Critical Analysis of Farhenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Uploaded by spootyhead on Mar 08, 2007
Critical Analysis of Farhenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Fahrenheit 451 a futuristic novel, taking the reader to a time where books and thinking are outlawed. In a time so dreadful where those who want to better themselves by thinking and by reading are outlaws as well. Books are burned physically, and ideas are burned from the mind. Bradbury uses literary devices, such as symbolism, but it is the idea he wants to convey that makes this novel so devastating. Bradbury warns us of what may happen if we stop expressing our ideas, and we let people take away our books, and thoughts.
Bradbury incorporates symbolism into his book. He expresses it through the symbols the hearth and the salamander, the phoenix, and the great fire. Bradbury's use of symbolism throughout the novel makes the book moving and powerful. The Hearth and the Salamander, the title of part one, is the first example of symbolism. The title suggests two things having to do with fire.
The hearth is a source of warmth and goodness, showing the positive, non-destructive side of fire. Whereas a salamander, a small lizard-like amphibian, and also in mythology, is known to withstand fire without getting burnt by it. Perhaps the salamander is symbolic of Guy Montag, who is being described as a salamander because he works with fire, and endures it, but believes that he can escape the fire and survive. On the other hand, ironically, the other firemen believed that they were salamanders too because they thought they were immune to the all might flames, when in the end it was the flames that destroyed them. The symbol of a Phoenix is used throughout the novel. This quote accurately describes the Phoenix, "It is known to be a mythical multi-colored bird of Arabia, with a long history of artistic and literary symbolism, the Phoenix is one of a kind. At the end of its five-hundred-year existence, it perches on its nest of spices and sings until sunlight ignites the masses. After the body is consumed in flames, a worm emerges and develops into the next Phoenix."
The Phoenix symbolizes the rebirth after destruction by fire, only to get burnt, and be destroyed again. Firemen wear the Phoenix on their uniforms, and Capt. Beatty symbolically drives a Phoenix car. Montag, after reaching the realization that fire and destruction has indeed destroyed him, wishes to be "reborn". As part...