Ray Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit 451 - review
In Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451, the author utilizes the luxuries of life in America today, in addition to various occupations and technological advances, to show what life could be like if the future takes a drastic turn for the worse. In this futuristic look at man and his role in society, he turns man's best friend, the dog, against man, changes the role of public servants and changes the value of a person. Society has evolved to such an extreme that all literature is illegal to possess. The intellectual thinking that arises from reading books can often be dangerous, and the government doesn’t want to put up with this danger (Novel). The layout of Fahrenheit 451 is critical to the reader, guiding them to perceive themes and issues, from a specific angle. The novel is told through the point of view of Guy Montag and a narrator, and creates a unique perspective for the reader, allowing them to view the world through someone with first hand experience of this totalitarian society and then through the eyes of a stranger looking in. Through Montag the reader feels and understands his unhappiness and like him yearns for fulfillment through knowledge and truth. The narrator then allows the reader to see Montag’s transition, from an ignorant but curious fireman, to a knowledgeable human, increasing our understanding of him, while exploring the totalitarian nature of Montag’s society. Fahrenheit 451 begins with a famous opening line: "It was a pleasure to burn", a line which resonates throughout the book in interesting ways(Schellenberg). The novel is broken up into three large chapters illustrating Montag’s change throughout the novel. The title of each chapter is significant to the content of that section, and to the novel as a whole. ‘The Hearth and the Salamander’ the beginning chapter of the novel, concentrates on the life of Montag the ‘fireman’. Both of these symbols have to do with fire, the dominant image of Montag’s life—the hearth because it contains the fire that heats a home, and the salamander because of ancient beliefs that it lives in fire and is unaffected by
flames (Themes). These are both important images in this chapter, because Montag’s life revolves around fire, he enjoys burning books and takes great pride in his job and the law he upholds in his society. The books second chapter, ‘The Sieve and the Sand’, goes back to when Montag was a little boy and tried to fill a sieve with sand. The title symbolizes Montag’s thirst for knowledge and his struggle to gain it all in one go, ironically the more he tries the harder it is to grasp the truth. The sand is symbolic of the real truth that ...
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flames (Themes). These are both important images in this chapter, because Montag’s life revolves around fire, he enjoys burning books and takes great pride in his job and the law he upholds in his society. The books second chapter, ‘The Sieve and the Sand’, goes back to when Montag was a little boy and tried to fill a sieve with sand. The title symbolizes Montag’s thirst for knowledge and his struggle to gain it all in one go, ironically the more he tries the harder it is to grasp the truth. The sand is symbolic of the real truth that Montag searches for, and his mind the sieve. This figure of speech suggests that the truth is very hard to find and can not be retained in any permanent way. The third chapter is titled ‘Burning Bright’ because of the many references to fire and burning. However, in this chapter we see fire taking on a new meaning, when Montag is forced to burn his house and all his possessions ironically enjoying it, ridding himself of the intrusive television walls and what they represent about his world. Fire is used as a cleansing tool in this instance and it signifies Montag cleansing himself of this life and Mildred and her sad existence. This part of the book can also be seen as symbolic of the new Montag at the very end of the novel, fulfilled and happy, he is now burning bright with knowledge and awareness of the world around him. "Burning Bright" concerns Montag's escape from and the eventual end of the society he left behind (Schellenberg). The characters in the novel, and their development, play an important part in informing the reader and shaping their understanding of themes within the text. The theme of the book is based on the theory that, where there is no freedom to seek truth there is no fulfillment. This idea is crystallized by the contrast of characters we meet. Mildred, Montag’s wife, is an overall depressing character that any reader will find it hard to relate to. The reader would expect to know the protagonist’s wife very intimately, but she is completely cold, distant, and unreadable (Themes). She has lost her capacity to think for herself and has become a shell of a human being, living without any sincere emotional, intellectual or spiritual substance. Immersing herself in the unreality of her television and soap opera ‘family’, and her seashell radio, to escape the pain and dissatisfaction that she feels from her unfulfilling life. She also represents the entrapment of her society, even when she tries to commit suicide the government has machines and systems to revive her and keep her alive. Clarisse on the other hand is content and happy with her life; she appreciates the world around her and recognizes the beauty of the simple things like nature, which her society as a whole has forgotten. She thrives on her curiosity, questioning the people she is surrounded by, and the social structure that governs it, ironically it is Clarisse that is considered the outsider in this most controlling society. Through the