction to the screens and simultaneously takes away from human relationships. It has turned people into cold, uncaring individuals who only think about themselves. In addition, the technology has morphed into physically dangerous yet highly autonomous machines—the mechanical dog knows the chemical tracers of virtually everyone in the society. There would be a catastrophe and lives lost if the dog ever malfunctions. Another underlying theme of the novel is how government censorship is harmful to the people. Bradbury introduces his novel with the message, “If they give you ruled paper, write the other way” (Bradbury xvii). This quote by Juan Ramón Jiménez represents rebellion against the conformity and rigidity imposed upon an individual. It resonates within Guy’s actions—he goes against his cookie cutter lifestyle and jumps into the deep end. Guy could just as easily have ignored the temptation books give and continue the work that his father and grandfather also had done. But he chose to take a step into the unknown. He can see the detrimental affects of rampaging unhappiness and mindless behavior, yet no one else is aware because they never had access to information like that. Countless lives are being lost to suicide, yet no one seems to know or care about it. The government is even censoring how many soldiers they have prepared for the war and the severity of the situation. These secrets go to show that ignorance isn’t always bliss. It just sets up a false sense of security.
Thoughts of what will partake in the future are based on the individual and what he or she has experienced. Ray Bradbury’s experiences caused him to write Fahrenheit 451 in attempt to draw light to how negative developments of mankind could increase into a detrimental severity. Every aspect of the novel, from the characters to the culture, comes together to create tangible warnings of how human life could regress if there are no changes in society. The future will come eventually, and all of mankind has to work together in order for it to be a positive environment for everyone.