Fahrenheit 451 A novel by Ray Bradbury Literature Review Fahrenheit 451 A novel by Ray Bradbury

Setting somewhere in the U.S. in the future, sometime after 1990 (the novel was written in the 1950s) violence is prevalent everyone is unhappy and death isn’t taken seriously wars are casual no meaningful value is placed on family or religion

Characters Guy Montag is characterized as... the protagonist a total conformist, who initially conforms to the totalitarian system in which he lives works as a fireman, burning the homes of “criminals” who have books as receiving pleasure from his job, when in reality he is hungry for knowledge. changing greatly after he meets Clarisse; wants his life to have meaning a book thief; Montag has actually stolen books and hidden them in his own home. a dynamic character who steadily grows and changes; by the end of the book, he is a completely different person.

Montag continued... Mildred’s husband; Montag is unsupported by Mildred; she later reports him to the authorities Faber’s friend; with Faber’s help Montag plans to reintroduce books into society; they will plant their books in the homes of firemen and in the firehouses themselves. suspicious as Beatty becomes convinced that Montag is stealing and hiding books a murderer; Montag kills Beatty and escapes from the Mechanical Hound. safe when he meets with the exiled intellectuals who will give him refuge a survivor as war has begun and a bomb has destroyed Montag’s city. determined to go back and rebuild a new society, where books and new ideas are not only permitted, but eagerly welcomed.

Characters Mildred is characterized as... Montag’s wife a true conformist; she is fully shaped by the norms of society. meaningless; she spends her days in front of three television screens, never having a thought of her own. devoid of feeling; falling into a deep sleep each night with the help of sleeping pills and music piped into her ears; she is also indifferent about life in general, and at one point nearly commits suicide with a sleeping pill overdose truly unsupportive; she turns Montag in to the authorities. fleeing the house, never to be seen again in the novel destroyed; Millie’s fate is ironic, is destroyed by the system she so willingly supported.

Characters Professor Faber is characterized as... an old English professor who is Montag’s support system and an invaluable teacher in Montag’s quest for truth. a friend who tells Montag that he must run away after he kills Beatty; Faber saves Montag’s life by leading him to the exiled intellectuals who give him protection and hope.

Characters Captain Beatty is characterized as... Montag’s boss at the firehouse and the central antagonist of the novel as a staunch supporter of the system, never questioning its rules. believing that books are evil over and over again. determined that every last book will be destroyed by his firemen. a threat to Montag; Beatty suspects Montag is hiding books happy to destoy Montag; Beatty leads the fireman to Montag’s home and forces him to ignite his own dwelling. truly unhappy with his own life and ready to die; Beatty didn’t try to run or fight back when Montag killed him with the flamethrower and believes that Beatty was so unhappy with his life that he was ready to die. a contradiction; although he constantly states that books are evil and directs their burning, he also has a fascination for them, as evidenced in the many allusions and quotes he gives from texts he has read. a tortured man himself who easily accepts of his own death by burning at the end of the novel; he seems to prove that he is ready to end his torment.

Characters Clarisse is characterized as... a total non-conformist and the seventeen-year-old neighbor of Montag. atypical for society; Clarisse thinks, socializes, feels, wonders, questions, and enjoys life. having old-fashioned values, dreams, and aspirations and talks about the beauty of nature. unafraid to express her ideas and challenges Montag by asking him why he is a fireman, burning books. a catalyst that moves Montag forward in his journey of self-realization. Clarisse wants to know if Montag is really a happy man. As a result of her probing questions, Montag begins to examine the ethics of his job and the meaning of his life; he realizes that he truly needs a change.

Conflicts Man vs. Man - Montag against Beatty Man vs. Self - Montag against himself - Beatty against himself - Faber against himself Man vs. Society - Montag vs. conformist society - Clarisse vs. conformist society

Symbolism Light - Light represents knowledge and understanding books and information Darkness - darkness represents ignorance

Themes Conformity - Following the crowd can have disastrous consequences Books - Books are an essential part to learning and knowledge Technology - A life filled with technology strips individuals of their ability to feel and think.