Intro Notes

Ray Bradbury

&

Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury- born in Waukegan, Illinois, August 22, 1920- By age 11, had begun writing on butcher

paper- Graduated from an L.A. high school in 1938- No further formal education- Wrote for Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The

Twilight Zone• In 1940, Bradbury sold his first story.• In 1942, he was able to quit his newspaper

job and write full-time.• His first novel was The Martian Chronicles,

which describes humankind’s first attempt to colonize the planet Mars.

• This novel combines science fiction with social commentary—an approach that characterizes much of his work.

Awards• Ray Bradbury's work has been

included in four Best American Short Story collections.

• He has been awarded:– O. Henry Memorial Award– Benjamin Franklin Award– World Fantasy Award for

Lifetime Achievement– National Book Foundation

Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters

Social Concerns• Bradbury’s works explored

the threat of nuclear war, censorship, racism, conformity, and the dangers of technology—issues that still concern us today.

• Considered one of the great masters of science fiction genre

“Anything you dream is fiction, anything you accomplish is science, the whole history of

mankind is nothing but science fiction.” Ray Bradbury

What is science fiction?- Deals with impact of science

- Predicted invention of atomic weapons and thinking machines

- Asks probing questions of every new scientific invention

• Satire: The use of irony/sarcasm/ridicule to criticize faults

• Some societal faults Bradbury satirizes in F451:– Technology – Mass media– Organized sports– High-speed automobiles

• Fahrenheit 451 was published in 1953.

• It is a novel of social criticism that warns against the dangers of suppressing thought through censorship.

• It uses the conventions of science fiction to convey a message that “oppressive government, left unchecked, can do irreparable damage to society by limiting the creativity and freedom of its people”.

Theme: Dystopian Society

• The “Dystopia” motif, popular in science fiction—that of a technocratic and totalitarian society that demands order at the expense of individual rights—is central to the novel.

an imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmentally degraded one.

DystopiasCharacteristics

Propaganda is used to control citizens.

Information, independent thought, and freedom are restricted.

A figurehead or concept is worshipped by citizens.

Citizens are under constant surveillance.

Citizens feel trapped and struggle to escape.

The natural world is banished and distrusted.

Citizens are dehumanized. The society is an illusion of a

perfect utopian world.

Types of Control Corporate/Economic: large

corporations control society through products, advertising, and/or the media.

Political: red tape, relentless regulations and incompetent government officials.

Technological: society is controlled by technology—robots, computers, etc.

Philosophical/Religious: ideology is enforced through a dictatorship or theocratic government.

Burning BrightAn excerpt from a foreword to the fortieth Anniversary Edition

of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury February 14, 1993

“….a prediction that my fire Chief, Beatty, made in 1953, halfway through my book. It had to do with books being burned without matches or fire. Because you don’t have to burn books, do you, if the world starts to fill up with nonreaders, non-learners, non-knowers? If the world wide-screen-basketballs and footballs itself to drown in MTV, no Beattys are needed to ignite the kerosene or hunt the reader. If the primary grades suffer meltdown and vanish through the cracks and ventilators of the schoolroom, who, after a while, will know or care?

All is not lost, of course. There is still time if we judge teachers, students, and parents, hold them accountable on the same scale, if we truly test teachers, students, and parents, if we make everyone responsible for quality, if we insure that by the end of its sixth year every child in every country can live in libraries to learn almost by osmosis, then our drug, street-gang, rape, and murder scores will suffer themselves near zero.

But the Fire Chief, in midnovel, says it all, predicting the one-minute TV commercial with three images per second and no respite from the bombardment. Listen to him, know what he says, then go sit with your child, open a book, and turn the page.”

Historical Context

• Fahrenheit 451 was developed in the years immediately following World War II.

• Condemns anti-intellectualism of Nazi Germany and current climate in America

– McCarthyism– The Red Scare

• Technological innovations– Hydrogen bomb– First nationwide television

broadcast– Suburbs– DNA double helix discovered– Invention of the microchip– Introduction of cable tv– Sputnik– Drive-ins– Domestic jet air travel

The Red Scare

McCarthyism

Black Listing

Ironically, Fahrenheit 451, itself a vehicle of protest against censorship, has often been edited for foul language.

Fahrenheit 451 has sold millions of copies and established itself as a literary classic.

The Library of Congress recently designated this best-known book of Bradbury’s as one of the top 100 works of American literature.

"The great fun in my life has been getting up every morning and rushing to the typewriter because some new idea has hit me. The feeling I have every day is very much the same as it was when I was twelve. In any event, here I am, eighty years old, feeling no different, full of a great sense of joy, and glad for the long life that has been allowed me. I have good plans for the next ten or twenty years, and I hope you'll come along." -Bradbury (2000)