Historical Context

Censorship: Fahrenheit 451 was written at a time when censorship was very much a reality both abroad and at home. In Nazi Germany, Hitler had tried to control the thoughts of the masses by burning thousands of books that he saw as a threat to his regime. In the Communist Soviet Union, Stalin did much the same thing, censoring materials that reflected badly on him or his government.

The American response to Communism also involved censorship. Colleges were asked to submit the textbooks they used to the House Un-American Activities Committee for approval. Writers, filmmakers, and other artists were blacklisted for suspected Communist tendencies. Libraries came under attack not only for owning copies of the “Communist Manifesto” and other books about Communism but also for owning books by authors whose loyalty to the United States was considered suspect. In 1953, books in U.S. government libraries overseas were removed and in some cases burned in response to a claim by Senator Joseph McCarthy that they were “subversive of American interests.”

The Atomic Age: As tensions escalated between the United States and the Soviet Union throughout the 1950s, many people feared that the world was one step away from nuclear war. Post-apocalyptic fiction began to emerge at this time, including Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank and On the Beach by Nevil Shute.

Television: Television sets first became widely available to the general public in the 1950s. Television has entertained and informed viewers for decades, but it has also been criticized for presenting a distorted view of the world and for taking time away other activities like reading, exercise, conversation, and family time.

Science Fiction & Fantasy: The 1950s saw science fiction and fantasy emerge into the mainstream of popular culture. Authors let their imaginations soar as they explored strange new worlds and looked to the future, sometimes with trepidation. Classic science fiction and fantasy books of the decade include I, Robot by Isaac Asimov, Childhood’s End by Arthur Clarke, Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein, The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, and The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. Popular films include The Day the Earth Stood Still, Forbidden Planet, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and This Island Earth. The TV series The Twilight Zone first aired in 1959.

Dystopian Literature

Fahrenheit 451 is one of the most notable works of dystopian literature. Dystopia is the opposite of Utopia. From the Greek meaning “bad place,” a dystopia is a world, usually set in the future, run by an oppressive totalitarian regime that stifles self-expression and individuality. Although dystopian fiction is most associated with science fiction and fantasy it is not wholly unrealistic but is often based on social and political trends that the author perceives in his or her own world.

Other examples of dystopian literature include The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller, 1984 by George Orwell, Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut, and We by Yevgeny Zamyatin.

Censorship of Fahrenheit 451

In 1967, Ballantine Books issued an expurgated version of Fahrenheit 451. Over 75 passages in the novel had been changed. Words such as “hell,” “damn” and “abortion” were removed; a drunk man was changed to a sick man; and a reference to cleaning a navel was changed to cleaning ears. This edition was sold to high schools, while the unexpurgated edition was still sold to bookstores.

The changes were made without Ray Bradbury’s knowledge or consent, and the edition went through 10 printings over 13 years before he found out and demanded they withdraw the edition. Ray Bradbury discusses this further in the Coda to the current Del Rey/Ballantine edition, saying “I will not go gently onto a shelf, degutted, to become a non-book.”

The incident led the American Library Association to examine the practices of school book clubs and discovered that many other books had been similarly altered. The ALA used its influence to discourage publishers from printing altered school editions or at least to clearly label them as such.

Symbolism and Allusions

Fahrenheit 451: The temperature at which paper burns.

Salamander: The salamander is the insignia of the firemen. In ancient mythology, the salamander was believed to be a creature that could pass through fire without being hurt.

Phoenix: The phoenix is a mythological bird that burns itself every thousand years and is reborn out of its own ashes. Granger, one of the “Book People” Montag meets, mentions the phoenix after the city is bombed, implying that humans are destroyers, but we are also survivors who can rebuild out of the ashes. Unlike the phoenix, however, we may someday learn not to burn.

Seashells: The seashells are ear-radios that feed people a constant stream of music and chatter. When Mildred wears her seashells, she is adrift, like someone floating in the sea, out of touch with reality.

Parlor family: The family on the “parlor walls” are constantly talking but they never say anything. They provide an empty sort of entertainment that requires no thinking or understanding. For Mildred, the images on the walls of her living room are more real to her than her own family. See also Plato’s Cave Allegory below.

Plato’s Cave Allegory: Montag says, “Maybe the books can get us half out of the cave.” (F451, p. 74) In Plato’s Republic, the philosopher compares people to prisoners in a cave whose only reality is the flickering shadows on the wall cast by firelight. When people emerge from the cave into the sunlight they realize that what saw on the cave walls was not truth but only a reflection and they are able to experience reality and gain knowledge.

The Sieve and the Sand: Montag tries to memorize his books before Beatty destroys them. He likens this task to trying to fill a sieve with sand. He thinks that if he reads fast enough, maybe his mind can retain some of the knowledge.

