Fahrenheit 451 Essay, Research Paper

Light, especially fire, and darkness are significantly reoccurring themes in

Fahrenheit 451. Guy Montag, the main character, is a fireman, but in this

futuristic world the job description of a fireman is to start fires wherever

books are found; instead of putting them out. Montag takes a journey from a

literary darkness to a knowledgeable light. This journey can be compared to the

short story Allegory of the Cave by Plato, in which a prisoner experiences a

similar journey. An example of light, in reference to knowledge, occurs just

after Montag meets Clarisse for the first time. "When they reached her

house all its lights were blazing" (9). Since Montag had rarely seen that

many house lights on, I interpreted those lines as saying "that house is

full of knowledge and enlightenment; not like the rest of the houses around here

which are always dark." Clarisse went on to explain to Montag that her

mother, father, and uncle were just sitting around and talking. This was also

something that wasn’t very commonplace in the city. Fire is an important element

of symbolism in Fahrenheit 451. Fire consumes minds, spirits, men, ideas, and

books. Fire plays two very different roles in this book. The role of a

destructive, devouring, and life ending force, and the role of a nourishing

flame. The first role that fire plays in Fahrenheit 451 is apparent from the

very beginning of Bradbury’s novel. "IT WAS A PLEASURE TO BURN. It was a

pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed" (3). In

these first two sentences, Bradbury creates a sense of curiosity and irony

because in the story, change is something controlled and unwanted by the

government and society, so it is very unlikely that anything in Guy Montag’s

society could be changed. The burning described at this point represents the

constructive energy that later leads to catastrophe. A clear picture of firemen

is first seen when the narrator says, "With his symbolic helmet numbered

451 on his stolid head, and his eyes all orange flame with the thought of what

came next, he flicked the igniter and the house jumped up in a gorging fire that

burned the evening sky red and yellow and black" (3). Fahrenheit 451 is the

temperature at which books burn and is symbolically written on the firemen?s

helmets, tanks, and in the firestation. During a moment of revelation Montag

comes upon an interesting idea about fire and the burning of books that takes

place. He states, "the sun burnt every day. It burnt time?So if he burnt

things with the firemen and the sun burnt Time, that meant that everything

burnt! One of them had to stop burning. The sun wouldn?t, certainly"

(141). With this comment Montag realizes that he can no longer be a book burner,

but that he has to preserve books. After this revelation, Montag happens upon

fire once again. "That small motion, the white and red color, a strange

fire because it meant a different thing to him. It was not burning. It was

warming ? He hadn?t known fire could look this way" (145-46). Montag

was now seeing fire as a nourishing, life giving flame. The title of the third

part of the book, "Burning Bright", shows that even while the city is

still burning brightly from the war?s destruction, the spirit of all the exile

men is also burning brightly. This signifies a future of hope and optimism.

Throughout Fahrenheit 451 Montag goes through a transformation from book burner

to book preserver. Montag mirrors the path taken by one of prisoners in

Plato?s Allegory of the Cave. The prisoner went through a metamorphosis from

illusion to wisdom. In the Allegory of the Cave there are many prisoners; all

with their arms, legs, and heads shackled so that they could only look forward.

This represents how the totalitarian government in Fahrenheit 451 forces

everyone to see only the government?s beliefs and views. While in this cave,

there is a fire above and behind them, and between them and the fire is a wall.

This wall is acting like a screen in a puppet show. There are other men walking

along the wall carrying statues and carvings of animals which appear over the

wall. This symbolizes Montag?s job of burning books and his helping to keep

others in the dark; only showing them what the government wants them to see and

know. The prisoners, like Montag and others in his society, can only see the

shadows of the statues along the cave wall, and this is what they believe to be

the truth. Somehow one of the prisoners is able to escape, and at first he is in

pain. Just as Montag escaped the beliefs and views of his society, with the help

from Clarisse and Faber. At first, Montag could not and would not accept books,

but he began to see the power they had, he began to see the truth. This pain

comes from the light (truth), and the prisoner is compelled to look away from

the light, and to take refuge in the objects which he could see. Once again, the

prisoner carries himself towards the cave entrance, and this time he sees the

sun. At first, the sun hurts him also, but the prisoner grows accustomed to the

light. The same way Montag felt when he first learned the truth; it hurt to know

that all he knew was false, but he began to accept it and he liked it and wanted

to share this knowledge with others. After learning the truth of the cave, the

prisoner also tries to return to the others that are held captive and free them

to show them the truth. However, they only believe what their illusions, and the

prisoner is ridiculed, called crazy, and exiled from the cave. This also

happened to Montag when he tried to share his knowledge with others; such as his

wife, her friends, and Captain Beatty.