Sarah vonTersch

Fahrenheit 451 Historical

The Paper Burns, But the Words Fly Away

Every exceptional writer has some kind of influence metastasized through their social
life which in turn is typically portrayed through their work. Ray Bradbury, the author of
Fahrenheit 451; a novel that explores the idea of a book free society, fell in love with books at
the age of three. The development of his
new found love resulted in his many
intriguing pieces of literature throughout
his lifetime. All of the underlying themes
in his stories are a reflection of his
personal experiences, lifestyle and time
period, his love for books, the political
regimes and book burnings , how his
characters view communism, and their
own democracy. All of these themes are
especially shown through in the works of Fahrenheit 451 and not only is it important to
understand where the book came from but also how it is an adequate resource for the issues
today. This book shows in clear view that not only does it pertain to the society he was living in,
but also to contemporary societies that struggle with the dangers of modern technology, politics,
and those who deny the existence of intolerance in our country.

Fahrenheit 451 was originally published in 1953, but the idea was alive long before that
in the mosaic labyrinth of American ideology. Fahrenheit 451 was the conduit that transmitted
American ideologies into a dystopian society. He began his first journey in a comic book when
he was 3, and 5 when he moved to fairy tales. In the story of a book free society there is one
rebel, Clarisse McCellan, who appears with the knowledge of a book, much like Ray Bradbury.
He even himself mentioned in an interview, A Conversation with Ray Bradbury, Clarisse

McClellan is me, Ray Bradbury is Clarisse McCellan. . He based this character after himself
because of his excitement with little things in life and penetrating questions of ideas.
Ray Bradbury's yearning for books pushed him to say If you dont know how to read you
dont know how to decide. A central message of the book is that books are a portal into the
complex system of the balance between good and evil. This idea is revealed through the
journey of self-discovery that the main character Montag makes throughout the story. In the
beginning Montag burned books as a fireman. The main firemen Beatty explains to Montag why
their job is important to the society they have created. He explains that the society got so
overpopulated, so sensitive to insult, and so concerned with pleasure, that things which created
divisions or controversy became so unwelcome as to be dangerous to social order itself. He
gives the example of a bright young student in school; this student, by making others feel stupid,
whether intentionally or not, caused unhappiness and discord. The society in this book is
nothing like the one human civilization has made itself today, but Ray Bradbury can speak to us
all with presentation of this tale we should avoid. A recent CNN article was posted titled
Silently protesting Muslim woman ejected from Trump rally. The society that Bradbury
has made is so anti-divisions and opposing opinions that we see a negative outcome. When we
look at cases like this where a silent muslim is protesting there is a clear fear of division. The
image of a Muslim woman being abused and ejected from a political rally sends a chilling
message to American Muslims and to all those who value our nation's traditions of religious
diversity and civic participation.
Not only is this proof of how we create cultural divisions and detachments but this is also
not the only occurrence. At the Trump rally on March 2nd 2016 a Neo-Nazis at Trump rally

caught on video roughing up black woman: Youre scum, your time will come!
and this was the resulting headline the day after this incident. The act within itself of throwing
this black woman out of the rally shows complete and total ignorance to the past. Our history is

rich with racial disputes and those who are repeating them today are either uneducated
regarding the past, or in denial to the
repeated mistake. Faber said Its not the
books you need it's some of the things that
were in them. We need the content that is
in history books because the mindless
repetition of the past are causing a
dystopia polluted with those who are too consumed with their lives right now and not
consequences.

In the Dystopia of Fahrenheit 451 they tried to eliminate the evil in books the parts
that don't appeal to everyone. The realization that Montag makes revolves around a line that
Faber says
We are living in a time when flowers are trying to live on flowers, instead of growing on
good rain and black loam. Even fireworks, for all their prettiness, come from the chemistry of the
earth. Yet somehow we think we can grow, feeding on flowers and fireworks, without completing
the cycle back to reality. (page 83)
The idea Faber is portraying here is that we need the bad to have good. You cannot
have a rainbow without rain or flowers without dirt. People like Clarisse and Montag know that
now which is what creates contrast in the book . In this society in which distinctions do not exist,
it's important to be able to decide, which is why Ray Bradbury says If you dont know how to
read you dont know how to decide.

