Biography of Ray Douglas Bradbury    

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Author of more than 500 published literary works Born in Waukegan, Illinois, on August 22, 1920 (His hometown is used it as the setting of two of his novels under the pseudonym of Green Town.) In his youth, Bradbury developed a love of magic and had aspirations of becoming a magician. Encouraged in his creativity by his family, Bradbury turned to writing at a young age. Bradbury¹s first short story was published in Weird Tales when he was 20. This was the first of many professional publications of Bradbury¹s work, which includes Dark Carnival (1947), Martian Chronicles (1950), The Illustrated Man (1951), The Golden Apples of the Sun (1953), Fahrenheit 451 (1953), Dandelion Wine (1957), and Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962). In addition to his numerous books and short stories, Bradbury wrote for years for both Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone. Bradbury was a consultant for the 1963 World¹s Fair and helped to design the Spaceship Earth ride at Disney World¹s EPCOT Center. Though Ray Bradbury is most widely regarded as a science fiction writer, he has not limited himself to that genre, having produced both works of drama and psychological realism in addition to his science fiction works. Furthermore, it would be unfair to classify much of Bradbury¹s more philosophical science fiction, Fahrenheit 451 included within the genre of science fiction. Fahrenheit 451 is just as much a social criticism as a work of science fiction, if not more so. Bradbury¹s work has contributed to American literature on many levels. Dandelion Wine, the book most contiguous with Fahrenheit 451 views technology and technological innovation as inconsequential in solving basic human problems. Background Information

The story of fireman Guy Montag first appeared in "The Fireman", a short story by Ray Bradbury published in Galaxy Science Fiction in 1951. Montag's story was expanded two years later, in 1953, when it was published as Fahrenheit 451. While the novel is most often classified as a work of science fiction, it is first and foremost a social criticism that warns against the danger of suppressing thought through censorship. Fahrenheit 451 uses the genre of science fiction, which was enjoying immense popularity at the time of the books publication, as a vehicle for his message that oppressive government, left unchecked, can do irreparable damage to society by limiting the creativity and freedom of its people. In particular, the "dystopia" motif popular in science fiction - that of a futuristic technocratic and totalitarian society that demands order and harmony at the expense of individual rights - serves the novel well. Developed in the years following World War II, Fahrenheit 451 condemns not only the anti-intellectualism of the defeated Nazi party in Germany, but more immediately the intellectually oppressive political climate of the early 1950's - the heyday of McCarthyism. That such influential social criticisms via fiction as Orwell's Animal Farm and 1984 and Skinners Walden Two were published just a few short years prior to Fahrenheit 451 is not coincidental. These works reveal a very real apprehension of the danger of the US evolving into an oppressive, authoritarian society that existed in the post-WWII period. On a more personal level, Bradbury used Fahrenheit 451 as a vehicle through which to protest what he believed to be the invasiveness of editors who, through their strict control of the books they printed, impaired the originality and creativity of writers. Ironically, Fahrenheit 451, itself a vehicle of protest against censorship, has often been edited for foul language. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury's most popular novel, has been reprinted scores of times since it was initially published in 1953. The lesson of this American classic is one that has become increasingly important and is as relevant today as it was when it was first written.

Part One: The Hearth and the Salamander Glossary Juan Ramon Jimenez: “If they give you ruled paper, write the other way.” Jiminez (1881-1958) was a Spanish poet who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1956 and was largely responsible for introducing Modernism (a challenge to authority) into Spanish poetry. this great python the fire hose, which resembles a great serpent; a key image in the novel that serves as a reminder of Adam and Eve’s temptation to disobey God in the Garden of Eden. pigeon-winged books the books come alive and flap their ―wings‖ as they are thrown into the fire. This connection between books and birds continues throughout the text and symbolizes enlightenment through reading. black beetle-colored helmet in literature, the beetle, with its prominent black horns, is a symbol for Satan. Here, vehicles resemble beetles in the dystopian society. infinitely lacking limits or bounds; extending beyond measure or comprehension. salamander a mythological reptile, resembling a lizard, that was said to live in fire. In the concept of nature, the salamander is a visual representation of fire. In mythology, it endures the flames without burning.

Beatty the fire captain, who ―baits‖ Montag, is well-named. November 4 the firemen play cards early on Mischief Day (November 4), the eve of Guy Fawkes Day, when bonfires and burning of guys in effigy commemorate his Gunpowder Plot, an abortive attempt to destroy James I and his Protestant supporters, who oppressed Catholics. Stoneman and Black firemen whose names suggest that the hardness of their hearts and the color of their skin and hair come from contact with smoke. Benjamin Franklin founder of America’s first fire company in Boston in 1736. Play the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out! Bishops Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley, Protestant supporters of the late Queen Jane Grey, were burned at the stake for heresy at Oxford on October 16, 1555. They refused to endorse Queen Mary, a Catholic, claiming that she was an illegitimate daughter of Henry VIII, born after he married his late brother’s wife, Catherine of Aragon. Later, Captain Beatty recites the latter portion of the quotation and indicates that he knows something of history. cricket English slang for fair play; sportsmanship.

