Fahrenheit 451: Summary, Setting, Themes - SchoolWorkHelper

Author

Ray Bradbury Ray Bradbury was born in Waukegan, Illinois on August 22, 1920. Ray Bradbury is an American novelist, short-story writer, essayist, playwright, screenwriter, and poet. Bradbury’s first book that got published was “Hollerbochens Dilemma”. Bradbury’s most popular novel, was Fahrenheit 451, it was released in 1953. Ray Bradbury has been awarded the O. Henry Memorial Award, the Benjamin Franklin Award in 1954. Bradbury was an imaginative child, and being the creative child he was he was prone to nightmares.

The Plot

This book takes place in the future, in Elm City. The book takes place around a man named, Guy Montage. Guy was married to his wife, Mildred Montage. Guy had an unusual job; it was not to put out fires but to start them. He would start books on fire, because it was against the law to read books. The reason the books were being burnt was because people were afraid of them, they thought they put bad ideas in your head that you don’t need, at least that is what Guys boss Captain Beatty believed. Guy never thought he was doing anything wrong till he talked to a seventeen-year-old girl, who said that people weren’t always afraid of books. Then the next time he was supposed to burn some books, he took one home with him. Later on his boss Captain Beatty found out, and she said this was his only chance, and he ignored it and she later burns down his house, and then his wife left him because of it. All he had was a book, and with that he fought the society.

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The Setting

This book took place in a little city named, Elm City. The novel took place in the future.

Characterization

Throughout the book the main character, Guy Montages appearance isn’t really stated throughout the book. During the beginning of the novel Guy appears to be a ruthless person, burning houses down. As he stood, “with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the world, the blood pounded in his head. . .” It is not till he meets the seventeen-year-old girl that he realizes what he is doing is wrong. From then on the changes into a passionate person and changes his old ways. The person that caused Guy the most trouble would have to be his wife, Mildred. She thinks of herself, and has to have it her way, just like in the book when Guys boss burnt their house down and she had to have it her way so she left him. Many writers make the use of stereotypes in their novels to add texture/ dimension/ familiarity to their work.

A minor character would be Mildred; she brings hate to the novel. She also causes change to Guy; she causes him to have hate towards others and to get everything you want. Another minor character bringing change to the novel would be the seventeen-year-old girl named, Clarisse McClellan. She causes change to Guy buy changing the way he thought and help him open his eyes

Themes

One of the themes which happens to be the biggest one is burning books because they conflict with each other and the ideas of society. The firemen don’t fight fires, they start them when they find books. Recollections and thoughts, writings and teachings from the greatest minds in history go up in flames because the government doesn’t want people to fill their heads with it and develop an individual intelligence. The government is afraid of the books because they stimulate people’s minds to think for themselves and away from the main track that the general public was expected to follow. The government covered up the problems of the world that still wore on, like war, and didn’t let the people see it or have it affect them. They heard about it and that was all. In general, people’s lives became better, but it was of no consequence because they didn’t know what it was like to have things not go well and as planned. A candy cane is much sweeter after you think about eating oil. Another reason they burn books is because they don’t agree and they aren’t real. The government figures that there is no use in people thinking about things that don’t exist, especially when each book’s ideas conflict.

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William Anderson (Schoolworkhelper Editorial Team) William completed his Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts in 2013. He current serves as a lecturer, tutor and freelance writer. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, walking his dog and parasailing. Article last reviewed: 2022 | St. Rosemary Institution © 2010-2025 | Creative Commons 4.0 See Full Bio