Fahrenheit 451
"You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture, just get people to stop reading them" -Ray Bradbury. Ray Bradbury's book Fahrenheit 451 shows readers a world where firefighters burn houses and books aren't allowed. Ray Bradbury tells of a world where technology is the only thing people have and how it has taken over the citizens' lives. His warning of too much technology leaves readers wondering if technology really is a bad thing. Through his use of Montag as a symbol for what is wrong with society, his allusion to Hercules and Antaeus, and his character Mildred as a symbol for how technology can destroy lives, Bradbury tells how using technology will destroy a society.
Montag is the main character in Fahrenheit 451. He is a firefighter, so his job is to burn books. At the start of the book, Montag is fine with being a firefighter. He doesn't think much about his job, he just goes through his life. When he meets Clarisse, a curious seventeen-year-old girl, he starts to question things about society. Clarisse asks him the question, "Are you happy?" and soon Montag begins to think about the society they live in. He realizes that he can't remember where he met his wife or that people are happier sitting in front of the TV all day. Montag notices the lack of feeling in both himself and society. Suicide is a common thing in his world, and nobody grieves people who have died, and nobody is troubled by the number of suicides in society. They simply continue on with their life. Montag realizes that he wouldn't be sad if his wife lived or died. These things start to make Montag think about society, so he starts to steal books. Montag believes that if he steals books and reads them, he will be able to figure out what is wrong with society. "We have everything we need to be happy, but we aren't happy. Something's missing. I look around. The only thing I positively knew was gone was the book I'd burned in ten or twelve years. So I thought books might help" (Bradbury 78). Montag is the only one in the society who sees that something is wrong. Bradbury uses Montag to show the readers that something is wrong with society. At first, the society seems perfect, and readers think that it is a utopian world. Both Montag and the readers figure out that the world is really a dystopian society.
Bradbury's allusion to Hercules and Antaeus shows readers that society is unconnected to knowledge and that society is weak. Antaeus was a giant who had incredible strength as long as he remained connected to his mother, Gaea, who was the earth. Nobody could defeat Antaeus. When Hercules came to battle Antaeus he discovered the giant's weakness and lifted him up into the air and defeated the giant. Bradbury uses this allusion to describe society. In the book, Antaeus is the society, and Hercules is the technology. Books and knowledge are the earth. As long as society stays connected to books and knowledge, they are strong when technology takes h...