phoenix in Egyptian mythology, a lone bird that lives in the Arabian desert for 500 or 600 years and then sets itself on fire, rising renewed from the ashes to start another long life; a symbol of immortality. Clarisse the girl’s name derives from the Latin word for brightest. Guy Montag his name suggests two significant possibilities—Guy Fawkes, the instigator of a plot to blow up the English Houses of Parliament in 1605, and Montag, a trademark of Mead, an American paper company, which makes stationery and furnaces. man in the moon the perception of children that the contours of the moon’s surface are a face, which peers down at them. The image reflects the oppressive nature of a society that burns books because the man in the moon is always watching them. mausoleum a large, imposing tomb; often a symbol of death used in literature. Used to describe the interior of Guy’s bedroom. moonstones an opal, or a milky-white feldspar with a pearly luster, used as a gem. The moonstone is connected with Mercury, the mythological guide who leads souls to the underworld. black cobra the ―suction snake‖ that pumps Mildred’s stomach repeats the earlier image of the python; the impersonal handymen who operate it have ―eyes of puff adders.‖ The fact that it has an eye suggests a sinister and invasive fiber optic tube that examines the inside of the body’s organs and even the soul. electronic bees futuristic ―seashell ear-thimbles‖ that block out thoughts and supplant them with mindless entertainment. That’s what the lady said snappy stage comeback that Mildred uses in place of normal conversation.

Time has fallen asleep in the afternoon sunshine from Chapter 1 of Dreamthorp, a collection of essays by Alexander Smith, a Glasgow lacemaker. Tower of Babel in Genesis 11:1–9, the mythic explanation of how Noah’s children came to speak different languages. The word babel means a confusion of voices, languages, or sounds. centrifuge the sight of being spun in a great gyre delineates Montag’s impression of separation from reality. pratfall slang for a fall on the buttocks, especially one for comic effect, as in burlesque. automatic reflex Beatty uses this term to describe how people stopped using their brains and began depending on nerve functions that require no thought. theremin named after Russian inventor Leon Theremin; an early electronic musical instrument whose tone and loudness are controlled by moving the hands in the air between two projecting antennas. our fingers in the dike an allusion to the legend about the Dutch boy who performed a noble, selfless public service in holding back the sea by keeping his finger in a hole in the dike. It is computed that eleven thousand persons have at several times suffered death rather than submit to break their eggs at the smaller end Jonathan Swift illustrates the pettiness of human controversy in Book I, Chapter 4 of Gulliver’s Travels. The satire found in Swift’s writing emphasizes the absurd extent to which society will go to enforce conformity. When Montag reads this quote to Millie, he is pointing out that people are willing to die rather than conform, even though others may believe their position to be absurd or irrational.

Part 1 “The Hearth and the Salamander” Analysis: The first of the three parts chronicles Montag's realization that he is unhappy and unfulfilled and the beginning of his quest for the happiness and fulfillment that he lacks, while advancing the larger theme that where there is no freedom to seek truth there is no fulfillment. This message is crystallized by the contrast between the three predominant characters we meet in this part. Millie, unaware of her capacity for original thought, is so miserable that she must escape from her reality through constant immersion in the unreality offered her by radio, television, and addiction to sleeping pills. Sadly, she believes herself to be happy because no one has told her otherwise and she lacks the impetus to think for herself. Clarisse, on the other hand, is content because she is curious and seeks to satiate her curiosity by questioning the people and social constructs around her. Montag represents the middle ground between these extremes - he has come to the realization that the status quo is not inherently righteous because it is the status quo, has awakened and acknowledged his curiosity, and has begun on the road to freedom and happiness through experience and thought. The main means of suppressing free thought is book burning, which represents the larger evil of censorship. The state in which the world is portrayed may well be meant to serve as a warning as to what may be in store for a society where anti-intellectualism is allowed to ferment. The situation found in Fahrenheit 451 retains a sense of "what might have been" had Hitler succeeded and Nazi oppression been allowed to overtake the world. At the same time, the rampant McCarthyism existing in the political climate at a time when textbooks were being summoned for examination by the Un-American Activities Committee is being called into question through Bradbury's work. ―The Hearth and the Salamander‖ is ripe with meaning. Even the title of the section conjures images relevant to the issues at hand. The hearth conjures images of fire, that tool of destruction used in the novel to censor knowledge and ideas. The salamander is a lizard that myth holds can survive in flames - thereby fostering an image of free thought, personified by Guy Montag, surviving amidst the fires of suppression. The book, that most feared and reviled enemy of the State is quite significant in this section of the novel, as it is throughout Fahrenheit 451. Books represent knowledge and awareness. Like the forbidden fruit in the futuristic Eden that is Montag's society, books are forbidden by the state in its hubris. Books are referred to metaphorically and in simile as birds, their pages wings. Transversely, it seems, they represent freedom that knowledge brings and that freedom's ability to transcend - to fly. The significance of fire is also manifold. Fire represents purification as it is used to rid society of that which is undesirable. Books and the places where they are hidden are eradicated by fire - they are burned out of existence so as not to contaminate society. Captain Beatty mentions the standard practice of immediately cremating the dead so as not to be burdened with decaying bodies and memorials and the grief associated with them. Later, as Montag comes to self-realization, fire comes to represent oppression - a means of subduing the knowledge of books. Fire also represents awareness. Upon greeting the firemen, the old woman who would later burn with her books as a martyr for free thought quotes Bishop Hugh Latimer, who was burned for heresy in the 16th century, saying, " . . . we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out!" This quote rings true with Montag, who later laments, "you ever see a burnt house? It smolders for days. Well, this fire'll last me the rest of my life." Fire is important for its transforming powers as well. In the opening paragraph of the novel, the author refers to the pleasure Montag took in seeing things changed by fire. Similarly, Montag is changing with each fire he sets. Water, the opposing force to fire, takes on meaning as a metaphor for escape. Millie, ever in need of escape from the opportunity to think, uses her seashell radios to occupy her brain at night, as "an electronic ocean of sound . . . coming in on the shore of her unsleeping mind. . . Every night the waves came in and bore her off on their great tides of sound, floating her, wide-eyed, toward morning. There had been no night in the last two year that Mildred had not swum that sea". There is also an image of Montag finding escape through water, though he is escaping not from himself, but from the mental hold of his oppressive society. After questioning Clarisse about her motivation to walk in the rain and catch drops in her mouth and she inquiring about his motivation to be a fireman, Montag begins to question himself, his career, and his marriage, doing so as he tilts back his head to drink in the raindrops. Additionally, there are allusions throughout the section to the intruding eye of oppression monitoring the people who live in Montag's dystopia. Captain Beatty seems the personification of intrusive oppression, knowing Montag is ill and that he is keeping books without being told. The Mechanical Hound is also a symbol of the perpetual presence of the totalitarian state, able to track down and destroy anyone at any time, leaving its victim no place to hide. Even when Clarisse reminds Montag that "there's a man in the moon," an image of a silent, constant watcher arises along with a sense of childish wonderment. The latter Montag hasn't realized for a long time, the former perhaps never before.

