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Fahrenheit 451 symbolism essay
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The book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury tells the tale of a future society which outlaws books. This book has a lot of symbolism and the symbols used in the text help support what the purpose of the book is, being to avoid conformity and not to let society become uniform. This book fights for individuality and shows just how important that is by displaying the consequences of destroying this characteristic.
The purpose of the book is to prevent an unfavorable future where society is all conformed and everyone is the same. To prevent the destruction of individuality is the purpose of Fahrenheit 451. In Bradbury’s words “I wasn’t trying to predict the future” and he adds on “I was trying to prevent it.” (Qtd. In Miller). His words showing what he intended for this book to do. When the book was published there were a lot of technology advancements and Bradbury was trying to give his opinion on these changes and it is possible he was fearful of change (Historical Context: Fahrenheit 451). This is evident in the book itself. He did this with his word choice and language (Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaption). The setting of the book is a society in the future where books are outlawed and everyone is relatively the same. Bradbury is making a commentary on the way society is and how it is progressing. He is using this strategy to prevent society to go to the extreme like is presented in his work. Bradbury uses this stressed setting in his book to show how bad things can get and overwhelm his reader into realizing how awful this future would be. With concepts such as the multiple views of fire and its meanings in this novel showing how Bradbury stressed this future.
In this book symbolism is very prominent. Bradbury us...
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... 451 and seeing the symbols in the book it is obvious that the symbols are used to support the moral. An example of one of these symbols is fire. Fire is used as both the creator and the destroyer in the book and is the most important symbol of all because of how often it appears. Bradbury uses this symbol and others to make the future seem bad and to try to make the audience want to change so the future changes as well.
Works Cited
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. Del Ray Books. 1953. Print
O'Callahan, Molly. "Message of "Fahrenheit 451" still is relevant." (2009): n. pag. Web. Newspaper source. Ebsco host 10 Dec 2009.
"Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaption." Book Review 256.28 (2009): 42. Web. Article. OneFile 10 Dec 2009.
"Historical Context: Fahrenheit 451." EXPLORING Novels. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center - Gold. Web. 14 Mar. 2010.
Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 leads from an average beginning by introducing a new world for readers to become enveloped in, followed by the protagonist’s descent into not conforming to society’s rules, then the story spirals out of control and leaves readers speechless by the actions taken by the main character and the government of this society. This structure reinforces the author’s main point of how knowledge is a powerful entity that would force anyone to break censorship on a society.
Fahrenheit 451 is a science fiction book that still reflects to our current world. Bradbury does a nice job predicting what the world would be like in the future; the future for his time period and for ours as well. The society Bradbury describes is, in many ways, like the one we are living in now.
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. 60th Anniversary Edition. New York, NY: A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1951. 001-158. Print.
Imagine a world in which there are no books, and every piece of information you learn comes from a screen. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, this nightmare is a reality. In Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag is a fireman who instead of putting out fires burns books. He eventually meets Clarisse who changes his outlook on life and inspires him to read books (which are outlawed). This leads to Guy being forced on the run from the government. The culture, themes, and characters in Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 construct a dystopian future that is terrifying to readers.
The theme of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 can be viewed from several different angles. First and foremost, Bradbury's novel gives an anti-censorship message. Bradbury understood censorship to be a natural outcropping of an overly tolerant society. Once one group objects to something someone has written, that book is modified and censorship begins. Soon, another minority group objects to something else in the book, and it is again edited until eventually the book is banned altogether. In Bradbury's novel, society has evolved to such an extreme that all literature is illegal to possess. No longer can books be read, not only because they might offend someone, but because books raise questions that often lead to revolutions and even anarchy. The intellectual thinking that arises from reading books can often be dangerous, and the government doesn't want to put up with this danger. Yet this philosophy, according to Bradbury, completely ignores the benefits of knowledge. Yes, knowledge can cause disharmony, but in many ways, knowledge of the past, which is recorded in books, can prevent man from making similar mistakes in the present and future.
Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is a novel about a materialistic society that has forgotten social interaction with each other. This materialistic society is where Bradbury believed society today is headed<THE TENSES HERE ARE A LITTLE CONFUSING.>. The materialistic society in Fahrenheit 451 created through Bradbury's cynic views of society<THIS IS A FRAGMENT SENTANCE.> His views of society are over-exaggerated in contrast with today's events, especially in the areas of censorship and media mediocrity.
