FIRE
In The Story Fahrenheit 451 the main character Montag is a fireman in a futuristic time period as seen by our author from the 1950’s. Throughout Ray Bradbury’s book we come across a continuous motif, fire. Fire in Fahrenheit 451 symbolizes destructive and constructive perspectives. In the novel our main character Montag is a fireman who burns books so that this conforming society can stay in control. No one’s allowed to think in this future, and without having any thoughts both the beauty and destruction of fire is overlooked by the ignorant society.
In the novel fire had grown to symbolize more than just destruction. Like the sun, time on earth, and the cycle of life we experience, we come to understand fire has both a constructive and destructive outlook.
Destruction
The destruction of fire is an interesting symbol in Fahrenheit 451 because it had an effect on characters in different things. When first brainstorming the meaning of fire and what exactly it symbolizes quickly assumptions of destruction comes to play. Throughout the novel destruction was the key meaning, early on in the book we had our first image of the burning of the books. “He flicked the igniter and the house jumped up in a gorging fire that burned the evening sky.”(3). This image created a visual in the readers head both introducing readers to the process of burning the books to what exactly these firemen do in this society. Now with a sense of what it is exactly the firemen do, it is of importance to understand why is it that these fires are happening. “With the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting it venomous kerosene upon the world, the blood pounded in his head, and his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning to bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history.”(3). Montag finds pleasure in burning these home and books. It’s actually the introducing to the reasons the burning is occurring, when burning the books not only are the books being burned but history as well. The firemen are part of a society that is against having the knowledge of the books which leads to power. “I had a dream an hour ago, I lay down for cat nap and in this dream you and I, Montag got into a furious debate on books. You towered with rage yelled quotes at me I calmly parrled every thrust. Power, I said and you quoting Dr. Johnson said knowledge is more than equivalent to force”…And you shirked knowledge is power.”(106). This society doesn’t believe anyone should have the type of knowledge that an book possess and that it gives to people, so it is of great importance that no one reads these books or even have them in their possession. If so the precautions that were seen earlier will take place again using fire as destruction. Throughout the book montags journey on what can be explained as realizing he has a mind on his own takes an entire turn once his curiosity is peaked. With destruction we also see revenge take form with fire. “You must remember burn them or they’ll burn you, he thought.”(123). Fire as destruction throughout the novel was only stepping stones building up for what was to come. As the novel come to an end readers learn how this society uses fire in multiply occasions to get rid of problems “Don’t face a problem, burn it.”(121). This was all a lead up to the bombing that had taken place destroying everyone and everything. “all on their quick way down to the cellar where the explosion rid itself of them in its own unreasonable way…A side for a back and then the city rolled over and fell down dead”.(160). Fire which was used to be helpful to this society in particular and negative ways actually turned out to do harm on betrayal and revenge on a society that solely felt as fire was the answer to all problem and anything out of order was to be burnt only to ironically turn around and demolished the entire society with a bomb summing up how fire as the motif of