Part II: The Sieve and the Sand Glossary We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over; so in a series of kindnesses there is at last one which makes the heart run over from James Boswell’s Life of Dr. Johnson, published in 1791. The quotation helps Montag understand his relationship with the mysterious Clarisse, who brings joy into his life for no obvious reason. That favorite subject. Myself. taken from a letter of the British biographer James Boswell, dated July 16, 1763. The quotation emphasizes the chasm that separates Montag from Mildred, who shuns self-analysis and submerges herself in drugs and the television programs that sedate her mind. half out of the cave Bradbury alludes to Plato’s cave allegory, found in Book 7 of his Republic. The analogy describes how people rely on flickering shadows as their source of reality. Faber the character’s name suggests that of Peter Faber (1506– 1545), tutor of Ignatius Loyola and founder of two Jesuit colleges. Mr. Jefferson? Mr. Thoreau? Thomas Jefferson, the chief author of the Declaration of Independence, and Henry David Thoreau, author of Walden and Civil Disobedience. This phrase is used to illustrate that all books and authors are valuable. These two authors are chosen to show who wrote about revolution and fighting opression. dentrifice any preparation for cleaning teeth. This word is part of the phrase that Montag hears repeatedly in the subway. Consider the lilies of the field. They toil not, neither do they In his surreal dash on the subway toward Faber’s house, Montag tries to read a line from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount from the Gospel of St. Matthew. The line, which is taken from Chapter 6, verses 28–29, concludes, ―And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.‖ This quotation reminds Montag that spiritual hunger is greater than material need. Caesar’s praetorian guard a reference to the bodyguards that surrounded the Roman Caesars, beginning with Rome’s first emperor, Octavian, later named Augustus. While holding back the mob, the praetorians wielded supreme control over the rulers who they sought to protect, and they are thought to have assassinated Caligula and replaced him with Claudius, a crippled historian who was their choice of successor. the salamander devours its tail Faber, who creates a way to implicate firemen in their own menace and therefore eradicate them, characterizes his plot with an image of self-destruction. this electronic cowardice Faber, an old man who is too fearful to confront Captain Beatty, is willing to direct Montag’s confrontation through his electronic listening and speaking device. The Book of Job Faber selects this book of the Old Testament, which describes how Job is tested by God. The upshot of Job’s struggle with suffering, loss, and temptation is that he learns to trust. Vesuvius a volcano near Naples that erupted August 24, 79 A.D., burying the citizens of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Cheshire cat a grinning cat, a character from Chapter 6 of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.

