Fahrenheit 451 Analysis

As you might expect from a novel about burning books, there’s a whole lot of fire in Fahrenheit 451. We’re not just talking about the burning houses, either. When people are angry, they’re...

We get a sense of the world in which this story takes place from a variety of details. From Clarisse’s comments we know that violence is prevalent. From the plumbers who come to the Mildred&#...

While the narrative is third person, it’s limited to Guy Montag. We spend a good amount of time in his brain hearing his thoughts, learning who he is, and understanding his many, many persona...

Does the world of Fahrenheit 451 seem like a place you want to live? Exactly. It’s a dystopia. It’s the opposite of a utopia. It’s a future society defined by excessive authoritat...

It’s probably remants from his hardcore science fiction days, but Bradbury shows a clear flair for intensity here. Characters are extreme rather than realistic (Clarisse is the kooky yet wise...

As critic after critic has pointed out, the prose of Fahrenheit 451 is less than literary fiction: “Her face was slender and milk-white, and it was a kind of gentle hunger that touched over ev...

The 1991 Ballentine edition of this book made the meaning of the title pretty obvious with an addendum to the title: "Fahrenheit 451…the temperature at which books burn." This is followed shortly...

If they give you ruled paper, write the other way. – Juan Ramón Jiménez Fahrenheit 451 is all about rebellion against seemingly overwhelming opposition. Extending the metaphor to the detailed p...

Cycles come up a lot in Fahrenheit 451—cycles of construction and destruction. Until he breaks free from his life as a fireman, all Montag knows is the latter. His job, his world, his entire life...

As a book that celebrates reading, literacy, and the importance of the written word, Fahrenheit 451 is an accessible read. It would be pretty ironic if Bradbury went all postmodern and difficult on...

“It was a pleasure to burn.”Montag is a fireman. He enjoys being a fireman. Everything is hunky dory. We hope something happens soon – like a conflict.Clarisse McClellan shows up; Mildred tri...

Clarisse entices Montag. You know, intellectually speaking. The hero starts to doubt…Through Montag’s scenes in the firehouse, we meet the many, many monsters of Fahrenheit 451: the firemen,...

Gosh, when a book is divided into three parts, this just seems too easy. Still, we can identify the elements of each act in each part of Fahrenheit. At the end of Part One, Montag has awakened to n...

Ray Bradbury wrote a draft of Fahrenheit 451 in the basement of Columbia College's library. He had to pay to use the typewriter by the hour. Now Columbia hosts the Typewriter Olympics in honor of B...

There's no sex to be found here. Mildred and Montag sleep in separate beds, which might have more to do with the fact that Bradbury was writing in the 1950s than anything else. We know couples have...

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