Mary Claire Dutton
Final Report- Installment 1
Fahrenheit 451
Section 8
Fahrenheit
451 was written by Ray Bradbury Douglas, aka Ray Bradbury in 1953. It was also
published in 1953. Ray Bradbury was born August 22, 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois.
Ray’s father was a lineman and his mother was a Swedish Immigrant. When Bradbury
was a child he was a big fan of magicians and also loved to read adventure and
fantasy fiction books. He decided to become a writer around the age of twelve
or thirteen. When Ray was a teenager his family packed up and moved to Los
Angeles, where he participated in his first play. When Bradbury graduated from high
school he could not afford to go to college. This was during the depression. So
instead of college he went to the library and spent most of his time there.
While
Bradbury began his writing career he supported himself by selling newspapers.
Bradbury sold his first professional piece called Pendulum in 1941 and he became a full time writer in 1943. Ray
married Marguerite McClure in 1947. She was a clerk at a bookstore and
supported Ray while he worked on his writing. Bradbury and Marguerite had four
children together and all four were girls. Bradbury won many awards and honors
during his lifetime. Ray died on June 5, 2012 in Los Angeles California at the
age of 91.
Fahrenheit
451 is a Dystopian Novel. It shows a future in America where books are outlawed
and firemen burn any book that is found. The book title is actually the degrees
at which a book begins to burn. Bradbury based this novel off of many
historical events, such as the book burnings of the Nazi Regimen in the 1930’s.
The burning of the books became a major symbol of the repression in Germany. A
rather large concern of the liberal minded people in the 1950’s was the
importance of books and the freedom to read them. Censorship also plays a large
role in this book. Even though Americans are supposed to have free speech,
Bradbury’s publishers “censored” Fahrenheit
451 so it could be sold to a younger audience.
There
are four main characters in Fahrenheit
451. Guy Montag is the protagonist in this book. He is named after a paper
manufacturing company. Montag is a third generation fireman who loves his job.
Mildred Montag is Guy Montag’s wife. Guy began courting her in Chicago and they
were married when they were twenty years old. She has extremely pale skin and
chemically burnt hair. She is completely controlled by electronics which is
causing her and Guy to become incompatible. Captain Beatty is not the average
book burner. He is a book burner who has a vast knowledge of literature.
Therefore, at some point in his life, books played a large role in his life.
Beatty says that books are treacherous weapons but he uses them for his own
good. Faber is named after a famous publisher. He is constantly competing with
Captain Beatty for Montag’s mind. Faber can sometimes be a coward but he can
also be heroic. These are the four main characters in the book.
Ray said “You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.” We're creating our own dystopia without high heat.
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