In again out again Finnegan a common nonsense rhyme indicating Mrs. Phelps’ lack of concern about the war and her husband’s part in it. The quotation restates ―Off again, on again, gone again, Finnegan,‖ a terse telegram about a rail crash from Finnegan (a railroad boss) to Flanagan (his employer). fire plus water Montag, who perceives the split halves of his being, anticipates the distillation of his fiery self into wine after Faber has molded his intellect with wisdom and teaching. Who are a little wise, the best fools be a line from John Donne’s poem ―The Triple Fool,‖ which Beatty uses to confuse and stifle Montag. the sheep returns to the fold. We’re all sheep who have strayed at times Beatty alludes to the prophecy in Isaiah 53:6: ―All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned ever one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.‖ The message implies that Montag has betrayed his fellow firemen. Truth is truth, to the end of reckoning Beatty’s montage of quotations rambles on to a verse from Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, Act V, Scene i, Line 45. They are never alone that are accompanied with noble thoughts a verse taken from Sir Philip Sidney’s Arcadia, which in turn paraphrases a line from Beaumont and Fletcher’s Love’s Cure, Act III, Scene iii. Sweet food of sweetly uttered knowledge a line from Sir Philip Sidney’s Defense of Poesy. Words are like leaves and where they most abound, Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found Beatty quotes a couplet from Alexander Pope’s Essay on Criticism as cynical commentary on his profusely garbled and contradictory recitation. A little learning is a dangerous thing. Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring; There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, and drinking largely sobers us again a famous pair of couplets from Alexander Pope’s Essay on Criticism, which warns the learner that scholarship requires dedication for maximum effect. Knowledge is more than equivalent to force an aphorism from Chapter 13 of Dr. Samuel Johnson’s Rasselas. He is no wise man that will quit a certainty for an uncertainty an aphorism from Dr. Samuel Johnson’s Idler. Truth will come to light, murder will not be hid long! from Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, Act II, Scene ii, Line 86. Oh God, he speaks only of his horse a paraphrase of ―he doth nothing but talk of his horse‖ from Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, Act I, Scene ii, Lines 37–38. The Devil can cite Scripture for his purpose from Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, Act I, Scene iii, Line 99. This age thinks better of a gilded fool, than of a threadbare saint in wisdom’s school a couplet from Thomas Dekker’s Old Fortunatus.

The dignity of truth is lost with much protesting a line from Ben Jonson’s Catiline’s Conspiracy, Act III, Scene ii. Carcasses bleed at the sight of the murderer a line from Robert Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy, Part I, Section I, Member 2, Subsection 5.

The folly of mistaking a metaphor for a proof, a torrent of verbiage for a spring of capital truths, and oneself as an oracle is inborn in us a paraphrase of Paul Valery’s Introduction to the Method of Leonardo da Vinci. A kind of excellent dumb discourse a line from Shakespeare’s Tempest, Act III, Scene iii, Line 38.

trench mouth an infectious disease characterized by ulceration of the mucous membranes of the mouth and throat and caused by a bacterium; derived from its prevalence among soldiers in trenches.

All’s well that is well in the end a paraphrase of Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well, Act IV, Scene iv, Line 35.

Knowledge is power a line from Francis Bacon’s Advancement of Learning, Book I, i, 3.

the tyranny of the majority from John Emerich Edward DalbergActon’s History of Freedom and Other Essays.

A dwarf on a giant’s shoulders sees the furthest of the two from Democritus to the Reader, Robert Burton’s paraphrase from Lucan’s Civil War, which is echoed in Sir Isaac Newton’s letter to Robert Hooke, February 5, 1675 or 1676.

Part II “The Sieve and the Sand” Analysis: In ―The Sieve and the Sand,‖ we witness Montag's continued transition awareness. The title of this part provides a metaphor for Montag's frustration at not being able to immediately grasp what is true in the world. Through Montag's own recollection on the train, the reader has an image of a young Montag desperately trying to fill a sieve with sand an impossible task. Likewise, Montag is frustrated to find himself a sieve of sorts, unable to retain what he reads from the Bible, however feverishly he may try. On a larger scale, it becomes apparent that it is not only the words of the Bible, but truth in general that Montag finds difficult to attain, try as he might. Thus he is frustrated that he cannot fill himself and make himself whole. Millie and others like her are sieves of sorts as well, unable and unwilling to grasp information even when it is made readily available to them. The introduction of Faber's character into the novel is quite significant. The old man represents knowledge in that he is realizes that the banning of books has made people less, rather than more, enlightened. Much of the imagery associated with Faber incorporates the color white - his walls, skin, hair, beard, eyes, are all described as white. This lends itself to the portrayal of his character as pure and unspoiled amidst the technology that has sullied the minds and characters of so many others. Faber is likened to water, and cleansing, renewing entity, which, combined with the fire which is associated with and comes to represent Montag, should, ideally, give rise to the "wine" of truth and knowledge. Faber said, ―I don’t talk things, sir; I talk the meaning of things. I sit here and know I’m alive.‖ It is ironic that Faber should tell Montag that the world necessitates leisure, in addition to information and the right to act on free thought, because leisure is one entity that no one seems to be lacking. Here there is a distinction made between the free time afforded by technology and the will and knowledge to use it productively. The theme of self-destruction can be found in the images of the women, who are characterized by fire images: they light cigarettes and blow the smoke from the mouths; they all have ―sun-fired‖ hair and ―blazing‖ fingernails. The reader sees Millie through the eyes of her husband as "a wax doll melting in its own heat." By using the familiar images of heat and fire, Bradbury relates that Millie is fostering her own self destruction by choosing to ignore and abandon reality rather than seek out truth, as her husband aspires to do. Despite his intentions, we see Montag himself display a self-destructive streak when he insists, despite Faber's admonishments, on engaging Millie and her friends in an argument and reading poetry to them. The theme of self-destruction is also visited during Montag and Faber's initial conversation in Faber's apartment, when Faber speaks of the proposed plot to undermine the authority of firemen by planting books in their homes by saying, "the salamander devours its tail." This image incorporates both the established symbol for firemen, and the idea of self-destruction present throughout the second part of the book. Montag's disdain for Millie's friends is a microcosm of that which he is developing for the entire society that they represent. The women's selfishness, revealed through their nonchalance about the upcoming war in which their husbands will fight and disregard for children is in keeping with the prevalent attitudes of a society where maintaining one's own illusion of happiness is the only priority. This ―happiness'‖ is advertised through the ―Chesire Cat" smiles the women wear. The reader is cognizant of the fact that personal happiness in this society is, in fact, only an illusion, having been reminded of this earlier in the section, when Montag realizes that his own "burnt-in" smile no longer contorts his face. He has discovered that he is not truly happy and is no longer keeping up the façade that he is.

