...The salamander isn’t supposed to bring fear or evil but pleasure and company unlike how it is depicted in the book. The salamander in Fahrenheit 451 represents the firemen and the troubles that comes with them. The firemen do not put the fire out, no instead they create it. Especially when they burn books. When one becomes a fireman in Fahrenheit society, they also become a symbol of a salamander. When one thinks of a salamander they think of the firemen that burn the books and cause harm. For Montag, he takes the symbol of the salamander very seriously. He even has it tattooed on his arm, “....the salamander on his arm….”(6). The salamander became a big part of who Montag is. The mythical salamander and Montag have so much in common. They both like fire and are constantly around it. Montag likes the destruction though. Since the mythical salamander comes from fire and the firemen use fire to burn the houses and the books, the salamander symbolizes the firemen like Montag and Beatty, the chief. The salamander has become such a major part of their life that even in the dark, Montag refuses to open the lights or the blinds so he can get light from outside, instead, “He pulled out his igniter, felt the salamander etched...
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...The action of these people symbolizes the eradication of knowledge and freedom. In the novel, Bradbury establishes contrast by naming part one “ The Hearth and the Salamander”. The Salamander is the symbol of the firemen that shows the destruction and scorching of books. The hearth is the fireplace in the home that represents warmth and passion. The differences between the two symbols are presented in part one of the novel. Montag’s interpretation of fire begins to change when the firemen observe the woman burn herself and her works of literature. Before the woman burns to death, she makes a remark that later disturbs Montag. She starts to repeat lines from literature and Beatty finishes the woman’s remark with “ We shall this day light such a candle, by a God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out” (Bradbury 44). Montag ponders his quote, causing his understanding of his society and fire to transform. This flame creates hope instead of destruction. Further along in the novel Beatty describes to Montag the reason of the destruction of...
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...Fire in Our Eyes Fire. Fire can do many things: destroy, heat, cook. Not only can it do many things, it can also be an abstract concept. Just like it being able to do many things, there are many ways writers can use it as symbolism. For Montag in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, fire is destruction; fire is happiness but, he learns, fire is also for survival. Firemen are there to come and save people when houses burn, right? Wrong! In Fahrenheit 451 the firemen are the ones who burn the house; it is the status quo. The firemen would not just go around burning houses to destroy them. They made sure there was one reason: books. Books were the quarry that they are always searching to burn. If the firemen did not burn the person’s house the only way to get out of it is for the owner to burn it. For example, “The woman’s hand twitched on the single matchstick. The fumes of kerosene bloomed up about her” (Bradbury 36-37). After this incident, Montag first starting thinking that the books might have something in them, something...
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...Montag and the other firemen had gone to a woman’s house to burn it down because she had books there. The author says “ Montag had done nothing. His hand had done it all, his hand, with a brain of its own, with a conscience and a curiosity in each trembling finger, had turned thief.”(Bradbury, 37)Montag tried to get the woman out of her house before the firemen burn it down, but she refused to leave resulting in her death.(Bradbury, 38-40) The whole situation with the woman burning alive had a strong effect on Montag. It began to make him think. Montag said “There must be something in books, things we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing”.(Bradbury, 51) When Montag said this it showed that he gained knowledge based on his thinking. Montag did not think about books in this kind of way before, all he really thought about was burning them. After the incident with the woman, Bradbury...
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...“Now that everyone I love is gone all I have left is everything the river carries me on” — Bart Simpson, Mr. Burns. The Simpsons is an adult cartoon show based on an unorthodox nuclear family with a satirical point of view. The show parodies parts of popular culture in a humorous format to provide societal commentary. In Anne Washburn’s book, Mr. Burns episodes of The Simpsons series, specifically “Cape Feare”, are used as a way for a group of survivors to remember their past lives. This act of remembrance helps them maintain their sanity. In Washburn's’ play, The Simpsons resembles its real attributes as a pop culture artifact by bringing diverse groups of people together in a shared societal experience through the use of nostalgia in recreating...
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...the human tendency towards a general thirst for knowledge, the government has issued legislation that makes books illegal. Books are considered a social evil due to their inherent ability to encourage individuals to question existing frameworks and think for themselves. Therefore, the society in the book lives in a world where history does not exist and the reality is constructed and delivered through the television. The book’s protagonist, Montag, represents an individual that makes a transition from a person of conformity to a person of enlightenment and non-conformity. The transition of Montag is extreme as he begins the story as a valuable member of the social conformity movement. In fact, he is a “fireman” whose job it is to burn books when they are discovered. As the book progresses, Montag first becomes curious, he then becomes a seeker of truth, experiences a moment of awakening and...
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...Guy Montag is apart of a group of men called the firemen. The leader of this group and Montag’s boss is Beatty. Since books are banned their job is to burn any books that are found. Most of the books that are found are hidden in people’s houses so the firemen are required to burn the house down as well. Montag’s understanding of fire drastically transforms from him viewing fire as a force of death and destruction to a force that provides the necessities for life. In the beginning, Montag views fire as a force of death destruction because of the lifestyle he lives. As a fireman Montag uses fire everyday to burn books, so he becomes accustomed to seeing fire destroy. Destruction and even death are apart of his everyday life. Montag even enjoys...
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...In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the author juxtaposes fire and water to contribute to the story’s overall message due to their impact on Montag’s life. Throughout the story fire and water are repeatedly used to represent purification or rebirth. Although both symbols can represent the same idea, they are presented in drastically different ways. Fire is used to destroy books and knowledge, meanwhile water is used to cleanse Montag of his past life and give him a fresh start. Fire is frequently presented while Montag is with the other firemen because their job is to burn any books that are no longer permitted in their society. One might think that burning books would symbolize destruction, but Bradbury introduces society’s view on fire by...
