Fahrenheit 451by Ray Bradbury

The temperature in which paper burns

• A much shorter version was published in 1950 under the name “The Firemen”

• The current edition was first published in Playboy magazine in March, April, and May issues in 1954

genre

Science Fiction

A type of writing that deals primarily with the impact of actual or imagined science upon society or individuals.

If science concerns itself with discovery, then science fiction concerns itself with the consequences of discovery

Science fictions writers have foretold the future

• Seashells• Mechanical hounds• Moving escalators• Air propelled train• Parlor walls• Electric eyed snake

Summary of novel

• Guy Montag is a fireman who burns books in a futuristic American city. In Montag’s world, firemen start fires rather than putting them out.

• The people in this society do not read books, enjoy nature, spend time by themselves, think independently, or have meaningful conversations.

• Instead, they drive very fast, watch excessive amounts of television on wall-size sets, and listen to the radio on “Seashell Radio” sets attached to their ears.

• Their lives are filled with pleasure and entertainment. Anything “disturbing” or emotionally impacting is ignored.

• Montag encounters a gentle seventeen-year-old girl named Clarisse McClellan, who opens his eyes to the emptiness of his life with her innocently penetrating questions and her unusual love of people and nature. Over the next few days, Montag experiences a series of disturbing events.

Why schools want students to read Fahrenheit 451?

• In the real world, firefighters are heroes. Firefighters risk their lives to save people, putting out fires rather than starting them. Imagine living in a world similar to the one depicted in Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. Book burning is real. Censorship is still alive and thriving today. It exists in many forms. Believe it or not, it affects YOU.

Censorship

• If advocates for censorship have their way, we eventually could have a world without books, music, film, and art.

• Every written or recorded piece of work deemed offensive to one single human being would be thrown into a fireplace and burned. If you think about it, doesn't that apply to everything?

This means no more anger infused pop, rock, and rap music, no more thought provoking novels to read in English class, and no more real time footage on the news.

• Everything that mirrors reality or relates to the inner workings of your adolescent minds and experiences will probably be destroyed.

• As you read the novel, here are some key topics, or themes, that we will be exploring.

• When you finish the novel, you’ll be expected to show your understanding and knowledge of these topics based on our class discussions and your reading of the novel.

Book Banning and Censorship

• Explore censorship in society, historically and currently. What kind of music, literature, and thought is censored in modern society?

Entertainment

• “Entertaining Ourselves to Death”: the role of entertainment in society

• Can entertainment be considered for some people a drug or addiction?

Political Correctness

• One of the key reasons books are banned in F451 is that books offend minorities, which means any group with a common link of some kind. Is there a point when political correctness can go too far?

Happiness

• Are we really happy when we are kept occupied or amused?

• Think about the stress, pressure and speed in life and how it affects us. For one week, set aside 30 minutes each day of quiet time: no television, music, reading, talking -- no activity. Can you do it? Why don’t more people do this?

Government Control

• How much control should a government have over its people?

• In what ways can a government control how we think and act?

• In what ways is government control good? Bad?

Individuality or nonconformity

• In F 451, Montag fights for his rights as an individual; he refuses to conform to society: instead, he must sacrifice his happiness, life, and peace of mind to achieve independence from the government.