The poem that Montag chooses to read to his guests, "Dover Beach," deals with themes found throughout the book those of loss of faith, the need to care and be cared for, the destruction of war, and the desire for happy illusions to be true. Dover Beach Matthew Arnold The sea is calm tonight, The tide is full, the moon lies fair Upon the straights; on the French coast the light Gleams, and is gone; the cliffs of England stand, Glimm'ring and vast, out in the tranquil bay. Come to the window, Sweet is the night air! Only from the long line of spray, Where the sea meets the moon-blanch'd land, Listen! you hear the grating roar Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling, At their return, up the high strand, Begin and cease and then again begin, With tremulous cadence slow, and bring The eternal note of sadness in. Sophocles long ago Heard it on the Aegean, and it brought Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow Of human misery; we Find also in the sound a thought, Hearing it by this distant northern sea.

The sea of faith Was once, too, at the full, and round earth's shore Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled. But now I only hear, Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar, Retreating to the breath Of the night wind, down the vast edges drear And naked shingles of the world Ah, love, let us be true To one another! for the world, which seems To lie before us like a land of dreams, So various, so beautiful, so new, Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light, Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain; And we are here, as on a darkling plain, Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, Where ignorant armies clash by night.

At work, Montag must deal with a barrage of quotes, spewed out of context by Beatty to disparage books and their value. Meanwhile, Faber chirps in Montag's ear via radio, urging him to bite his tongue and not to accept what Beatty says as truth. This scene, in which you can almost picture the angel Faber and the devil Beatty competing for Montag's sympathy and attention, encompasses the ongoing struggle between good and evil that has, until now, been raging, for the most part, in Montag's head. In keeping with its frantic tone, Part II ends with the story's climax - the arrival of the firemen at Montag's house. At this point he is stripped of his former life - he will certainly lose his home and livelihood. He has deviated from the norm, choosing books and truth over the illusion of happiness he once embraced.

Part III: Burning Bright Glossary Burning Bright the heading derives from ―The Tyger,‖ a poem by William Blake that many interpret as a meditation about the origin of evil in the world. The tiger is considered a symbol for a world in which evil is a work; it speaks also of the dual nature of all existence. Icarus the son of Daedalus; escaping from Crete by flying with wings made of Daedalus, Icarus flies so high that the sun’s heat melts the wax by which his wings are fastened, and he falls to his death in the sea. Beatty alludes to Icarus with the comment: ―Old Montag wanted to fly near the sun and now that he’s burnt his damn wings, he wonders why.‖ You think you can walk on water Beatty alludes to Jesus walking on water, as recorded in Mark 6:45–51. There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats, for I am arm’d so strong in honesty that they pass by me as an idle wind, which I respect not Beattytaunts Montag with a passage from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Act IV, Scene iii, Line 66. there’s lots of old Harvard degrees on the tracks Faber refers to the educated people who have dropped out of sight to live the hobo life outside the city. Keystone Comedy from 1914 to 1920, director Mack Sennett and Keystone Studios produced a series of madcap silent film comedies featuring the Keystone Cops. the guild of the asbestos-weaver Montag associates his desire to stop the burning with the formation of a new trade union. Like the guilds of the Middle Ages, the asbestos-weavers symbolize progress against the tyranny of the past.