1950 was a decade of the first colored tvs, the first seat belts, the decade that
Disneyland opened, and the memorable birth of The cat in the Hat by Doctor Seuss but to Ray
Bradbury it was all the underlying themes of his book Fahrenheit 451. Ray Bradburys dystopian
story was thought of as an allegory of totalitarianism and political hysteria surrounding the fear
of communism. It was also conceived of as an overreliance on technology in an increasingly
pixelated society. All of these stem from the things that influence his perception on life and time
period. During the 1950s Senator Joseph McCarthy used fear of communists in America to
inhabit power over the country. He was able to convince Americans that the creative field had
anti-American communists and therefore convicted, arrest and censored many writers and
filmmakers. The censorship and chaos this senator had created had people with the same
mindset as a decade before where the Natzis used book burnings to symbolize censorship in
writing that seemed un-German. In the book Bradbury uses fire as a cleanser, in Captain
Beatty's words "Fire is bright and fire is clean". He uses it to clean away all the books that hold
controversy and hardship. He saw the fear and wrote Fahrenheit 451 to show people as society
where that fear took over and books were banned. Anything that touches the library touches
me Ray mentioned in an interview. The communist problem had now touched something he
had a passion for. He wrote this book as a warning.
Another reason why this was a book free society isn't 100% at the fault of the
government figure in the society. As Faber tells Montag the public stopped reading on its own
accord. He says books can be beaten down with reason, but that TV overwhelms the senses
and can not. The banning of books only affected few for the rest no longer took the endeavor of
the odyssey books can bring. The 50s had plenty of new inventions that made technology a
booming part of discussion and since then we have only developed with more technology
advancements. In the book Bradbury has a digital wall where characters and meaningless
broadcast are projected. These are much like the modern day flat screen televisions we have
today. There are also seashells in her ears the little Seashells, the thimble radios tamped

tight,and an electronic ocean of sound that are basically modern day earbuds. All of the
technology that has caused this society to turn into a dystopia are almost exactly what we have
today. People always need faster internet, higher quality pictures and more and more
advancements in machinery. We make everything faster just like the dark path Bradbury
predicted with this book. No one has enough time to read books anymore, but how did Suzanne
Collins sell. An opposing point to Bradbury's society relating to ours is we may be
overstimulated with technology but it has also changed the delivery of books. We can read on
almost any device now, though most kids would rather play video games it is still a very effective
way of reading. Are society could be close to the one in Fahrenheit 451 but because we have
the warning we can learn to manage our technology to become a more evolved society as a
whole.
Because Rays education was put in
the core of hundreds of library books the
influence for his writing came from no
professor or lesson. Sometime in 1944 he
stumbled upon Arthur Koestler's Darkness at
noon. In a revealing and underlying terror of
Stalin's show trials, Darkness at noon
became the great cautionary tale for Bradbury. It fueled his subsequent with intolerant authority,
and with those who denied the existence of intolerance. Darkness at noon describes hellish
living conditions in the Soviet Union. It lit the path for the creation of Fahrenheit 451, showing
Ray a quite evident problem inspiring him to write a novel of warning to further display this idea.
Why books? Fahrenheit 451 answers this never ending question in the form of a society
without them. It is apparent that books are more than just words on a page. They give the world
opposing sides and all the ingredients to a fully functioning society. They show the balance
between good and evil in hopes of making something beautiful out of something dreadful.

Fahrenheit 451 was created by a self educated man who took his society and themed his book
using his own motivations sent to him by the world. Ray Bradbury has an ideal that pertains to
modern day society and was brought to life by the themes of the 1950s. You cant burn the
book, without burning the author...

Works cited:
http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blogs/the-scoop/remembering-ray-bradbury/

http://www.shmoop.com/fahrenheit-451/technology-modernization-theme.html
http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=11934
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/451/