Fahrenheit 451: A Warning Against Censorship

2. 451 degrees fahrenheit: The temperature at which paper burns

3. The book is ablaze with the hope and despair of a writer wanting humankind to learn from its historical mistakes.

4. 2) Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 as a social criticism that warns against the danger of suppressing thought through censorship (burning books). https://sites.google.com/site/msfrenchenglish/fahrenheit-451Fahrenheit 451 science fiction to convey the message that oppressive government, left unchecked, can damage society by restricting the creativity and freedom of its people.

5. 2) Bradbury wrote the novel in the years immediately following World War II. It was written to not only condemn Nazi Germany, but also the America of the 1950s, which was fearful of a Communist takeover.

6. 3) Fahrenheit 451 tells the story of Guy Montag, a thirty-year-old-fireman whosejob is to set fires, not put them out. He and his colleagues burn books, which are now considered contraband.

7. 4) The "dystopia motif” is popular in science fiction. It is the recurring theme of a dysfunctional society. In Fahrenheit 451, the society demands order at the expense of individual rights.

8. The novel reveals a very real societal fear that the U.S. might evolve into an oppressive, authoritarian society where the government suppresses freedom of expression.

9. THE 1950s “Conservatism, Complacency, and Contentment”

10. President Eisenhower (1953- 1961)

11. GI Bill • 4 million veterans buy homes • 8 million attend college • Helps economic growth • Growth of Suburbs

12. Suburban Living:The New “American Dream” By 1960  1/3 of the U. S. population in the suburbs.

13. Chasing the“The American Dream” Suburban Living 1949 William Levitt produced 150 houses per week. $7,990 or $60/month with no down payment.

14. Baby Boom It seems to me that every other young housewife I see is pregnant. -- British visitor to America, 1958 1957  1 baby born every 7 seconds

15. Money + Babies + HomesThe Typical TV Suburban Families The Donna Reed Show1958-1966 Leave It to Beaver1957-1963 Father Knows Best1954-1958 The Ozzie & Harriet Show1952-1966

16. Well-Defined Gender Roles The ideal modern woman married, cooked and cared for her family, and kept herself busy by joining the local PTA and leading a troop of Campfire Girls. -- Life magazine, 1956 The ideal 1950s man was the provider, protector, and the boss of the house. -- Life magazine, 1955

17. Television 19467,000 TVs 195050,000,000 TVs Mass Audience  TV celebrated traditional American values. Truth, Justice, and the American way!

18. Impact of Television • TV became the center of consumer culture. • 1952- TV Guide outsold every other magazine. • TV Dinner was introduced in 1954 and altered America’s eating habits.

20. The Perfect Family Shows like Leave it to Beaver, and I Love Lucy portrayed a perfect family life and not the reality of everyday homes.

21. Consumerism 1950  Diner’s Card (1st credit card) All babies were potential consumers who spearheaded a brand-new market for food, clothing, and shelter. -- Life Magazine (May, 1958)

22. The Culture of the Car Car registrations: 1945  25,000,000 1960  60,000,000 2-family cars doubles from 1951-1958 1958 Pink Cadillac 1959 Chevy Corvette

23. Teen Culture In the 1950s the word“teenager” entered the American language. By 1956  13 million teens with $7 billion to spend a year. 1951  “ROCK ‘N ROLL” Elvis Presley “The King”

24. Progress Through Science 1951 -- First IBM Mainframe Computer 1952 -- Hydrogen Bomb Test 1953 -- DNA Structure Discovered 1954 -- Salk Vaccine Tested for Polio 1957 -- First Commercial U. S. Nuclear Power Plant 1958 -- NASA Created 1959 -- Press Conference of the First 7 American Astronauts

25. 6) Progress Through Science Atomic Anxieties: “Duck-and-Cover Generation” Atomic Testing: 1946-1962  U. S. exploded 217 nuclear weapons over the Pacific and in Nevada.

26. 1957 Russians launch SPUTNIK I Progress Through Science 1958 National Defense Education Act Beginning of the Cold War

27. 7 ) The Red Scare • After World War 2, Americans began to be very afraid that hordes of communists were trying to take over the country. • Communism was feared, and the American public called communists "reds.” • Most people thought that communists were worse than murderers. • Just being suspected of communism meant that one was a traitor, and association with communists was nearly as bad as being one yourself.

28. 11) Bradbury, afraid for the future, wrote the story to warn us what might happen if we aren’t careful…. • Set in the 24th century, Fahrenheit 451 introduces a new world in which society is controlled by the media and censorship is enforced by the government. • Individual freedom of expression is not accepted, and the intellectual is considered an outlaw.

29. 12) • Television has replaced the family. • The fireman is now seen as a flamethrower, a destroyer of books rather than an insurance against fire. • Books are considered evil because they make people question and think. • The people live in a world with no reminders of history or appreciation of the past; their only “reality” is television.