crying in the wilderness Granger compares his group’s minority status to John the Baptist, the prophet whom Isaiah predicted would one day announce the coming of the Messiah (Isaiah 40: 3–5). V-2 rocket the German’s use of the first long-range, liquid-fuel missile carrying a ton of explosives during World War II changed the face of modern warfare. atom-bomb mushroom on August 6, 1945, over Hiroshima, Japan, American pilots dropped the first atomic bomb used in the war. The explosion, which rose in a straight column two hundred miles high, ballooned outward like a huge mushroom. I hate a Roman named Status Quo! Granger’s grandfather made a pun out of the Latin phrase, which means the situation as it now exists. whisper of a scythe an extended metaphor begins with a giant hand sowing the grains of bombs over the land. The image concludes with the death-dealing scythe, the symbol carried in the hand of Father Time, an image of death, which cuts down life in a single, silent sweep. To everything there is a season Montag recalls an often-quoted segment of Ecclesiastes 3:1–8, which reminds him that there is a time for dying as well as a time for living. And on either side of the river was there a tree of life, which bore twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations a prophecy from verse two of Revelation 22, the last book in the Bible.

coat of a thousand colors Granger alludes to Joseph, the character in Genesis 37:3–4 who receives a long-sleeved, ornamental coat of many colors from Jacob, his doting father. The coat, symbolizing favoritism shown by Jacob toward his son, alienates the other sons, who sell their brother to passing traders, stain the coat with goat’s blood, and return it to their father to prove that a wild animal has eaten Joseph.

THE TYGER William Blake Tyger, tyger, burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

What the hammer? what the chain? In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? what dread grasp Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

In what distant deeps or skies Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand dare seize the fire?

When the stars threw down their spears, And watered heaven with their tears, Did He smile His work to see? Did He who made the lamb make thee?

And what shoulder and what art Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And, when thy heart began to beat, What dread hand and what dread feet?

Tyger, tyger, burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

Part III “Burning Bright” Analysis: Part III is entitled "Burning Bright" for good reason - there are many references to fire and burning included herein. The first is of Montag burning his home and his possessions, room by room. While the flames are destructive, Montag does not really grieve the loss of his home or possessions - in fact, he derives joy from ridding himself of the intrusive television walls and what they represent. The fire that Montag dispenses from the flame-thrower encompasses dual entities of destruction (when it burns books) and cleansing (burning the television). Before ordering him to burn down his own house, Beatty baits Montag, metaphorically referring to him as Icarus and thereby alluding that he did himself in with the hubris that made him believe he could get away with harboring books. The message is clear - those who defy the powers that be will meet their end, fittingly, by fire. Little does Beatty know that the tables will soon be turned when, ironically, Montag takes his advice to burn, rather than face, a problem - the problem, in this instance, being Beatty. When Montag kills Beatty with the flame-thrower, the chief is referred to in simile to be like a charred wax doll. This is reminiscent of an earlier description of Millie as a wax doll melting under its own heat. Beatty, too, it becomes apparent, has been the victim of self-destruction. Montag realizes soon after that the man had wanted to die. He needled Montag rather than beg for his life when it became apparent that the young dissident had the power to end the old chief. As Montag flees, having been stabbed by the Mechanical Hound, his leg is injured, "like a chunk of burnt pine log he was carrying along as a penance for some obscure sin." His sin, however, does not seem so obscure. Perhaps this penance has been forced upon him for all the books he had burned, the truth he had destroyed. While Montag flees, he hears the announcement that war has been proclaimed. This comes at a time when he himself has just made his first blatant act of war against his society - killing Captain Beatty and fleeing the scene. Throughout the book, whispers of war have resonated with Montag's increasing internal turmoil. That the two come to a head at the same time is only fitting. The chase for Montag is dramatic as the entire city tunes in and looks out for him, Montag is nearly killed by a reckless driver, and the Hound pauses at Faber's house before turning around and running off. Montag's immersing himself in the river is significant in that he is escaping his old life. The river, in this instance, represents renewal and rebirth. It carries him along to a new place - the country, as opposed to the city - and likeminded people. Montag emerges from the river a new man, wearing the clothes of the intellectual Faber, ready to face the new challenge of helping to rebuild a better, stronger, freer society. Montag's transformation is completed when he drinks the elixir offered him by the men on the tracks. He is no longer Montag the fireman or Montag the fugitive. He is now Montag the intellectual, keeper of truth. The men that Montag meets on the tracks, led by Granger, are the antithesis of those he left behind in the city. They are educated men who love books and learning rather than fearing them. Their fire serves as a beacon to him, representing warmth and nurturance rather than the destruction he is used to. When the man set up to look like Montag is killed, it is symbolic not only of the dishonesty perpetuated by society (a happy ending for the TV audience), but of the death of Montag the fireman. Having completed his metamorphous, Montag is no longer the person that he was - he is now curious and aware. Thus, when Granger says, "welcome back from the dead," he is actually welcoming the new Montag to a life of thinking and awareness, as opposed to the illusion of happy existence he had previously known. Granger refers to the lessons of history indirectly in two ways. He talks fondly of his grandfather, from whom he took the lesson that one must strive to contribute to the world and leave something behind. He also talks of the mythical phoenix and how it continually burned itself and was reborn, only to make the same mistake again and again for lack of memory. It is apparent that too many took after the phoenix rather than Granger in learning history's lessons. After the city is destroyed, those left along the tracks set out to rebuild it. There is hope in this, as these are men who mind the lessons of history. The book concludes with Granger, Montag, and his newfound friends walking toward the destroyed city. There is hope, as both the city and the lessons of its destruction and hope for the future of man are burning bright in the hearts and minds of these men.

