One reoccurring theme in this story is the burning of
books. It is likely that Ray Bradbury
was inspired to include this in his plot based off of similar burnings that
occurred practically since books were first written. One of the most notable cases during
Bradbury’s lifetime took place in 1933.
Germany’s National Socialists created a list of books that would be
banned and if found burned (75th Anniversary of the Nazi Book Burnings). Many of the books on this list were from
German authors who, after World War I, were questioning Germany (75th
Anniversary of the Nazi Book Burnings).
Does any of this sound familiar?
Like the Germans in 1933, the government in Fahrenheit 451 has created a
list of books which are to be burned because they have upset the
minorities. I believe that this
occurrence shocked and scared Bradbury so much that he made sure to introduce
it in one of his books.
An example
of symbolism in the story is the number “451” on the firefighters’
helmets. 450 degrees Fahrenheit is the
temperature at which paper burns. It is
a firefighter’s job to burn books (or paper), so the number is definitely
symbolic for firefighters and destruction.
Another symbolism happens when
Montag crosses the river while being chased by the authorities. Water represents life, hope, and a new
beginning. After crossing the river, the
authorities give up on trying to find him, his life is spared, and he meets new
friends that he begins to travel with.
A third symbolism is a
salamander. Each firefighter has a badge
of a salamander on his uniform; it is also what they call their fire truck. Salamanders are symbols of the firefighters
because of the mythical belief that salamanders can live in fire without being
harmed by the flames. The firefighters
are the ones who set the fires and before Montag none of their members were
ever mentioned having his own house
burned down.
The next major symbolism that I
noticed was the phoenix badge which was also a part of the firefighters’
uniform. The phoenix is a mythical bird
that, at the end of its lifetime, catches on fire and out of the ashes is
reborn. In this case, the phoenix represents
books. In Fahrenheit 451, books lasted
so long before people stopped reading them; they were banned, and finally
burned, like the phoenix. Also like the
bird, Faber believes that someday people will again come to appreciate reading
and the books will be rewritten.
The final symbolism is the title of
the chapter The Sieve and the Sand. Montag recalls how frustrated he was when he
was younger at trying to fill a sieve with sand. No matter how much he tried, the sand always
fell through the holes (Bradbury 36). He
compares this experience with trying to read the Bible and memorize each
word. Although he tries his best, it
feels to him as if the words, or the sand, are slipping right through his
brain, which is like the sieve.
"75th Anniversary of the Nazi
Book Burnings." AbeBooks:. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 June 2012.
<http://www.abebooks.com/docs/Community/Featured/book-burning.shtml>.
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New
York: Simon and Schuster, 1967. Print.
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