Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury

Author Information• Ray Douglas Bradbury-

born August 22, 1920 in Illinois

• He is a science fiction writer, but he has also earned acclaim in poetry, drama, and screenwriting.

• As a boy, his life revolved around magic and reading.• His family’s favorite holiday was Halloween (more celebrated than Christmas).

• He began writing in 1931 at the age of eleven.

• In 1937, he published his own newspaper called Futuria Fantasia.

• He wrote by recalling his own experiences and emotions.

Book Information• Fahrenheit 451 began as a

short story called “The Fireman” (1951). He expanded it and published Fahrenheit 451 in 1953.

• “Book Burning” = the suppression of writing.• The central theme of the novel is Censorship.

• Significance to the title = the temperature at

which book paper burns.

• Significance of the epigram= If they give you ruled

paper, write the other way (a challenge to authority).

• Homes in the book are fireproofed so that the firemen no longer put out fires – instead they start fires.

• Firemen are the caretakers of this future society’s peace of mind.

• Firemen burn books as a means of maintaining social order.

 

• Guy Montag’s (main character) job is to seek out and destroy any home in which books have been found.

Government Motto:

Books are evil and they must be destroyed.

 The government believes that when books and ideas are available to people, conflict

and unhappiness occur.