FAHRENHEIT 451 By Ray Bradbury

Figurative Language Guide

One of the most AWESOME and INTERESTING tools that great writers use is figurative language. Very
simply, figurative language is speech that contains images, or in other words, when writers describe
something by comparing it to something else that is unusual, shocking, or funny to paint a picture in the
reader’s mind.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE is composed of many types of figures of speech, such as similes, metaphors,
personification, symbolism, alliteration, hyperbole, onomatopoeias, idioms, and allusions.

Fahrenheit 451 is packed with three main types of figures of speech, SIMILES, METAPHORS, and
PERSONIFICATION.

Figurative Language Practice

A) Definitions:

1. Simile:

A comparison between two objects or beings, typically used in literary works to exalt a certain characteristic
or aspect of the story

2. Metaphor:

A comparison between two unrelated things, characterized by being more subtle and contributing to the
mental image the reader has on a certain character or scenario.

3. Personification:

The act of adding human characteristics to objects or animals, this can be used in many ways, and is present
in almost all forms of literature.

B) Directions: Read each example of figurative language. Rewrite each example of figurative language into
the category where it belongs.

1. The car engine coughed and sputtered when it started.

2. I am a rainbow of emotion.
3. The rain kissed my cheeks as it fell.
4. That guy is a dog.
5. She is as brave as a lion.
6. Her cheeks are polished apples.
7. The microwave timer told me to turn the food over.
8. The clouds are angry with storm clouds.
9. The ocean gently kissed my toes as I waded into the waves.
10. Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you may get.
11. The snow whispered as it fell to the ground.
12. The moon is a beautiful silver balloon.
SIMILES METAPHORS PERSONIFICATION
5 2 1
10 4 3
12 6 7
8
9
11
BOOK’S EXAMPLES

Directions:
For each section please find at least three examples of each figurative language. Please explain what each one
means in the context of the reading.

READING PLAN CONTROL #1-May 24

Fahrenheit 451 Example: “The hearth and the salamander”

1.Metaphor: “With the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon
the world, the blood pounded in his head” pg.1
Explanation:
The author is making a metaphor between the firehose that Montag is using to burn the books, and a
venomous python, which is a kind of snake, in this sense, one could say that the “venom” of the nozzle is
poisoning the knowledge of the world by destroying literature, with Montag directing this effort.
2. Metaphor: “He says I’m a regular Onion!, I keep him busy peeling away the layers” pg.20
Explanation:
The dialogue presented creates a comparison between Clarisse’s way of thinking about her psychiatrist and an
onion, each layer represents a different facet of Clarisse being as a whole, as such the expression “keep him
busy peeling the layers” means that Clarisse is intentionally hiding the way se feels and sees the world to her
supervisor.

3.Metapor: “Montag looked at these men whose faces were sunburned by a thousand real fires and a
thousand imaginary fires, whose work flushed their cheeks and fevered their eyes” pg30
Explanation:
The dialogue conveys how the faces of Montag’s coworkers show wear and tear born from their profession, it
can be implied that the “imaginary fires” correlate to the psychological strain that burning books and
sometimes people has on the firemen.

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4.Simile: “Her face was like a snow-covered island upon which rain might fall” pg. 11
Explanation:
The author is making a connection between the face of Mildred and an island covered in snow, it can be
inferred, in this case, that her face was covered in dust and it looked as if she would cry at any moment, this in
regards to the “Snow” and “Rain” mentioned in the comparison
5.Simile: “One of them looked like a black cobra down an echoing well looking for all the old water and the
old time gathered there” pg.12
Explanation:
The quote draws a comparison between the medical device set to search for blood clots in the body of the
injured and a cobra looking for the water, the use of the expression “old water” and “old time” is remarkable,
as it focuses the cobra, or the healing apparatus, as something that seeks out the old to replace it with the new.
6.Simile: “the great shadowing, motioned silence of the hound leaping out like a moth in the raw light,
finding, holding is victim, inserting needle and going back to its kennel to die as if a switch had been turned”
pg.23
Explanation:
The author is establishing a connection between the way the hound executes its target and the way a moth
flies to a light source, it can be implied that this comparison tries to show how the hound follow its instinct, or
its programming, like a regular animal, carrying out its tasks in an unconscious manner, likewise to the moths
flying to the light.
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7.Personification: “Two moonstones looked up at him in the light of his small hand-held fire” pg. 11
Explanation:
The author establishes a human characteristic in the way moonstones, inanimate objects, look up at our
character, applying a sense of humanity to something that otherwise didn’t have it.
8.Personification: “As he stood there the sky over the house screamed. There was a tremendous ripping
sound as if two giant hands had torn ten thousand miles of black linen down the seam” pg.11
Explanation:
The author is giving the sky the human characteristic of speech, it can be implied that the screams being
referenced in the quote are the sound of jets flying overhead as described in the following. pages
9.Personification: “The voice clock mourned out the cold hour, of a cold morning, of a still colder year”
pg.30
The clock “mourning” is an example of the author exaggerating an action by giving the object at play human
characteristics, the voice of the clock is described as mourning for the cold hour, when in reality its just
following its normal routine. Giving a bit of literary flair to an otherwise bland scene.

