FREE ESSAY ON FARENHEIGHT 451 SYMBOLISM

FARENHEIGHT 451 SYMBOLISM

Book Report Analysis Trevor Stauble
5/30/01
Period 3
Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury is a futuristic novel, taking the reader 
to a time where books and thinking are outlawed. In a time so dreadful where 
those who want to better themselves by thinking, and by reading are outlaws 
as well. Books and ideas are burned, books are burned physically, where as 
ideas are burned from the mind. Bradbury uses literary devices, such as 
symbolism, but it is the idea he wants to convey that makes this novel so 
devastating. Bradbury warns us of what may happen if we stop expressing 
our ideas, and we let people take away our books, and thoughts. Bradbury 
notices what has been going on in the world, with regards to censorship, and
McCarthyism in America. That is what he is speaking out against. Bradbury's 
use of symbolism throughout the novel makes the book moving and 
powerful by using symbolism to reinforce the ideas of anti-censorship. 
The Hearth and the Salamander, the title of part one, is the first 
example of symbolism. The title suggests two things having to do with fire, 
the hearth is a source of warmth and goodness, showing the positive, non-
destructive side of fire. Whereas a salamander is a small lizard-like 
amphibian, and also in mythology, is known to endure fire without getting 
burnt by it. Perhaps the salamander is symbolic of Guy Montag, who is 
being described as a salamander because he works with fire, and endures it, 
but believes that he can escape the fire and survive, much like a salamander 
does. On the other hand, it is ironic that Guy, and the other firemen believe 
themselves to be salamanders because both Capt. Beatty's and Montag's 
destruction comes from the all mighty flame, from which they thought they 
were invincible. 
The symbol of a Phoenix is used throughout the novel. This quote 
accurately describes the Phoenix, It is known to be a mythical multi-colored 
bird of Arabia, with a long history of artistic and literary symbolism, the 
Phoenix is one of a kind. At the end of its five-hundred-year existence, it 
perches on its nest of spices and sings until sunlight ignites the masses. After 
the body is consumed in flames, a worm emerges and develops into the next 
Phoenix.. The Phoenix symbolizes the rebirth after destruction by fire, only 
to get burnt, and be destroyed again. Firemen wear the Phoenix on their 
uniforms, and Capt. Beatty symbolically drives a Phoenix car. Montag, after 
reaching the realization that fire and destruction has indeed destroyed him, 
wishes to be reborn. As part of his rebirth, he goes to Faber with ideas 
to save the books, and he hides books in his house. Montag even goes as far 
as stealing books from houses that he is supposed to be destroying. But a 
Phoenix is reborn only to get burnt and destroyed, again. Guy's life is a 
cycle of getting burnt, then coming alive once again, then being burnt, until 
one time the Phoenix survives and flies away (where Montag goes to the 
escapee camp), or the Phoenix dies in the flames, never to be reborn again
(where Montag kills Capt. Beatty by igniting him with the liquid fire). At the 
end of the book, Granger makes reference to the Phoenix once more by 
talking about the city going up in flames in the bomb blast.There was a silly 
damn bird called a Phoenix back before Christ, every few hundred years he 
built a pyre and burnt himself up. He must have been first cousin to Man. But 
every time he burnt himself, up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself 
born all over again. And it looks like we're doing the same thing, over and 
over, but we've got one damn thing the Phoenix never had. We know the 
damn silly thing we just did. We know all the damn silly things we've done 
for a thousand years and as long as we know that and always have it around 
where we can see it, some day we'll stop making goddamn funeral pyres and 
jumping in the middle of them. We pick up a few more people that remember 
every generation.
Fire is another great example of symbolism. Each of us has our own 
image of fire burning within us, and depending on experiences, it could be 
positive or negative. Fire has a dual image in the book, a symbol of 
destruction, and a symbol of warmth. For Montag, fire has been good to 
serve the purpose of being a fireman. Fire has become a symbol of good in 
Montag's mind, and a solution to all problems. Capt. Beatty has taught Guy 
that fire is the solution to everything, it destroys books, andus, and 
depending on experiences, it could be positive or negative. Fire has a dual 
image in the book, a symbol of destruction, and a symbol of warmth. For 
Montag, fire has been good to serve the purpose of being a fireman. Fire has 
become an image of destruction in the eyes of Montag. Guy believes that fire 
is good, and that fire symbolizes the solution, the ultimate solution to all of 
the world's problems. When in reality, fire destroyed books, it destroyed 
homes, it destroyed people, it destroyed Capt. Beatty, it destroyed Montag's 
house, and in the end, it destroyed the city from which Montag barely 
escaped. If you can't solve it... burn it! Is the single statement that can be 
made about Guy's thoughts of fire, before his rebirth. However, fire also 
symbolizes something else, warmth, goodness. It is not until the very end that 
Guy realizes that fire does not have to be destructive, it can be good, and 
provide you with warmth, and security. He associates fire with good when he 
meets the rest of the escapees, in the secret camp, because they are all sitting 
around a campfire sharing ideas, and reading. The campfire is no longer 
destruction, it is providing warmth for them, but they are still burning books. 
They are memorizing the books, and passing them along by word of mouth, 
and then they are placing the books in the campfire, and letting their power 
be released. By burning the books, they are remembering them, and 
protecting them from the destructive fire of the firemen. 
People and culture are so intermingled with my reading selection that I 
would say they are inseperable. This is based on historical events and 
probability. In terms of the historical events the most thought provoking was 
the Nazi book burning that took place after Hitler came to power. These 
burings took place to eliminate Jewish and outside ingluence on the Aryans, 
which is precisely what Bradbury demonstrates in this extraordinary piece of 
literature. Now to the probability portion of my statement, with the 
censorship by various parties, political and otherwise it is not unlikely that 
such a catasrophy could happen again, although it could come in the form of 
simply choking off the undesireable ideas.
Symbolism added to the power and overall affect behind this book. 
The symbols were usually descriptive of something or somebody, such as 
the Phoenix, and the salamander. Whereas destruction and fire came to be a 
symbol in the eyes of the reader throughout the novel. Perhaps this novel, 
written in the early 1950's, spoke out against the future, and spoke out against 
censorship, but one thing is for sure, we must always attempt to better 
ourselves with knowledge, and always form our own ideas. If we do, then we 
will have gotten the message of Ray Bradbury. There is no knowledge 
that is not power... And all our lives we must search for power, and in that 
search, we gain knowledge.(Anonymous)