Fahrenheit 451 or as it is known here in Europe 232.7778°C is a dystopian novel written by American author Ray Bradbury.
When I did my Brave New World post I compared it with 1984 since both of them have plenty of things in common, yet still managed to be different in key aspects. Fahrenheit 451 is a book that sometimes gets squeezed in with the other two dystopias. But is this warranted? Does it deserve to be part of the conversation or not? How is the book different from the other two? And how is it similar? All of these questions and more will be answered.
The Author
Ray Bradbury was born august 22 in 1920 in Illinois USA.
As a young boy Bradbury was fond of horror and carnivals, two things he combined in one of his more famous works “something wicked this way comes”
He got his start in 1938 where he published short horror stories.
Bradbury is often thought of as a science fiction writer, but this is simply not true. Bradbury wrote fantasy, horror, and mysteries, he has said himself that the only sci-fi book he has written was Fahrenheit 451.
The Book
Summary
Here is a quick summary of the book
The book is about a guy named Guy Montag who works as a fireman and in a twist he does not actually put out fires, he starts them. More precisely, he burns books since books are outlawed. Actually, it would be more accurate to say he burns books and the building they are in.
Montag befriends a teenage girl named Clarisse who asks him a lot of questions, like if he is happy, or why he decided to become a fireman. His friendship with Clarisse starts his doubt about society.
Later that evening when he arrives home he finds his wife Mildred motionless after she has swallowed a bunch of pills. He calls for help, two guys show up, revive her, and the very next day she acts as if nothing has happened.
Clarisse then dies in an accident, Montag starts to think something is off about society. He is set to burn a bunch of books from an old lady. When she sets fire to herself Montag realizes that there is something powerful in books since someone is willing to die for them.
Montag starts reading books in secret.
Montag has a boss called Beatty, he is kind of an asshole and later Montag kills him.
He then gets chased out by society for killing Beatty. He finds solace with former teachers, philosophers, and writers who still love books and all that. This group of people is preparing for a time after the impending nuclear war that is constantly looming.
Analysis
The novel starts perfectly! The opening of a book is setting the tone, the first couple of lines are supposed to hook the reader and make them continue. Fahrenheit starts with the line “It was a pleasure to burn”, this sets up the tone for the book and the themes.
Now, I have to address the title, It’s bad….
First of all the title is annoying to say and write, it also makes little to no sense to anyone in the world not from the US, since The US is the only country in the world using the Fahrenheit scale. The point of the book is (I would assume) to sketch a dystopian world no one wants to live in. However, since the title is so America-centered the novel feels more like an alternative history for The US rather than a classic dystopian sci-fi.
Censorship
The main theme of the book is censorship. By “protecting” the public from books, knowledge, and opposing views, society has formed into this propaganda-heavy, unfeeling world where truth is a wide concept.
Beatty explains the whole backstory of society at one point. He explains that people lost interest in books after the television was invented.
Beatty also talks about how a minority voice found passages offensive and this led to censorship
People later felt that learning and reading books led to unhappiness, and later all books were banned.
“Colored people don’t like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White people don’t feel good about Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Burn it. Someone’s written a book on tobacco and cancer of the lungs? The cigarette people are weeping? Burn the book. Serenity, Montag. Peace, Montag. Take your fight outside. Better yet, into the incinerator. Funerals are unhappy and pagan? Eliminate them, too. Five minutes after a person is dead he’s on his way to the Big Flue, the Incinerators serviced by helicopters all over the country. Ten minutes after death a man’s a speck of black dust. Let’s not quibble over individuals with memoriams. Forget them. Burn all, burn everything. Fire is bright and fire is clean.” (Bradbury. (2008). Fahrenheit 451. Harper Collins Publ. UK. P. 78).
The reason Beatty explains all this is because, well, Montag asks him. This indicates that there is no greater conspiracy enforced by the government. The “knowledge” of why they burn books is not a secret.
The reasons why they burn books are either common knowledge or Beatty tells him because Montag is a fireman like himself. Now, if it was common knowledge how would you even know about it? You can’t read up on it, and all news sources are propaganda anyway. So I think the proper reading of the scene is that Beatty tells him because they share a profession.
By the way, based on the quote above we can conclude the fact that funerals are simply not a thing, everything simply burns in the end.
The idea of censorship is something the book has in common with 1984, where people disappear for speaking critical of the system or for thoughtcrimes (thinking critically of the system). While they both differ in how extreme the censorship is, the main idea is that people are not free to read, think or speak what they want.
