Fahrenheit 451

By: Jami Bryan

Biography
Ray Bradbury: Author, Poet (1920-2012)
Best Known for his novel Fahrenheit 451
Bradbury won the Pulitzer is 2004, and is one of
the most celebrated authors of the 21st century.
Pulitzer Price is an award for an achievement in
American journalism, literature, or music. There
are thirteen made each year.

Time period
Fahrenheit 451 published in 1953
Bradbury Spent 3 years writing this novel in Los
Angeles, California
Although the book is set in the 24th century and
the media has total control over the masses.
Individualism in not allowed and intellectuals are
outlawed

Why Fahrenheit 451

As a teen, Bradbury witnessed the Nazi book
burnings where the Nazi would burn foreign books
during World War II.
Bradbury also witnessed Stalins The Great
Purge in which poets, writers, and many others
were arrested or often executed.
Short video clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVzc67YuRQE
Appeared in 2nd, 3rd, 4th issues of Playboy

 Bradbury says that one of his main inspirations for

Fahrenheit 451 came when he was walking with a
writer friend, and a policeman got out and asked
us What are you doing?
This sent him in a rage and went home and wrote
the short story The Pedistrian, imagining a time in
which everyone who walked was considered a
criminal
Later, he took his midnight criminal stroller for
another walk around the city, and Fahrenheit 451
was born.

Historical Influences
Fahrenheit 451 was set in the future, but it was
influenced by the time period it was written in.
Bradbury wanted the book to remain relatable, so
he created the world as we know it, but
anticipation in time
The title of the novel refers to the temperature
paper, and books burn.
During the 1950s the Cold War was going on with
Soviet Russia and many people were afraid that
the United States and the U.S.S.R would destroy
the world with their atomic weapons

 The fear of the Cold War was represented in the

airplanes that are flying overhead
Books in this alternate society had been replaced
by technology, such as television.
The ban of books in Fahrenheit 451 was imposed
not by the government, but the American people
themselves
The loss of books had a very negative impact on
the society and unfortunately the majority of the
population no longer cares to think, at all.

Context
Fahrenheit 451, was written as a social
commentary.
Bradbury was influenced by the political and
technological happening of the area such as the
rise of the Nazi party, the Red Scare of the 1950s,
the spread of television, and the advent of the
atomic bomb.

 By the time Bradbury had written Fahrenheit 451

over 4 million TV sets were sold in America.
Bradbury foretells a future in which television,
which was swiftly becoming omnipresent in his
time, had destroyed societys ability to think.
Television had destroyed so much thought that it
had become central to the society itself.

Sources
"10 Things You Didnt Know About Ray Bradbury."
TheFW. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2016.
Biography.com Editors. "Ray Bradbury Biography."
Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 14
Nov. 2016.
"Historical Context." Fahrenheit451nicoparker -.
N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2016.
Katie. "What Events, People, or Ideas Probably
Influenced Ray Bradbury While Writing Fahrenheit
451?" Katie English 332:. N.p., 01 Jan. 1970. Web.
14 Nov. 2016.
Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, n.d. Web.
15 Nov. 2016.