30. The Main Characters…

31. 13) Guy Montag Guy is the main character in Fahrenheit 451, a fireman struggling to find his place in society. Instead of putting out fires, his job is to start them, sometimes even burning civilians alive in his quest to burn all "unacceptable" books. When he meets Clarisse, however, he becomes conflicted (internal conflict).

32. Mildred Montag Mildred characterizes shallowness and mediocrity. Her abnormally white flesh and chemically burnt hair epitomize a society that demands an artificial beauty in women through diets and hair dye. She is completely immersed in an electronic world; she takes wild drives in her car, considers the people on TV her family, and wears “seashells” in her ears to distract her from her real feelings. This leads her to near suicide from a drug overdose.

33. Clarisse Clarisse is Montag's neighbor, a young girl who refuses to conform to societal pressures and forces Montag to realize who he really is. Through their interactions Montag eventually learns that he is not the man he once thought he was.

34. Captain Beatty Captain Beatty, Guy Montag's fire captain, is Guy's nemesis (enemy) and foil character throughout the novel. Beatty slowly makes Montag paranoid

35. Professor Faber Faber is an old intellectual, formerly a professor.  He guides Montag, helps him resolve his internal conflict, and take action to change society.

36. The Mechanical Hound The Hound is a machine resembling a dog, except that it has the ability to kill a man in seconds. It's main purpose is to seek out  books and to hunt fugitives down

37. 14) Symbols The Phoenix The mythologies of many cultures include the story of thephoenix, a bird that is consumed by flames but then rises from the ashes. The phoenix is a symbol for renewaland hope, for life that follows death in a cleansing fire. In Fahrenheit 451, it represents the hope that mankind will still seek knowledge after everything is destroyed.

38. Symbols Fire Fire symbolizes two different things. Through the firemen, who burn books and wear the number “451” on their helmets, fire symbolizes destruction. Yet at the same time, Clarisse reminds Montag of candle-light, and so fire, when controlled, symbolizes the flickering of self-awareness and knowledge.

39. Symbols The Hearth and the Salamander “The Hearth and the Salamander” is the title of the first section of Fahrenheit 451. Both hearths and salamanders are associated with fire. Hearths (fireplaces) are traditionally the center of the home and the source of warmth. The firemen wear salamander imagery on their uniforms and call their fire truck a “salamander” because salamanders were once believed to live in fire without being consumed by it.

40. Symbols The Sieve and the Sand “The Sieve and the Sand” is the title of the second section of Fahrenheit 451. Thetitle refers to Montag’schildhood memory of trying to fill a sieve with sand. To Montag, the sand represents the knowledge that he seeks—something of material importance—and the sieve represents his mind trying to grasp and retain this knowledge.

41. Themes Mass Media Much of Fahrenheit 451 depicts a future United States society bombarded with messages and imagery by mass media. Instead of the small black-and-white TV screens common in American households in 1953 (the year of the book’s publication), the characters in the novel live their lives in rooms with entire walls that act as televisions and interact weith the characters Mildred spends most of her time with “Seashell ear thimbles” in her ears—miniature radio receivers that play constant broadcasts of news, advertisements, and music, drowning out the real sounds of the world.

42. Themes • Censorship • Books are banned in the society depicted in Fahrenheit 451. When they’re found, they’re burned, along with the homes of the books’ owners. • However, it is important to know that people didn’t stop reading books because a tyrannical government forced them to stop; they stopped reading books gradually over time as society became more interested in instant thrills and material objects than in the pursuit of knowledge. • Entertainment replaced reflection and debate.

43. Themes Conformity vs. Individuality Pleasure-seeking and mindless distraction are the hallmarks of the culture in which Montag lives. The culture is not one that celebrates or even tolerates a broad range of self-expression. In the society of Fahrenheit 451 people who express their individuality find themselves social outcasts at best, and at worst in real danger. Clarisse McClellan represents free thought and individuality.

44. Themes  Action vs. Inaction In the years up to and before World War II, many societies, including Germany, become dangerous and intolerant. Even so, their citizens were afraid to speak out against these changes. Fahrenheit 451 was published in 1953, just a few years after WWII ended, and is very concerned with the idea of taking action versus standing by while society fails.

45. 16) Bradbury’s Predictions The people in the “Fahrenheit 451″ society sport “seashells” and “thimble radios,” which bear a striking resemblance to earbuds and Bluetooth headsets. Members of that futuristic society are also as obsessed with their large, flat-screen televisions as are today’s technophiles, and the viewing screens in Bradbury’s stories take up an entire wall.

46. 16) Bradbury’s Predictions The idea of electronic surveillance also popped up in Bradbury’s work way before closed-circuit television became a fixture in cities around the world. He was early in warning people about how surveillance could be abused — worries that echo today. Bradbury’s criticizes how reporters cover events in the news, which is reflected in modern news coverage; people want only the exciting events and don’t stop to consider if what they are hearing and seeing is true.

47. 17) • What are some things that are being censored or banned today and why? • In your opinion, is it acceptable to ban books or information on the internet? Give an example.