Texts and Human Experiences - Fahrenheit 451 PDF

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Text Overview Composer: Ray Bradbury Date: 1953 Form: Dystopian, Science Fiction Structure: Linear, 3rd person limited omniscient, Campbellian monomyth Synopsis: Guy Montag is a fireman who burns books in a futuristic American city. In Montag’s world, firemen start fires rather than putting them out. The people in this society do not read books, enjoy nature, spend time by themselves, think independently, or have meaningful conversations. Instead, they drive very fast, watch excessive amounts of television on wall-size sets, and listen to the radio on “Seashell Radio” sets attached to their ears.

Context ●

Post WWII - Rise of Totalitarian Government ○

Spread propaganda and destroyed and censored books to control information and eliminate opposition

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The totalitarian government of Soviet Russia under Joseph Stalin, who led its Community Party from 1929 to 1953

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Nuclear War ○

Possibility that life on Earth could come to an end

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Tension between US and the Soviet Union

McCarthyism ○

Heightened political repression and a campaign spreading fear of communist influence on American institutions and of spying of Soviet Agents

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Threat of book burning in the United States

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Rise of Joseph McCarthy

Rise of Television ○

Television has destroyed the public's interest in reading, and individual choice is eclipsed by social conformity.

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Became dominant in American culture

Dystopian Fiction ○

Gained influence from other dystopic works, such as George Orwell's '1984' and Aldous Huxley's 'Brave New World'

Themes and Concepts ●

Alienation

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Censorship of media ○

No freedom of expression

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Propaganda causes individuals to be blind to destruction

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Challenge to authority

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Nature vs Technology ○

Replacing curiosity, intellectualism and literature

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A 'replacement' for friendship, family and real communication

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Loss of identity through death of others

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Knowledge vs Ignorance

Purpose ●

Provokes individuals to critically reflect on the implications of technology on real human connection and imagination, causing them to be desensitised from society

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Cautions audiences about the total power of totalitarian authority by exploring the censorship of media through the burning of books, inhibiting personal freedom and speech

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Evokes empathy and pathos on a young adult audience towards those who experienced the same social trappings during the McCarthy era and the rise of the totalitarian government

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Expose: hypocrisy of the unquestioning dogmatic following of individualistic positivism in the pursuit of the illusion of freedom and happiness, whilst criticizing those who exercise their scepticism of the established order and values

Dystopian Conventions ●

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Censorship ○

Censorship of media

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Arrested if a book is owned

Propaganda ○

Spread of false information

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Burning of the houses

Surveillance

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People - citizens who conform

Technology ○

TV walls - used to control people

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Mechanical hound - used to control and poison people

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Dehumanising technology - Mildred's overdose in pills and the technology used to revive her

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Dependence on technology rather than human connection

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Advanced technology - mechanical hound, sea shell radio, fireproof housing, invisible planes

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Futuristic setting

Representation of Characters ●

Montag: freedom of speech, those who do not conform, alienated

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Beatty: authority and control of the government

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Clarisse: individuality and innocence

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Mildred: blind conformity of society

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Faber: knowledge, wisdom and awareness, fear against authority

Macro-techniques

Symbols ●

Fire: symbolises destruction (burning of media) and creation, warmth + human connection (book lovers' campfire).

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Hearth: symbol of the home

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Phoenix: a phoenix burns itself up then rises out of its ashes over and over again. Represents renewal, the cyclical nature of history and Montag's spiritual resurrection

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Salamander: symbol of the firemen and fire trucks. It means "fire within" in Persian.

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Seashell Radio: symbolises the government's invasion and control of the lives of its citizens, providing a barrage of stimulation that continually distracts them from reality

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Firemen: symbolises the transformation from a humane society to a dystopian society valuing control and destruction

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The Sieve and the Sand: the sand is a symbol of the tangible truth Montag seeks, and the sieve the human mind seeking a truth that remains elusive and impossible to grasp in any permanent way

Motifs ●

Paradoxes: question the reality of beings that are apparently living but spiritually dead ○

Montag’s bedroom is described first as “not empty” and then as “indeed empty,” because Mildred is physically there, but her thoughts and feelings are elsewhere

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Statements between the electric-eyed snake stomach pump and the mechanical hound

Animal and Nature Imagery: nature represents innocence and truth, while animal imagery is ironic (society ignores nature but mechanical devices are named after animals)

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Religion ○

Montag mentions Ecclesiastes 3:1 and Revelations 22:2 when with the book lovers

Human Experiences ●

Submission to authority

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Expression of identity

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Destruction of spirit and environment

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Loss of freedom

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Totalitarianism

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Censorship of media

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Dissatisfaction...