The Significance of Ecclesiastes The Book of Ecclesiastes is an essay on the topic ―Is life worthwhile?‖ Ironically, the writer answers this question in the negative. He considers the various ends or goals for which people live and finds that each of these reasons brings only vanity and frustration: ―Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.‖ Referring to himself as an elderly person of considerable means and as a man who personally has tested the ways by which people pursue a meaningful life, the writer finds that life, ultimately, is self-defeating. He has tried riches and found that they do not satisfy. He has sought fame and found that it, too, is an empty feeling. He has even pursued wisdom, but it, likewise, fails to satisfy the human spirit. The more he learns, the more dissatisfied he becomes with that which he has already attained. Some people follow the course of justice, believing that they will be rewarded, but the author of Ecclesiastes is convinced that there are no rewards. His observations tell him that a righteous person fares no better than a wicked person; at times, the righteous person doesn’t even fare as well. Regardless of how an individual lives, we will all be forgotten after we die, for death comes to the righteous and the wicked alike. The writer appears to be familiar with some people’s belief that rewards and punishments will be meted out to individuals in a future life that is beyond the grave, but he takes no stock in this notion. He tells us that the death of a human is comparable to that of a beast, and he asks ironically, ―Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?‖ He says emphatically, ―All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless.‖ He does not believe in progress but is committed to a theory of cyclical history: ―What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.‖ True, each generation thinks it develops something new, but the achievements of former generations are forgotten, just as those of the present generation will not be remembered. Furthermore, the writer sees no point in trying to make the world better: ―What is twisted cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.‖ People’s desires cannot be satisfied, for the more people see, the more they want to see; the more things people acquire, the less satisfied they become with what they have obtained. The Ecclesiastes writer is indeed a cynic, but he is a gentle cynic who has not become embittered toward the world, for he resolves to make the best of what he can. Unlike the author of Job, who is emotionally troubled that innocent people suffer, the Ecclesiastes writer accepts his situation as it is and refuses to become upset about it. Throughout the book, again and again he says, ―A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work.‖ Although he accepts a kind of fatalism according to which there is a definite time and place for everything, his book is filled with advice about how a person should live in order to get the greatest enjoyment out of life. Above all else, he counsels moderation: ―Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise—why destroy yourself?‖ A person should find a happy medium. One of the tragedies of life, the author tells us, is for a person to spend so much time and energy preparing for old age that when it arrives, the person is unable to enjoy it. We should enjoy life while we are young, for old age is characterized by weakness and infirmities that are but a prelude to the time when ―the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.‖ The Book of Ecclesiastes is unique in many respects. One wonders how it happened that a book so skeptical in tone and so unorthodox in its contents would ever have been placed in the canon of sacred writings. Presumably, several factors secured its inclusion among the books of the Old Testament. Ecclesiastes strongly appeals to many individuals because of the honesty with which the author expresses his own convictions. He knows that what he says is not in accord with generally accepted ideas, but he has the courage to say what he believes to be true. Because the name of King Solomon had long been associated with the work of the sages, it became attached to this particular piece of writing and gave an added prestige to it. But even with these two factors in support of the book’s inclusion in the Old Testament, Ecclesiastes probably would have been excluded from the canon of Scriptures had it not been for an addition that appears to have been made to the last chapter. Here, we find the words ―Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.‖

