Fahrenheit 451 Symbolism Essay

Symbolism lies all around us; in music, in movies, even in real life. But the area in which the majority of symbolism flourishes most is the age old media colloquially referred to as books. Several (by which I mean nearly all) books include at least a modicum of symbolism. To name such a thing is to ruin the fun of discovering such for oneself, but as I have “requested” to list the symbolism in Fahrenheit 451, I shall list three major types used in the aforementioned book. In my humble opinion, The most important usage of symbolism in Fahrenheit 451 has to be the usage of fire to symbolize a change, followed closely by the plethora of colours and their usage to show the mood of a certain individual or even, and the meaning of the Salamander that is the symbol for the Firemen.
Fire
Fire is a dangerous and deadly substance, but it is also a way of cleansing, and a way for some mythological creatures (namely the phoenix) to be reborn; Ray Bradbury uses it in a way not mentioned… to signal a turning point in the book. An easy example of this is within the first chapter of the book, the very first page even. “It was a pleasure to burn.” (1) Immediately afterwards, our protagonist, Guy Montag, burns down the house of a …show more content…
Society seems to model technology from there, in the case of the Mechanical hounds, and while they are very clearly not related to any sane animal, the Firemen have a salamander very prominently located on everything they have. But for what purpose? Why does Bradbury use animal and nature imagery when this dystopian society is very clearly the opposite of any conceivable animal. Well, to put things in a clear and concise manner, Bradbury uses animal imagery in a ironic way. Society has become this twisted gnarled beast, and this beast has nothing it can share with other beast, so it does what any beast does, and pretends that that is always what animals have been like, and the beast is much the

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