English B1A Intro to Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury August 22, 1920-June 5, 2012

During the late 1940’s Ray Bradbury produced a short story called “The Fireman” which appeared in Galaxy Science Fiction in February of 1951. This short story was the basis for his famous novel Fahrenheit 451 which appeared in October of 1953. It is probably his best and also his best known novel. It was originally published in the same book with two other short novels, and did not come out separately until April 1960. Publication History

Book Banning and Burning Fahrenheit 451 is currently the most famous work of social criticism that Bradbury has written. It deals with the extremely serious problem of banning books and the suppression of the mind through censorship. Book burning and censorship feature prominently in Fahrenheit 451. Book Banning and Burning

Under the Nazi regime in Germany, book burnings of works by “degenerate” authors were held in public The 1950s in the United States saw the blacklisting of certain filmmakers, actors, and screenwriters who the FBI considered Communists as well as faculty purgings at universities for similar reasons Political Influences

Technological Influences The 1950s also saw the rise of television ownership and the expansion of television broadcasts in the U.S.—perhaps foreshadowing the full-room four-walled televisons that Bradbury imagines in Fahrenheit 451. Ear bud radios, a prophecy of the walkman and later, the i-pod, were also a prominent feature of Bradbury’s work. As much as Bradbury feared government suppression of thought, he also feared apathy and indifference, caused in part by an overdependence on technology, would lead us to our own destruction. Technological Influences