An Essay on Fahrenheit 451 - Analysis of Character, Setting, Theme, and Literary Techniques

This essay analyzes the character, setting, theme, and literary techniques used in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. It discusses how the character's conflict reveals societal values, how setting develops theme, and how literary techniques contribute to the theme. It also explores how the character's internal and external conflicts help to develop a central theme and how the central character's struggle in a complex world reveals elements of human nature and/or the values of society.

Running head: AN ESSAY ON FAHRENHEIT 451
AN ESSAY ON FAHRENHEIT 451
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Author Notes

1AN ESSAY ON FAHRENHEIT 451
Using a work studied in this course, show how a character’s conflict reveals societal values?
Guy Montag is a fireman from a futuristic American metropolis. He lives by the thought that the
job of a fireman is to start a fire, instead of putting it out. The civilians of this society are
mechanical, they do not enjoy the company of books, and they do not enjoy the beauty of nature
or give time to themselves. According to Montage, they spend a lot of time on watching
television and driving too fast. He believes that people have stopped thinking and turned into
pleasure seeking beings.
For a work that you have studied in this course, analyze how setting develops theme.
Fahrenheit 451 is an attempt to portray the vulnerability of human beings. The central character
Guy Montag, being a disillusioned person due to the ordeals he goes through in his daily life,
finds himself juxtaposed in the most extreme of situations. The toll his hardships take on his life
can be figured out from the fact that he became detached from society and started taking refuge
in books and literary works. (Bloom)
In a work you have studied in this course, debates to what degree chaos is the result of a
character’s struggle to re-order his or her world.
The struggle that Guy Montag goes through is very vividly described in the novel. When Captain
Beatty went out to get Montag, he knew that he has been taking books, and he planned to set him
up for the day that he would burn his house down. However, when that day finally came,
Montag took the flame gun and killed him instead. After that moment, he gets chased. He
escapes from man, hounds and helicopters.
In a work studied in this course, to what extend does a character develop while attempting
to balance his/her ideals with the reality of the world in which he/she lives.
According to Guy Montag, he believes that that the society has turned very mechanical. His
ideals are very simple, he does not accept the way society operates. People do not enjoy books or
the nature; instead they are consumed by technology such as television and radio. (Kotlyakov)
To struggle against great odds is the essence of real courage. Assess the extent to which
this definition of courage applies to a character (or characters) in a work you have studied
in this course.
When Guy Montag realizes his vague life, he starts to search for meaning in the books he was
supposed to be burning. He shows courage when he breaks free from the rule of ignorance by
fighting the basic beliefs of his society. He risks everything and destroys the unquestioning
ignorance he used to share with the people of the society.

2AN ESSAY ON FAHRENHEIT 451
To what extend do relationship contributes to the central charter’s ultimateunderstanding
of himself/herself in a work studied in this course.
One of the most important themes throughout the novel is the lack of human communication and
relationships. There are many examples of the degradation of human relationships. Mildred, who
is married to Montag, has been married together for a long time however they are often apart
from each other. When Mildred leaves Montag, he does not understand how much better his life
would be with her absence. He also does not see the reason why she left is because she didn’t
wanted to get involved in Montag’s rebellion against the society.
Show how theme and/or character is develop though symbolism and imagery in a work
studied in this course
Throughout the novel, Ray Bradbury employs some sort of imagery on nearly every chapter.
However, most of this imagery is aimed at proving a vivid contrast between Montag's and
Clarisse's world. Bradbury employs his imagery by the means of extended metaphors.
Symbolism also plays a very important part in both of the characters. (Thakur, Rajita, and Divya)
With Reference to a work studied in this course, analyze how literary techniques
contributes to theme, referring to some of the following: imagery, symbolism, parallelism,
irony, or contrast.
Montag, Faber, and Beatty’s struggle revolves around the tension between imagery, symbolism,
parallelism, irony, or contrast. The fireman’s duty is to destroy knowledge and promote
ignorance in order to equalize the population and promote sameness. Montag’s encounters with
Clarisse, the old woman, and Faber ignite in him the spark of doubt about this approach. His
resultant search for knowledge destroys the unquestioning ignorance he used to share with nearly
everyone else, and he battles the basic beliefs of his society. (Patai)
Analyze how a character’s internal AND external conflicts help to develop a central theme
in a work studied in this course.
Internally, Montag struggles with the constant thought that he is not satisfied. He is dissatisfied
with life. He struggles between conformity, and finding change. This battle is fought in his mind
for most of the novel, and that battle is represented symbolically by his criminal hand that seems
to have a mind of its own, stealing books and hiding them in his house. Externally, Montag
experiences problems with his wife; she expresses her dissatisfaction and even attempts suicide;
she defends her friends and the TV show and is irritated when he persuades her to read. When he
asks her to come with him, she disagrees.

3AN ESSAY ON FAHRENHEIT 451
To what extend does central character’s struggle in a complex world reveal elements of
human nature and/or the values of society in a work studied in this course?
When Montag meets Clarisse for the first time, he notice something strange in her, he finds her
different from the people in his lives. Instead of driving her mind from television and radio, she
indulges herself with simple things in life like observing the world and pondering with the every
little details of life. In a word where everything move fast for Montag, Clarisse actually helps
him to slow down and enjoy the nature and life.

4AN ESSAY ON FAHRENHEIT 451
REFERENCES
Bloom, Harold, ed. Ray Bradbury. Infobase Publishing, 2010.
Kotlyakov, V. M., et al. "Flooding of July 6–7, 2012, in the town of Krymsk." Regional
Research of Russia 3.1 (2013): 32-39.
Patai, Daphne. "Ray Bradbury and the assault on free thought." Society 50.1 (2013): 41-47.
Thakur, Rajita, and Dr KV Divya. "Symbolism And The Dystopian Tradition In Ray Bradbury’s
Fahrenheit 451." English Studies International Research Journal 3.2 (2015): 237-241.