Themes & Imagery The focus on death is threaded throughout Bradbury’s writings, and alongside death is Bradbury’s deep interest in the themes of deceit, dissatisfaction with the self, the reality of evil and how to contend with it, and the attainment of selfknowledge. As one may expect, these concepts are embodied in traditional images: ravines, masks, mirrors, water, carnivals, sun and fire, smiles, and the opposition of light and dark, good and evil. In particular, both the physical and psychological aspects of death and dying are examined through Bradbury’s use of ravine imagery. A ravine (defined as a long, deep hollow in the earth’s surface, especially one worn by the action of a stream) is used to show that like life, many of the things that exist on this Earth change. Bradbury believes that if we can face and understand our own individual, ultimate deaths, then we can appreciate ourselves and our lives to a fuller degree. He believes that it’s necessary to ―meet and know and chew and swallow death as a writer and as a reader‖ and to exorcise it from the subconscious so that we will not have to think about it all the time. Only then can we continue with our real business—which is living. Frequently, Bradbury also uses imagery associated with masks. Masks, of course, are often associated with deceit, deception, and games. To put on a mask is to be able to mimic, but if we put on a mask, we permit ourselves to disguise our feelings. Therefore, in Bradbury’s works, a mask is always an attractive but a dangerous element. Mirror imagery frequently illustrates the theme of dissatisfaction with ourselves. In some instances, too, Bradbury employs mirror imagery as an emblem of reality, depicting our fascination with what mirrors tell us about ourselves. However, mention of this mirror imagery is not complete without also mentioning the antithesis of reality—that is, fantasy. Bradbury’s mirror also allows us to envision ourselves in all the splendor that we wish to see ourselves as well as how we wish to be seen by others. Also inherent in any analysis of mirror imagery is Bradbury’s conservative view that we are only who we are, and any attempt at altering ourselves can lead only to disaster. Bradbury uses water imagery in the traditional sense—that is, to suggest the life source itself and the transition of the life cycle from one phase to another. Water imagery also depicts the theme of rebirth, regeneration, and purification, which Bradbury also uses throughout his writings. He incorporates the rebirth image into his ―celebrate life‖ theme. Bradbury urges us to enjoy being alive in spite of life’s difficulties, rather than finding life drudgery because of its difficulties. Bradbury’s carnival imagery is a vivid device that he often uses to effectively focus on the presence of evil as a real force in the world. A study of his carnival imagery reveals his belief that the potential for evil exists in a dormant form in each of us. That is, Bradbury believes that unless we keep that which is good within us in fit condition by actively exercising it, we will lose our ability to combat evil, thus allowing evil to grow and become powerful. Sun imagery is a symbol for God and the promise of immortality. Similarly, Bradbury’s fire imagery focuses on the theme of the victory of good over evil. Appropriately, these images function hand-in-hand because one can symbolically consider fire as the sun’s earthly representative Another image that Bradbury often uses to show the possibilities for overcoming evil in the world is the smile. Smiles and laughter, according to Bradbury, derive their power from their forefather—love. Bradbury believes that love is the strongest and most humanizing force that man possesses. The battle between good and evil appears in several images contained in Bradbury’s works. One such image is the sun, which functions symbolically as a source of life and also as a symbol for the wholeness of humankind. Very simply, for Bradbury, light is good and dark is evil. Our knowledge of death as a part of life, our learning to make the best of who and what we are, our acceptance of evil as well as good in the world, and our battle to arrest evil are the discoveries that give us a broader insight into ourselves. Bradbury has high hopes for the future of man and man’s acquisition of the most fulfilling life possible. He shows a utopian world that can result if we heed his advice, and he describes the horrors that can ensue if certain tendencies (for example, greed, dependence upon technology, governmental control) aren’t stopped. Bradbury always suggests that Earth can be the best possible of all worlds, and he also suggests that humankind, when it has come to grips with itself, can make the world a place in which we can all be as free and as happy as we have ever dreamed.

Censorship Bradbury ties personal freedom to the right of an individual having the freedom of expression when he utilizes the issue of censorship in Fahrenheit 451. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution reads: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for redress of grievances. The common reading of the First Amendment is that commitment to free speech is not the acceptance of only noncontroversial expressions that enjoy general approval. To accept a commitment to the First Amendment means, in the words of Justice Holmes, ―freedom for what we hate.‖ As quoted in Students’ Right to Read (NCTE, 1982), ―Censorship leaves students with an inadequate and distorted picture of the ideals, values, and problems of their culture. Writers may often be the spokesmen of their culture, or they may stand to the side, attempting to describe and evaluate that culture. Yet, partly because of censorship or the fear of censorship, many writers are ignored or inadequately represented in the public schools, and many are represented in anthologies not by their best work but by their safest or least offensive work.‖ What are the issues involved in censorship? Imagine that a group wants to ban Fahrenheit 451 because Montag defies authority. For the sake of the argument, assume for a moment that you wish to ―ban‖ Fahrenheit 451 from the library shelves. To do so, you must do a number of things. First, you must establish why defying authority is wrong. What are its consequences? What are the probable effects on youth to see flagrant disregard of authority? (In regard to these questions, you may want to read Plato’s Apology to get a sense of how to argue the position.) Second, you must have some theory of psychology, either implied or directly stated. That is, you must establish how a reading of Fahrenheit 451 would inspire a student to flagrantly disregard authority. Why is reading bad for a student? How can it be bad? Next, you must establish how a student who reads Fahrenheit 451 will read the book and extract from it a message that says ―Defy Authority Whenever Possible‖ and then act on this message. You must then reconcile whatever argument you construct with the responsibilities that accompany accepting the rights of the First Amendment. Perhaps you should consider and think about the issues of free speech and fundamental rights that you may not have considered before. Indeed, you may conclude that you can’t claim your own right to expression if you have the right to suppress others rights to express themselves. In looking at censorship in Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury sends a very direct message showing readers what can happen if they allow the government to take total control of what they do (or do not) read, watch, and discuss. For example, the government in Fahrenheit 451 has taken control and demanded that books be given the harshest measure of censorship—systematic destruction by burning. Although the books and people have fallen victims to censorship in Fahrenheit 451, luckily, some citizens remain who are willing to sacrifice their lives to ensure that books remain alive. As Faber notes in a conversation with Montag, ―It’s not books you need, it’s some of the things that once were in books.‖ Faber then continues this conversation with Montag pointing out that people need ―the right to carry out actions based on what we learn [from books]. . . .‖ Because the government has censored so much in its society, the citizens in Fahrenheit 451 have no idea about what is truly happening in their world. A direct result of their limited knowledge is that their entire city is destroyed because propaganda wouldn’t allow individuals to see that their destruction was imminent.