The World
The first thing that opens the world for the reader is Montag’s relationship with Clarisse. She finds Montag interesting and through their dialog, we get to know more about the world.
In their first conversation, she asks him if he ever reads the books he burns. He explains that it is illegal.
Clarrise explains that before firemen used to extinguish fires and not start them. This indicates that either no one extinguishes fires anymore, or they simply change names, either way, the thought of things just getting to burn without some to extinguish it is truly terrifying.
doing their conversation we see a real gold nugget of dialog;
“He felt his smile slide away. melt, fold over and down on itself like a tallow skin.” (Bradbury. (2008). Fahrenheit 451. Harper Collins Publ. UK. P. 19).
Using melt to describe his fading smile is perfect.
Clarisse later dies; we are told she was hit by a car or something. She dies off screen. This is strange for a character with such a huge impact on Montag and the story. We know she won’t be getting a funeral.
Another kind of creepy realization is when Montag comments on how Firemen look. Essentially all firemen look the same.
“Had he ever seen a fireman that didn’t have black hair?” (Bradbury. (2008). Fahrenheit 451. Harper Collins Publ. UK. P. 46). He says they all look like mirror images of himself. Montag also says to Clarisse the reason he became a fireman was because his father and his father were. This indicates that children become indoctrinated into the profession.
Like in Brave New World and 1984 Montag feels there is something wrong with society, but he cat put it into words:
“I Don’t know. We have everything we need to be happy, but we aren’t happy.” (Bradbury. (2008). Fahrenheit 451. Harper Collins Publ. UK. P. 107)
News, propaganda, and everything in between
Mildred constantly watches news on multiple television screens. The public space is also filled with televisions and radios that constantly spew out the news. The public is therefore constantly under the influence of the government.
When Montag escapes the robot dogs (yes there are robot dogs) set out to hunt him after he kills Beatty, the government kills an innocent man and broadcasts it to everyone, despite Montag being safe and sound. The truth does not matter, they killed a scapegoat, they need to make an example out of someone it doesn’t matter who or what.
If people saw a critic of society escape, it could start a revolution or an uprising.
We now know that the government fabricates news and thus all those television screens are perpetuating lies. This makes sense since books are banned and the truth is not a thing anyone is valuing.
451 is as mentioned before the temperature at which paper starts to burn. This number is on the helmet of all firemen. The number becomes a representation of the burning of knowledge.
Is it part of the trinity?
Is Fahrenheit on the same level as Brave New World and 1984? Is it reasonable to bundle it together with the other two? Is the holy duality of dystopian sci-fi a trinity?
No……..
Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 (still a stupid name) is simply not as good as the other two. It can be difficult putting into words exactly what the problem with the book is.
First of all, it is not necessarily a “bad” book, the problem with these kinds of arguments is that I am not simply reading Fahrenheit on its own merits, if I did that the book would be a decent dystopia.
The problem arises when I compare it to Brave New World and 1984. The other two are more realized in their vision, better written, and more intimate with better and more memorable characters.
In 1984 the main character is an insignificant cock in a giant machine. The danger he faces is clear and the problems with society and the world even more so. In Brave new world, it is not even that clear what the problem is, for it is not a question of danger, but freedom and existential dread. In Fahrenheit the world is far less realised, sure there is some neat worldbuilding, but it is in the background.
In 1984 there is a war going on. We don’t know any of the details, but it is heavily implied that the government is using a fake war as propaganda. There is no real way to confirm this since the war in 1984 is so far away. In Fahrenheit there is a war going on where Montag lives, he talks about how fighter planes hang over his head all the time. It is not clear why the bombers are there, or who the war is against. You could say this is a positive thing, but I found it distracting since it feels like an unimportant background thing.
I do like that the point of view in Fahrenheit was that of a man in an authorial position, exploring the world that way was clever. However, I found it better executed in Brave New World.
I would take up too much space to do a complete comparison between these three books. The one thing that is relevant here (this is just my opinion of course) is that the two other books are simply more memorable. I can clearly remember the tone, themes, scenes, and characters from the other two, whereas Fahrenheit feels shallow by comparison.
In 1984 the government restructures the language so people have fewer words to express themselves. In Brave New World people are addicted to a drug making them totally oblivious to the problems of society. In Fahrenheit all books are banned and burned, see how it feels a little underwhelming compared to the other 2.
Fahrenheit 451 works as a cautionary tale regarding censorship, critical thinking, and every man’s right to read whatever he chooses. The book might not be as great as Brave New World or 1984, but the message is important and timeless and that is important if nothing else.