The author of “Fahrenheit 451”, Ray Bradbury connects many issues in his society to a distant future where everyone can not read and question any aspect of their society do to the advanced technology in which the government controls everyone. Bradbury comes to this conclusion because as growing up he has always been fascinated by sci fi books and space adventures. As a young author Bradbury struggled to make a living out his writing. He first made the news articles in the LA times and then his most famous novel is Fahrenheit 451 .The novel concludes many aspects but the major conflicts that stood out to me were multiple marriages , addiction, and teen violence.
The theme of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 can be seen from several different viewpoints. Bradbury's novel primarily gives an anti-censorship message. Bradbury understood censorship to be a natural projection of an extremely tolerant society. The society envisioned by Bradbury in Fahrenheit 451 is often compared to Huxley's Brave New World, according to the researchers at novelguide.com. Though both works certainly have an anti-government theme, that is not the core idea of Bradbury's novel.
Imagine a world where you could not read or own any books. How would you feel if you had someone burn your house because you have books hidden within the walls? One of the most prevalent themes in Ray Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit 451 is the idea of censorship. In Bradbury's fictional world, owning books is illegal. A fireman's job is not putting out fires like one may assume. In Fahrenheit 451, a fireman has the job of starting fires. Firefighters start fires in homes containing books. If this were reality, there would be no homes to live in. Books have become an integral part of American life. However, the theme of censorship is still relevant in American life.
The Majority of people today believe that the society in Fahrenheit 451 is far-fetched and could never actually happen, little do they know that it is a reflection of the society we currently live in. In Ray Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit 451 books are burnt due to people's lack of interest in them and the fire is started by firemen. Social interactions is at an all time low and most time is spent in front of the television being brainwashed by advertisements. In an attempt to make us all aware of our faults, Bradbury imagines a society that is a parallel to the world we live in today by emphasizing the decline in literature, loss of ethics in advertisement, and negative effects of materialism.
Symbolism added to the power and overall affect behind this book. The symbols were usually descriptive of something or somebody, such as the Phoenix, and the salamander. Whereas destruction and fire came to be a symbol in the eyes of the reader throughout the novel. Perhaps this novel, written in the early 1950's, spoke out against the future, and spoke out against censorship, but one thing is for sure, we must always attempt to better ourselves with knowledge, and always form our own ideas. If we do, then we will have gotten the message of Ray Bradbury. "There is no knowledge that is not power... And all our lives we must search for power, and in that search, we gain knowledge."(Anonymous)
Fahrenheit 451’s Relevance to Today Fahrenheit 451’s relevance to today can be very detailed and prophetic when we take a deep look into our American society. Although we are not living in a communist setting with extreme war waging on, we have gained technologies similar to the ones Bradbury spoke of in Fahrenheit 451 and a stubborn civilization that holds an absence of the little things we should enjoy. Bradbury sees the future of America as a dystopia, yet we still hold problematic issues without the title of disaster, as it is well hidden under our democracy today. Fahrenheit 451 is much like our world today, which includes television, the loss of free speech, and the loss of the education and use of books. Patai explains that Bradbury saw that people would soon be controlled by the television and saw it as the creators chance to “replace lived experience” (Patai 2).
Ray Bradbury displays the notion of self censorship throughout the book. He accomplished this by using examples such as books and false happiness. He uses these concepts to help the reader understand that all the little problems are a result of self censorship. Overall the novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury suggests that the main theme of the story is self censorship. Ray Bradbury's concept of self censorship in very relevant in today’s society. People often ignore the bad things in life, hoping they will find happiness in ignorance. They censor themselves from what could potentially ruin the fake happiness they have constructed. While Bradbury uses self censorship in an extreme manner, his ideas are still relevant to today’s
Johnson, Wayne L Essay on: "Fahrenheit 451" Novels for Students. Ed. Diane Telgen. Vol.1. Detroit: Gale1997.pg 156-57
In the novel Fahrenheit 451, it can give a powerful message for readers since it connects to our world