extremes of these two characters, we can see how fulfillment in ones life is so important and that Clarisse who stretches the rules and boundaries in search of truth is the only truly happy one. At the beginning of the novel, Montag represents the middle ground between these extremes. He knows that the “utopia’ he protects isn’t as perfect as it is made out to be, however he lacks the questioning mind and courage to explore this. When Montag encounters Clarisse we see it lighting the match inside him, she forces him to open his eyes to the world around him, Clarisse has recognized his potential for individual thought. Clarisse is puzzled by Montag because he's not like other firemen. He listens to her and answers her questions, whereas most firemen ignore or threaten her (McKey).However, Montag’s feelings to Clarisse are hesitant, mixed with both fascination and disgust. She challenges his beliefs and then proceeds to remove his mask of happiness, turning Montag’s world upside-down and forcing him to confront the reality of his situation. Nevertheless he is also intrigued by her, she acts as a mirror to Montag and for the first time in what seems like forever, he feels someone understanding him, and as he states after this encounter. In the space of this initial three-minute conversation, Montag felt more of a connection with this girl than he had in his whole-married life. Clarisse dies early in the story so she´s just the stumbling-block of Guy´s transformation. He makes his development from a loyal servant of the state´s ideology to a self-confident human being with its own free will on his own (Farenheit). Throughout the text, recurring images are used to aid the reader in the understanding the themes and issues brought by the author. Books are a motif used in ‘Fahrenheit 451’ to do just this. Books are source of knowledge, and it is this knowledge in turn that creates power, and imagination, creating freedom of thought and individuality. In the novel, books are made illegal and burned to create an ignorant society, a society with no opportunity of learning the mistakes of there past or challenging the ideas of the future. This motif suggests to the reader how the totalitarian government not only controls the lives of these people, through the restrictions of their freedom of individual thought and imagination. Without these privileges, the people of this society are zombies, slaves, behaving and being controlled in a way that suits the government. Montag accepts this world without question, never stopping to think that there might be more to life than his job and the various entertainment that society feeds him (McKey) The use of symbols in the text is another powerful technique. Symbols are objects, characters, or colors used to represent ideas or concepts. In ‘Fahrenheit 451’ blood appears as a symbol of how Montag’s society causes repression of one’s primal self. Throughout the novel, Montag’s most deep and meaningful thoughts are first felt stirring in his blood, he feels a strong connection to his blood and feels he is made whole through it. When Mildred’s blood is replaced after she overdoses, it has no effect on her. Mildred already lives a half life existence and has no connection with her primal self, hence has no connection with her blood. Fire is a more complex example of symbolism, changing its representation as the plot and characters also change and develop. At the beginning of the novel fire symbolizes purification as it is used to rid society of what is undesired. Books and the places they are hidden are destroyed by fire, they are burned out of existence so as not to poison society, as dirt is washed from ones own hands. In the closing stages of the novel, when, Granger and the other book followers are situated around the fire, Montag sees fire in a different light, “… a strange fire because it meant a different thing to him. It was not burning it was warming.” In this section, fire symbolizes warmth, sharing, and companionship. This change of representation also symbolizes the change of Montag, fire has changed with Montag, from being a destructive force and eradicating knowledge to a constructive force which now preserve knowledge. Fahrenheit 451 is a novel that was written as far more than entertainment. It speaks out against the repression of individuality within a totalitarian government, illustrating to the reader the damage that is caused through the loss of individual, the rights of freedom of thought and expression. Ray Bradbury’s argument forces the reader to look at their own society and its social structure. The use of narrative structure, characterization, motifs, and symbols, reinforces and makes his argument even more powerful. Whether we agree with Bradbury’s argument or not, one thing is for sure we must always attempt to better ourselves with knowledge and form our own ideas. If we do this, I think we have understood Bradbury’s underlying message. I have included a quote that I liked, and that relates to this book. ‘ There is no knowledge that is not power… and all our lives we must search for power, and in that search, we gain knowledge.” WORKS CITED Fahrenheit 451 Analysis. 8 November 2004. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit_451#Analysis McKey, Jami. "BookRags Book Notes on Fahrenheit 451." 3 November 2004. http://www.bookrags.com/notes/451/ Novel Analysis, Fahrenheit 451. 6 November 2004. http://www.novelguide.com/fahrenheit451/themeanalysis.html Schellenberg, James. “Challenging Destiny, Science Fiction and Fantasy Reviews.” 5 November 2004. http://home.golden.net/~csp/cd/reviews/f451.htm Themes, Motifs & Symbols. 5 November 2004. http://www.freebooknotes.com/page.php?link=http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/451/&book=133
