Introduction
The book ‘Fahrenheit 451’, by Ray Bradbury made in the 1950’s, is about a fireman named Guy Montag and a dystopian society who destroys itself. Montag does the opposite from what regular fireman do. He starts fires instead of putting them out. Books in Montag society is forbidden to read and if caught reading the book would be set on fire. Instead of reading, that society watches large amounts of television as big as the wall and listens to the radio attached to their ears. It was not normal for pedestrian to talk and have meaningful conversations until Montag met a teenager name Clarisse. Clarisse sparks an interest in Montag about books. This turns his life around, leaving his job due to discontent and fleeing is society deep into the country to a group of intellectuals. After he left, he watched the violent destruction of his old society.
Body Paragraph 1: Genre
The Genre of Fahrenheit 451 is Science-Fiction. Science-fiction has two main characteristics. First, the story usually takes place some time in the future. The author or creator might share a specific date with the reader. The author might also choose to leave the future date unknown to the reader. Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 in the early 1950s. Although he does not provide the reader with an exact date, he does make a reference to two atomic wars that happened after the year 1990. This leaves us with an understanding that the major events of the book take place sometime after that date. The second important defining feature of the science-fiction genre is the description of technology. The new and exciting technologies may be based on something that already exists, or something completely imagined. Fahrenheit 451 includes several examples of futuristic technology. Homes in Bradbury’s novel feature wall-to-wall television screens. This might not sound too unrealistic today with our advancing technology, however in the 1950s these television walls were unheard of. Early televisions were like large pieces of furniture and most homes did not have a colour TV set.
Body Paragraph 2: Character analysis
The novel’s protagonist, Guy Montag, takes pride in his work with the fire department. A third-generation fireman, Montag fits the stereotypical role, with his “black hair, black brows…fiery face, and…blue-steel shaved but unshaved look.” Montag takes great joy in his work thoroughly. In his first eight years of employment, Montag even joined in the firemen’s bestial sport of letting small animals loose and betting on which ones the Mechanical Hound would annihilate first. However, in the last two years a growing discontent has grown in Montag. A “fireman turned sour” who can’t name the cause of his emptiness and disaffection. He characterizes his restless mind as “full of bits and pieces,” and he requires sedatives to sleep. In the beginning, Montag is a very normal man relative to his society. He is a city fireman and burns books and houses without regret. His change begins when he meets with a peculiar girl named Clarisse. Clarisse makes Montag actually think. Her innocence brings out a different side of him. As a result of her insight, he begins to question himself and even the society he lives in. Another influence on Montag is the suicidal woman whose house he was about to burn. He wonders about what in books can be important enough to die for. Her gruesome suicide pushes Montag over the edge and he forces himself to finally open a book. Montag continues gaining information and forming his opinion about his odd society. Montag soon realises that there is no return from his change when he is forced to burn his own house and murder Beatty. In a way he is burning his own past and all that goes with it. His fleeing symbolises the final step in his change. It is Montag literally leaving his past and becomes a sensible, book loving educator.
Body Paragraph 3/4: Plot and Theme
Set in an unspecified time in the future, Fahrenheit 451 tells the story of the protagonist Guy Montag. At first, Montag takes pleasure in his profession as a fireman, burning illegally owned books and the homes of their owners. However, Montag soon begins to question the value of his profession and turns his life around. Throughout the novel Montag struggles with his existence, eventually fleeing his oppressive, censored society and joining an underground network of intellectuals. With his newfound friends, Montag witnesses the destruction of his former city and dedicates himself to rebuilding a literate and cultural society. It is written in chronological order, sometimes referencing events that had previously occurred. The main theme that is displayed in the novel is dystopia. The examples used to show this are surveillance, control of communication, overconsumption of entertainment and anti-social behaviour.
The use of surveillance is shown through people spying on each other. Reports come in from people who spy on their neighbours and let the fireman know who has books. This is an example in dystopian societies where people are so afraid and dysfunctional that they spy on each other. The worst part is that the person who reports on Montag is his own wife. “Mildred! She ran past with her body stiff, her face floured with powder, her mouth gone, without lipstick. Mildred, you didn’t put in the alarm!” She is only worried about the TV family, which isn’t even real. This is a clearly shows a society that has broken down, when wives report on husbands without thinking about the consequences.
Another example is control of communication, shown through the propaganda of literature and ideas. Books are illegal. Apparently this was something that slowly happened, but there is nothing minor about it now. If you are caught with a book they will burn your house down and arrest you. Montag never questions his job or the burning of books until Clarisse asks him. “Do you ever read any of the books you bum? He laughed. That’s against the law! Oh. Of course. It’s fine work. Monday bum Millay, Wednesday Whitman, Friday Faulkner, burn ’em to ashes, then bum the ashes. That’s our official slogan.” Beatty tells him that society has always been against books, and the first fireman was Benjamin Franklin. This is another thing that dystopian societies always do, rewrite history to suit their purposes and control their own people.
Overconsumption of entertainment and anti-social are major aspects of most dystopian societies. If you keep people entertained, they will not realise what is really going on. This is why they have huge TV screens in all of their houses. Mildred was more concerned about the TV family than her husband. “Well, wasn’t there a wall between him and Mildred, when you came down to it? Literally not just one, wall but, so far, three! And expensive, too! And the uncles, the aunts, the cousins, the nieces, the nephews, that lived in those walls … that said nothing, nothing, nothing and said it loud, loud, loud.” Keep people entertained with mindless entertainment, and they don’t question reality. They will not have time to think. Clarisse mentions this too, that people actually get arrested for slowing down.
Body Paragraph 5: Ending
The novel ends with Montag escaping the city in the middle of a new declaration of war. When he was deep in the country, Montag meets a group of intellectuals who all preserve works of literature. Soon after these men welcome Montag into their community, an atomic bomb falls on the city turning it to a rubble. The next morning Montag leads the men on foot back toward the city. The ending can be considered as ironic, as a violent society had ended in a violent manner. Yet the ending also offers a feeling of hope. Now that he’s in the country, Montag has the time to think for himself for the first time in his life. He doesn’t have to live with loud advertisements or “families” on televisions. This community has formed a wide network of individuals, who all dedicate themselves to preserving the knowledge contained in books. In addition to belonging to this new community, Montag will now help rebuild his old community. Though the novel’s ending certainly isn’t utopian, it does propose a feeling of hope for a more thoughtful and just future. I believe a change to an ending is too unrealistic to think of, as I don’t see the society surviving in that state. I think they were always doomed, and were always going to end at some point. The society proved to be toxic and dysfunctional. I would recommend this novel to a friend. I think it provides a great insight to a view of what our current world can turn into if we don’t change anything.
Conclusion
Ray Bradbury created a view of what society could become with the advancement of technology. A prediction of a dystopian society that turns to anti-socialism and violence, which eventually destroys itself. Montag is a character who shows dynamic change in being influenced by others and his own thoughts to move away and realise the toxicity society and join a group of intellects. This novel reflects an interesting view on what our world could become.
2019-10-8-1570575854