READING PLAN CONTROL #2-June 9

Fahrenheit 451 Example: “The sieve and the sand”

1. Metaphor: “To see the firehouses, burn across the land, destroyed as hotbeds of treason. The salamander
devours his tail” pg.82
Explanation:
The quote from Faber is an interpretation of how he and Montag are planning to destroy the firemen from the
inside, the salamander is the main iconography of the firemen, its in their jackets, their buildings and even
their vehicles are described to be similar to a salamander, as such, when the salamander eats its own tail, it
shows how Montag and Faber want the firemen to burn themselves to the ground
2. Metaphor: “Our civilization is flinging itself to pieces, stand back from the centrifuge” p84
Explanation:
The quote expresses how the dystopian society described in the book is doomed for failure, and one must stay
away from it to survive, thus the use of the “centrifuge”, an apparatus that splits things apart, to stand back
from the centrifuge, or in this case society, is to be safe from its inevitable destruction.

3. Metaphor: “They don’t know that this is all some huge big blazing meteor that makes a pretty fire, but
that someday it’ll have to hit”
Explanation:
The quote is a means to explain Faber’s perspective over the world, he believes that everyone is aware of the
flaws on their society, the blazing meteor, but refuse to do anything but glare at its effects and wait for its
inevitable collapse, thus the phrase: “someday it’ll have to hit”
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1. Simile “She was begging to shriek now, sitting there like a wax doll melting in its own heat” pg72
Explanation:
The situation being described shows a comparison between Mildred’s act of distress and a melting wax doll, it
can be implied that the “heat” being described is a way of symbolizing her stress towards the possibilities that
giving the book to Beatty might have

2. Simile “The night I kicked the pill bottle in the dark, like kicking a buried mine p73”
Explanation:
This moment in Montag’s internal dialogue links back to the moment in which he saw that Mildred had
almost killed herself in an overdose, mines are typically means of destruction and death, as such, we can
interpret that kicking the pill bottle was akin to setting of a mine in Montag’s head.

3. Simile “His fingers were like ferrets that had done some evil and now never rested” pg101
Explanation:
Montag’s fingers are being described as ferrets that had done some evil probably to link back to the act of
defiance that Montag did when he took the book from the old lady when he was supposed to be burning them,
the phrase “never rested” can be implied to symbolize the stress and guilt that Montag feels over his recent
actions.
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1.Personification: “And the faster he poured, the faster it sifted through with a hot whispering” pg.74
Explanation:
The quote is attributing human-like characteristics to an inanimate object, in this case, the sand is given the
ability to “whisper” like a person would, this in order to describe the noise it makes while pouring down the
sieve.

2.Personification: “The train hissed to its stop” pg.76

Explanation:
The train “hissing” is an example of the author giving a human characteristic to something that isn’t alive in
order to add a literary flair to the event being told, the hiss of the train refers simply to the noise it makes
when arriving at a stop.

3. Personification: “Nobody listens anymore, I can’t talk to the walls because they are yelling at me” pg78
Explanation:
The walls, while not actually yelling, do emit a loud noise inside the parlor, this quote can be interpreted as
Montag’s way of expressing his disdain for the families and overall programming of the walls, one that
constantly emits noise in his house.

READING PLAN CONTROL #3-June 23

Fahrenheit 451 Example:”Burning bright”

1.Personification: “Other salamanders were roaring, their engines faraway” pg.116

Explanation:
The author is creating a replacement for the noise the engine of the salamanders are making with a loud roar,
tainting the text with more emotion over the event being described

2.Personification: “here, there, softly kneading the streets where they turned back to beetles, they shrieked
along the boulevard”
Explanation:
The author is utilizing the word Shrieked to express the noises the buzzing beetles were making around the
boulevard in a more stylistic way, giving them human-esque characteristics.

3.Personification: “He found the unusual seashell upon which the seashell was talking to itself” pg.117
Explanation:
The Author is giving the ability to speech to the unified consciousness of the city, giving it, in a certain way,
human like characteristics in the way it is described.
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1.Simil: “blew out its interior in a single flushing of red color like a skyrocket fastened to the street” pg.114
Explanation:
The author is establishing a comparison between the spectacular destruction of the Hound by the fire spelled
by the flamethrower and a skyrocket traveling through the street, visualizing the scene in a much clearer way
inside the reader’s mind.

2.Simil: “the house burnt like an ancient bit of stage scenery” pg.114
Explanation:
The author is creating a comparison in regards to how the burned remains of Montag’s house vaguely
resemble some sort of stage scenery used in theater plays.

3.Simil: “The other was like a chunk of burnt pine log he was carrying along as a penance for some obscure
sin” pg.115
Explanation:
The author is stating how Montag’s damaged leg felt like a burden to him, much alike a biblical punishment
for some sin he committed, it can be argued that the sin being referred to in the quote is his desire for the
preservation of books and knowledge regardless of the wellbeing of those around him.
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1.Metaphor: “Montag caught it in a bloom of fire, a single wonderous blossom that curled in petals of
yellow and blue and orange around the metal dog”. Pg.114
Explanation:
The author is referring to the flames that surrounded the Hound and burned its internals to a crisp as the
blossom of a flower with yellow and orange petals that encapsulated the accursed machinery.

2.Metaphor: “The pains were spikes driven in the kneecap and then only darning needles and then only
common, ordinary safety pins” pg.117
Explanation:
The author is showing how the pain in Montag’s leg slowly decreased overtime by the use of Spikes and
Needles as a comparison over the pain he was feeling.

3.Metaphor: “Grandfather's been dead for all these years, but if you lifted my skull, by God, in the
convolutions of my brain you'd find the big ridges of his thumbprint.” Pg.150
Explanation:
Granger is explaining to Montag how his grandfather’s ideals were stuck in his brain for his whole life, thus,
the thumbprint represents how these teachings from his grandfather affected his way of thinking and stuck
with him from then on.
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