Fahrenheit 451 Symbol Analysis

Words: 1398
Pages: 6

Ray Bradbury, the author of Fahrenheit 451, used many interesting symbols to show how society can manipulate people into doing things. The novel is about a man named Montag. He has to face lots of obstacles along the way including a mechanical hound that is out to get him. He is a fireman which means that he burns books so people can not gain any knowledge. His captain, Beatty, becomes suspicious of Montag after he meets Clarisse because he recites poetry in the firehouse. Montag meets a three people that help him through his life as they guide him in the right direction of what he is starting to believe. Bradbury uses symbol throughout the novel to show what the theme of the book is. As he does this, Montag is also learning that there is something …show more content…
Mildred always wanted to be separate from the world and was able to do that with TV. "'...If we had a fourth wall, why it'd be just like this room was not out at all, but all kinds of exotic people's rooms.'"(20-21). Mildred wants to have the parlor become not their room but the rooms of the TV people. The TV walls was a symbol of how people try to disconnect from life by surrounding themselves with what is not real. Not only did people and their personal belongings have an affect on the way they thought the world should be, but so did the government and the way they used their technology. "The bombers crossed the sky and crossed the sky over the house, gasping, murmuring, whistling like an immense, invisible fan, circling in emptiness."(73). The society in Fahrenheit 451, is not a normal society due to the disruption it gets from the constant wars. The citizens do not realize that there is more to life than what they are faced with everyday. Lastly, the Mechanical Hound was a big symbol of the way the world was affected by technology. "He felt it scramble and seize his leg and stab the needle in for a moment before the fire snapped the Hound up..."(120). The Mechanical Hound tries to kill innocent people if they are not how the government/society wants them. Montag was a free thinker and disobeyed the government. The 'good guys' tried to …show more content…
The Mechanical Hound and Beatty are specific symbols of how we are under the control of society. Both of those things try to do the same thing; destroy books. That is what society wants people to do. Mildred is a symbol of the things we focus on that do not need to be focused on. Montag is the opposite of that and he is became apart of this imperfect world by doing what most humans normally do. The sieve is also an important symbol because of how Montag remembers his ignorant age. The TV walls, bombers, and the Mechanical Hound symbolize how technology can affect us. Bradbury uses all these symbols to predict what will happen to the world if we are careless and do not ask ourselves the important question that is; What does it mean to be human? Societies nowadays should allow their citizens to have the rights they deserve and the citizens should stand up against the society if they feel they are being controlled in order to fight for what is