Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury3 Essay Research

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FAHRENHEIT 451 by Ray BradburyA WORLD WITH NO BOOKS Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 was an interesting Science fiction thriller that provided anodd view on the censorship of books. Not just some books, but all books. An entire distortedculture and civilization where all books are prohibited. And the penalty for being caught withbooks is that the books must be burned and in some cases the penalty may lead to death. In thistale of censorship and self discovery, Bradbury leads the reader through a short period in thelife of the protagonist, Guy Montag. A firefighter struggling with his conscience to determine ifa society without books is right. Fahrenheit 451 has an entertaining theme and plot and a wellpaced story line. This book combines catchy description and well thought out characters to puttogether a gripping story that keeps the readers attention. It is interesting to see how a oncecontroversial topic could create such a dystopia in one place.Fahrenheit 451 had many examples of good writing techniques that made it a good novel.One technique that Bradbury did a good job of using was description. He described thingsspecifically using outstanding similes and personifications. One example is how he mentionedthe fire hose. He called it “the great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the world.” (Bradbury 3) This made the reader not only visualize the hose but get a feel for the mood aboutthe firemen at that time. Another example of good description is how he described the physicalappearance of the firemen. “Their charcoal hair and their soot-colored brows and theirbluish-ash-smeared cheeks where they had shaven close.” (32) The adjectives charcoal andsoot-colored describe the color of their hair but also are words that relate to their job as afireman. Finally, an excellent example of Bradbury’s descriptive writing was when Montagpulled the trigger and set Captain Beatty on fire. “There was a hiss like a great mouthful ofspittle banging a red-hot stove, a bubbling and frothing as if salt had been poured over amonstrous black snail to cause a terrible liquefaction and a boiling over of yellow foam.” (117)

A different aspect of writing that made Fahrenheit 451 a good story was the way he keptthe book well paced. There were few dead spots in the story and few spots that pushed thestoryline along too quickly. Another aspect of the story that made it enjoyable was thecharacters and their relations to each other. Each character brought a special part to the storythat effected the plot and other characters. One of the most important characters was Clarrise.She was the teenage girl that began Montag’s self realization that a world with no books waswrong. For that, Montag had a special appreciation for her. She stated that ,”Didn’t firemenprevent fires rather than stoke them up and get them going.” (33) Another relationship in thisnovel that made it good was that of Montag and Captain Beatty. Throughout most of the storyhad a strange fear and hatred towards Captain Beatty. When Montag started to collect booksfrom the houses he and other firemen burned, he got extremely paranoid and edgy with Beatty.He began to see Beatty as the absolute opposite of what he wanted to become. Captain Beattyrepresented all of the evil in what they did to the books. He taunted Montag for wanting tochange his life around. “Go ahead now you, second hand litterateur, pull the trigger.” (117) Thiswas how Montag was treated moments before he was about to end Beatty’s life. In all effect, therelationships in this novel proved to be very relevant and well thought out. Fahrenheit 451 was an excellent book that would interest many different types of people. It contains a plot that brushes very close to a dystopia that could happen in our culture today.Therefore creating a unique element of suspense. Fahrenheit 451 is also a story about selfdiscovery and change. Readers would enjoy to read through Montag’s confusion with figuringout right and wrong, and avoiding a government filled with ignorance. This book proves to bepacked with action, adventure and emotion. It is a science fiction tale that will surly continue tointrigue minds, young and old for generations to come.

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