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...Montag Changes in Fahrenheit 451 “It’s fine work. Monday burn Millay, Wednesday Whitman, Friday Faulkner, burn ‘em to ashes, then burn the ashes. That’s our official slogan.” said Montag. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury this quote shows what the book is about and how Montag thinks of books in the beginning. Montag changed a lot through the story he went from a routine life to being enlightened/ understanding books to rebelling in the end. In Fahrenheit 451 Montag was brought up believing books were worthless so he didn’t care if they burned or not. In the book Montag states “It was a pleasure to burn” (Bradbury 1). In the beginning Montag didn’t think twice about burning books he just did his job. An important person/ experience...
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...Fahrenheit 451, a book written by Ray Bradbury, is one of his most famous writing.Ray Bradbury is most famous for his exceptional science fiction and horror themed books, including The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, and I Sing Body Electric.In the book, Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury presented us a society where the firemen burn books instead of eliminating the fire.The society does not like nature, think independently, or spend time by themselves.Instead, they watch myriad amount of television on wall-size sets and listen to radios on “Seashell Radio” attached to their ear.The main character, Montag Guy is a fireman who burn books in a futuristic American society, he was jubilant of his job, and enjoys burning books.”It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed.” Montag Guy,the main character, enjoys burning books and gets pleasure from it.That is until he met Clarisse McClellan, a beautiful seventeen-year-old that unlike anybody Montag had seen.She made him realize how empty his life is and made him wonder what books are.However, he soon began to encounter a series of disturbing events.First, his wife tried to commit suicide by eating a bottle of sleeping pills but was not...
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...censorship is harmful because it results in the opposite of true education and learning. Therefore they say censorship isn’t helpful in a school like environment. It is understandable why the opposition believes in this because in a way censorship can sometimes take too much information out of a topic. Though it is a valid point that they prove, it is not necessarily completely true. Censorship most of the time only takes out bad things and why should kids want to see bad things? As previously stated, Ray Bradbury deals with the issue of censorship in Fahrenheit 451. In Fahrenheit 451 Montag deals with the fact that he lives in a very censored community that burns books, doesn’t allow walks, and can even chill out of his own front porch. Ray Bradbury wrote “It was a pleasure to burn”. This quote says it was a pleasure to burn someone’s hard work and Montag realizes how wrong that was so he decided to take a few book and read them on his own. He almost got caught by his fellow...
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...happiness; I love your caring face, your voice, Your tender, sweet caress. Every year when this day comes, I'm filled with love and pleasure; Happy Anniversary, Love, My joy, my delight, my treasure. Just gonna stand there And watch me burn But that's alright Because I like The way it hurts Just gonna stand there And hear me cry But that's alright Because I love The way you lie I love the way you lie I love the way you lie I can't tell you what it really is I can only tell you what it feels like And right now there's a steel knife In my windpipe I can't breathe But I still fight While I can fight As long as the wrong feels right It's like I'm in flight High of a love Drunk from the hate It's like I'm huffing paint And I love it the more that I suffer I sufficate And right before im about to drown She resuscitates me She fucking hates me And I love it Wait Where you going I'm leaving you No you ain't Come back We're running right back Here we go again It's so insane Cause when it's going good It's going great I'm Superman With the wind in his bag She's Lois Lane But when it's bad It's awful I feel so ashamed I snap Who's that dude I don't even know his name I laid hands on her I'll never stoop so low again I guess I don't know my own strength Just gonna stand there And watch me burn But that's alright Because I like The way it hurts Just gonna stand there And hear me cry But that's alright Because I love The...
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...Burning Bright Entry 1 Guy Montag changed from being a good, moral fireman who had "pleasure to burn" (Fahrenheit, 3) and fulfill his job who would burn books and houses "It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed. With the brass nozzle in his fists, with his great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the world... playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning to bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history." (Fahrenheit, 3). He changed to being a "criminal" by his own society's definitions. He starts owning and reading books. He plots against his fellow firemen and becomes unconfirmed to his society anymore, filled with knowledge and power that he wants to pass to the next generations. He fights for a change to his society and wants to rebuild it for good and this reminds me of his quote about him saying, "And...
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...Flame In the book Fahrenheit 451, the author Ray Bradbury, uses the motif fire to show the destruction in the city. Fire is used to suggest that destroying history makes people happy because it hides the uncomfortable past. The government did not allow books and the would send firemen to light houses with books on fire. Bradbury uses fire to represent the wreckage and rebirth of history. The first sentence of Fahrenheit 451 is “It was a pleasure to burn” (3). In the story, Montag was a fireman. He started books on fire to burn away all the history. The history was hidden because it provoked new ideas and thoughts that made people unique. These people did not fit into the Government's perfect mold. When Montag the main character,...
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...Guy Montag v.s. Truman Burbank So far in fahrenheit 451, the book tells the story of the protagonist, Guy Montag. Who, At first, takes pleasure in his profession as a fireman, burning illegally owned books and the homes of their owners. As he states at the beginning of the book,”It was a pleasure to burn.” He soon realizes that his “happy world” isn’t so happy when he meets Clarisse McClellan and she asks “Are you happy?” After viewing The Truman Show and reading a majority of Fahrenheit 451, many parallels can be drawn between the characters of Truman Burbank and Guy Montag. While some differences were noticeable, the similarities were very pronounced. Nobody actually cares. In Fahrenheit 451, all they care about is their "families" and/or...
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