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451 Study Guide
451 Study Guide
Ray Bradbury
Conflicts
• An external conflict between Montag,
who rejects book burning, and the fire
captain, who defends it
• Montag’s internal conflict between
accepting the new world—one of violence
and conformity—and wanting to return
to the way things were in the past—
gentler, with room for different ideas
Bradbury’s Satire
• Satire: The use of irony/sarcasm/ridicule
to criticize faults
• Some societal faults Bradbury satirizes
in F451:
– Technology
– Mass media
– Organized sports
– High-speed automobiles
Other important terms
• Dystopia: an imaginary place or state in
which the condition of life is extremely
bad, as from oppression and/or terror.
• Censorship: the suppression of what is
thought to be dangerous or offensive.
Symbols
• The numbers 451: the temperature at
which paper will burn
• Fire: seen as a destructive force in the
beginning and a way to be warm in the
end.
• The mechanical hound: symbolizes
destructive technology that is not easily
destroyed. Demonstrates why people are
better than machines to Bradbury
• The salamander: represents the
destructive forces of fire. Mythological
lizard born from the fire. Name of the
fire trucks that carry kerosene not
water.
• The phoenix: in this myth, fire is a
source of renewal/rebirth—mythological
bird burns and rises out of the ashes.
Contrast to the salamander. The symbol
of a Phoenix is used throughout the
novel. uniforms and
Themes
• Life is meaningless in a controlled
society in which everyone is alike and
imagination is repressed
• Technology can isolate people and
inhibit the sharing of thoughts, ideas,
and emotions.
• Without knowledge, a civilization dies or
kills itself
Connection to Plato’s
“Allegory of the Cave”
Plato’s cave
• Prisoners are there since
childhood; it is all they
know
• They can only see
shadows, and the
images are “real” to
them
• The people are chained,
they cannot leave or
move
• Fire is a source of light
behind them, it casts the
shadows
Montag’s cave
• His grandfather and
father were firemen, it is
expected of him.
• His world of burning is
all he knows
• What are his chains?
Mildred, Beatty, and the
media try to hold him
back
• Fire is at 1st a source of
pleasure and
destruction. It casts the
shadows of Montag’s
“happiness.”
If a prisoner is released…
Prisoner is free
Montag is free