Fahrenheit 451
Fahrenheit 451 is a futuristic novel, telling the story of a time where books and independent thinking are outlawed. In a time so unenlightened, where those who want to better themselves by thinking, are outlawed and killed. Books and ideas are destroyed, books are incinerated, where as ideas thinking becomes a danger to society and is not tolerated. Bradbury uses literary devices, such as symbolism, in which he portrays thethoughts of man. The book recalls the effects of the Nazi's, and their destruction of literature and text, in a new day and age. Symbolism is a key element to understanding the book and its message of anti-censorship and common ignorance. The Hearth and the Salamander, the title of part one. This example of symbolism suggests two things having to do with fire, the hearth, a center of emotion and heat. Whereas a salamander will embrace heat and fire to gain warmth. The salamander represents the main character of Guy Montag. Montag's occupation as a fireman is to burn books and text to erase their existence and impact on thinking. The symbol of a Phoenix is us
"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 first cousin to Man. But every time he burnt himself, up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself born all over again. And it looks like we're doing the same thing, over and over, but we've got one damn thing the Phoenix never had. We know the damn silly thing we just did. We know all the damn silly things we've done for a thousand years and as long as we know that and always have it around where we can see it, some day we'll stop making goddamn funeral pyres and jumping in the middle of them. We pick up a few more people that remember every generation." Page 163. Symbolism added to the impact this book had. The symbols were usually descriptive of something or somebody, such as the Phoenix, and the salamander. Destruction and the use of fire came to be a symbol of both good and bad. Perhaps this novel, written in the early 1950's, spoke out against the recent acts of the Nazis in WWII, to warn the future of what man is capable of. Mon
Some common words found in the essay are:
Montag Montag's, Beatty Montag's, , Phoenix Christ, Capt Beatty, Hearth Salamander, Phoenix Guy's, Nazis WWII, Fire Montag, capt beatty, example symbolism, thinking outlawed, destroyed books, destruction fire, silly damn, damn silly,
Approximate Word count = 734
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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