Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury Author Information Born

Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

Author Information • Born in 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois • Graduated from a Los Angeles high school in 1938 • Did not attend college • Became “student of life” • Fulltime writer as of 1943 • Has worked in film and television

Historical Context • 1930 s: Nazis burned books in Germany – Newsreels appalled teenage Bradbury • 1940 s: House Un-American Activities Committee investigated movie industry • WWII: Atomic bombs dropped by USA • 1950 s: Popularity of TV greatly increased • 1953: Fahrenheit 451 published

Major Themes • Censorship • Entertainment • Political Correctness • Happiness

Censorship: Cut, Cut! • Suppressing or limiting knowledge • Who censors? – The government? – The people? • Speech, Music, Books, Films, Television…

Entertainment: Sit Back and Relax • • • Are we amusing ourselves to death? Can it be addicting Is it used as a distraction Is it imposed upon us? Do we seek it? Should it be limited? How?

Political Correctness: Watch Your Mouth! • Used to describe language, ideas, or behaviors intended to avoid offending racial, cultural, or other identity groups (being “PC”) • Connects to idea of censorship • Where are the limitations?

Happiness: Don’t Worry, Be Happy • Related to entertainment theme – Do we just occupy our time with meaningless activities? – What does this keep us from doing? • How is happiness defined?

• Guy Montag – – – Main Characters Protagonist 3 rd generation fireman Looking for knowledge and truth Unhappy with society and wants to break free from oppression • Mildred Montag – – Guy’s wife – Small minded, childish, selfish, and obsessed with watching television – Perfect example of what people in this society are like • Captain Beatty – Captain of Montag’s firehouse – Well read but hates book and anyone who wants to/ does read them – Perceptive, devious, cunning • Clarisse – – – Neighbor of the Montag’s 17 years old Genuinely happy with her family, curious, intelligent, questioning An outcast because she likes to ask questions, examine nature, take walks

Main Characters • Professor Faber – – Retired English Professor – Loves books and would like to own some – Believes himself to be a coward because he never stood up to the censorship when it started – First meets Montag 1 year before the beginning of the book • Granger – – Leader of the Book People: people who have escaped society in order to preserve literature – Brave, intelligent – Believes in the strength of the human spirit • Mrs. Phelps and Mrs. Bowles – – Friends of Mildred’s – Perfect examples of society at large • Stoneman and Black – – Two firemen who work with Montag

Fahrenheit 451 Information • Information necessary to understanding the novel: – Firemen do not put out fires – they start them – Firemen start fires – they are called to the homes of people who own and read books. For committing this heinous crime, their houses are burned and they are taken to jail. – Houses are fireproof but belongings are not – Firemen are told that this has always been the scope of their job. In fact, they are told that Benjamin Franklin was the first fireman and book burner.

How is the Story Told? • Genre – Science Fiction – Dystopian Literature • Bad place (Greek); Opposite of a perfect world (utopia) • Utopia=play on Greek eutopia (good place) and outopia (no place); Perfect society • Setting – sometime during the 21 st century in an unknown city/country • Narrator – 3 rd person limited omniscient, essentially follows Montag’s point of view • Organization – Novel is set-up in three sections: – Book 1 – The Hearth and the Salamander – Book 2 – The Sieve and the Sand – Book 3 – Burning Bright

Key Terms • Utopia – (n. ) an ideal place • Censorship – (v. ) the practice of examining material in order to suppress or delete anything considered to be objectionable • Phoenix – (n. ) mythical bird said to burn itself only to rise from the ashes and live again • Science Fiction – (n. )a work of fiction that tells a story usually set in the future where there advancements in science or technology • Imagery – (n. ) description that appeals to one or more of the five senses