1. Science Fiction & Ray Bradbury The Background of Fahrenheit 451

2. What is Science Fiction? Science fiction often involves one or more of the following elements: A setting in the future or on an alternative time line. A setting in outer space or involving aliens or unknown civilizations.outer spacealiens The discovery or application of new scientific principles, such as time travel or psionics, or new technology, such as nanotechnology, faster-than-light travel or robots.time travelpsionicsnanotechnologyfaster-than-lightrobots Political or social systems different from those of the known present or past

3. Many critics cite the following as the main components of Science Fiction 1) use of satire 2) use of technology 3) desire to control environment, other lives and to live forever 4) utopian/dystopian visions

4. Who is Ray Bradbury? Born on the 22nd of August. 1920, in Waukegan. Illinois, Raymond Douglas Bradbury spent his childhood in this small town located north of Chicago. Many of his stories are set in towns similar to Waukegan. As a young child he was exposed to the horror movies of the period, such as The Phantom of the Opera and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Like Montag in Fahrenheit 451 the heroes of these stories are social outcasts. Many of the themes found in Fahrenheit 451 are related to Bradbury's early exposure to books by an aunt and his regular trips to the Waukegan Public Library with his brother. His family moved to Los Angeles in 1934 and Bradbury completed his education at Los Angeles High School, graduating in 1938. He began writing stories at the age of fifteen and in 1937 he joined the Los Angeles Science Fiction League. In 1938 he published his first short story, "Hollerbochen's Dilemma." During the 1940s, Bradbury wrote for pulp magazines such as Weird Tales and Amazing Stories. His first collection of short stories. Dark Carnival, was published in 1947. Even these early fantasy stories reveal elements of Bradbury's concern for the value of human imagination.

5. When The Martian Chronicles was published in 1950, Bradbury was hailed as a sophisticated science fiction writer. While it is a collection of related stories set on Mars, critics often discuss the book as a novel. Bradbury uses the framework of the settling of Mars to present issues like censorship, technology, racism, and nuclear war. The book has been praised for its allegorical treatment of important social issues. Other collections of stories by Bradbury that have received critical attention are The Illustrated Man, published in 1951, and / Sing the Body Electric!, published in 1969. His other novels include Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962) and Dandelion Wine (1957). Many of his stories have been televised on shows like The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and the Ray Bradbury Theater. The sheer volume of Bradbury's science fiction writing guarantees his importance in that genre. Fahrenheit 451 remains one of his best known works. The human values he explores in that work and his many other writings also assures his place among the other noted writers of dystopias, or works that suggest negative futures where humanity is oppressed.

6. Fahrenheit 451 Of the hundreds of stories Ray Bradbury has written, none are better known than Fahrenheit 451. Published in 1953 during the Cold War and McCarthy Eras, the novel reflects Bradbury's concerns about censorship and conformity during a period when free expression of ideas could lead to social and economic ostracization. The book expands the concept of a short story that Bradbury wrote in 1947 under the title "Bright Phoenix," which was published in a revised form in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1963. Galaxy published an expanded version of the premise under the title of "The Fireman" in 1951. Fahrenheit 451 is twice as long as "The Fireman." Book burning and the memorization of texts for preservation are the central actions of all three versions of the story.

7. Fahrenheit 451 While viewed as a science fiction work, Fahrenheit 451 has led to mainstream critical acclaim for Bradbury's ability as a prose stylist and as a writer of ideas. The novel is often compared to other dystopias—works which create societies where people lead dehumanized and often dangerous lives—such as Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and George Orwell's 1984. Bradbury has been praised for the richness of his imagery in Fahrenheit 451. The thematic elements of the novel have gained it the reputation as a book of social criticism which focuses particularly on American consumerism and cultural decline.

8. What’s with the title? The title Fahrenheit 451 represents the temperature at which paper burns. Based on a 1951 short story, "The Fireman," the novel depicts a future America where television dominates culture and all books are banned. Montag, the main character, is a fireman, a member of an elite, Gestapo- like organization whose purpose is to seek out and burn the few books that remain. Fahrenheit 451 makes no attempt to describe the workings of a totalitarian state. Instead, Bradbury is concerned with developing a parable of sorts about intellectual freedom. The novel can be seen as an attack on Senator Joseph McCarthy's early 1950s anti-Communist crusade, during which the senator and his supporters attempted to subject government workers, politicians, journalists, and artists to strict government scrutiny. In a broader sense, Bradbury addresses the issues of mass media induced illiteracy and antiintellectualism in general. Based on a 1951 short story, "The Fireman," the novel depicts a future America where television dominates culture and all books are banned. Montag, the main character, is a fireman, a member of an elite, Gestapo- like organization whose purpose is to seek out and burn the few books that remain.