Feb 16, 2016
Fahrenheit 451
Ray Bradbury
Author Information• Ray Douglas Bradbury-
born August 22, 1920 in Illinois
• He is a science fiction writer, but he has also earned acclaim in poetry, drama, and screenwriting.
• As a boy, his life revolved around magic and reading.• His family’s favorite holiday was Halloween (more celebrated than Christmas).
• He began writing in 1931 at the age of eleven.
• In 1937, he published his own newspaper called Futuria Fantasia.
• He wrote by recalling his own experiences and emotions.
Book Information• Fahrenheit 451 began as a
short story called “The Fireman” (1951). He expanded it and published Fahrenheit 451 in 1953.
• “Book Burning” = the suppression of writing.• The central theme of the novel is Censorship.
• Significance to the title = the temperature at
which book paper burns.
• Significance of the epigram= If they give you ruled
paper, write the other way (a challenge to authority).
• Homes in the book are fireproofed so that the firemen no longer put out fires – instead they start fires.
• Firemen are the caretakers of this future society’s peace of mind.
• Firemen burn books as a means of maintaining social order.
• Guy Montag’s (main character) job is to seek out and destroy any home in which books have been found.
Government Motto:
Books are evil and they must be destroyed.
The government believes that when books and ideas are available to people, conflict
and unhappiness occur.