Benjamin Franklin: Founded Boston’s first fire company in 1736. The firemen in the novel, however, refer to Franklin as their founder because they claim he burned English-influenced books.
(F451, p. 34)

Sources of Literary Quotations

Many works of literature are quoted in Fahrenheit 451. This list provides the sources of these quotes and their context within the story. Page numbers are based on the Del Rey/Ballantine paperback edition given out to club members.
 

“Time has fallen asleep in the afternoon sunshine.”

F451, p. 37: Montag glimpses this line in a book that falls on him from the stash in the woman’s house.

Source: Ch. 1 of Dreamthorp by Scottish author Alexander Smith.

“Play the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out!”

F451, p. 40: These are the last words of the woman who burns along with her books. Captain Beatty recognizes the quote.

Source: In 1555, Bishop Hugh Latimer said this to Bishop Nicholas Ridley before the two of them were burned at the stake for heresy.

“It is computed that eleven thousand persons have at several times suffered death rather than submit to break their eggs at the smaller end.”

F451, p. 68: Montag quotes this line to his wife Millie, and she responds that it is meaningless. The quote shows the lengths people are willing to go to in order to maintain their individuality, even if others view them as irrational.

Source: Book 1, Ch. 4 of Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift.

“We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over; so in a series of kindnesses there is at last one which makes the heart run over.”

F451, p. 71: Montag reads this passage aloud to his wife and thinks of Clarisse, the girl who made him think about the books he burned.

Source: Life of Dr. Johnson by James Boswell (1791).

“That favorite subject, Myself.”

F451, p. 72: Another line that Montag reads to Millie, one that she finally understands. It highlights the contrast between the self-absorbed Millie and the inquisitive Clarisse.

Source: Letter of James Boswell, July 16, 1763.

“Consider the lilies of the field. They toil not, neither do they—”

F451, p. 78-79: Montag tries to memorize this Bible passage on the subway going to Faber’s house but he is distracted by a blaring toothpaste ad – a contrast between the profound and the inane.

Source: Matthew 6:28-29

“The Sea of Faith …” (etc.)

F451, p. 100: Montag reads this poem to Millie’s friends. Mrs. Phelps starts to cry though she can’t explain why.

Source: Excerpt from “Dover Beach,” poem by Matthew Arnold 

“Who are a little wise, the best fools be.”

F451, p. 105: Beatty mocks Montag with this quote, indicating that although Montag has gained a little knowledge through his contraband books, Beatty is on to him.

Source: “The Triple Fool,” poem by John Donne

“…the sheep returns to the fold. We’re all sheep who have strayed at times.”

F451, p. 105: Beatty says this to Montag, implying that Montag has betrayed his fellow firefighters.

Source: Paraphrase of Isaiah 53:6

F451, p. 105-108: The following are all quotes that Beatty throws at Montag in order to confuse him:

“Truth is truth, to the end of reckoning.”

Source: Act V, Scene I, Line 45 of Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

“They are never alone that are accompanied with noble thoughts.”

Source: Arcadia by Sir Philip Sidney

“Sweet food of sweetly uttered knowledge.”

Source: Defense of Poesy by Sir Philip Sidney

“Words are like leaves and where they most abound, Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found … A little learning is a dangerous thing. Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring; There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, and drinking largely sobers us again.”

Source: Essay on Criticism by Alexander Pope

“Knowledge is more than equivalent to force.”

Source: Chapter 13 of Rasselas by Samuel Johnson

“He is no wise man that will quit a certainty for an uncertainty.”

Source: Idler by Samuel Johnson 

“Truth will come to light, murder will not be hid long.”

Source: Act II, Scene ii, Line 86 of The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare 

“Oh God, he speaks only of his horse!”

Source: Reference to Act I, Scene ii, Lines 37-38 of The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare

“The Devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.”

Source: Act I, Scene iii, Line 99 of The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare

“This age thinks better of a gilded fool, than of a threadbare saint in wisdom's school.”

Source: Old Fortunatus by Thomas Dekker

“The dignity of truth is lost with much protesting.”

Source: Act III, Scene ii of Catiline’s Conspiracy by Ben Jonson

“Carcasses bleed at the sight of the murderer.”

Source: Part I, Section I, Member 2, Subsection 5 of Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton

“Knowledge is power.”

Source: Book I, i, 3 of Advancement of Learning by Francis Bacon

“A dwarf on a giant's shoulders sees the furthest of the two.”

Source: Democritus to the Reader by Robert Burton

“The folly of mistaking a metaphor for a proof, a torrent of verbiage for a spring of capital truths, and oneself as an oracle, is inborn in us.”

Source: Paraphrase from Introduction to the Method of Leonardo da Vinci by Paul Valery

“A kind of excellent dumb discourse…"

Source: Act III, Scene iii, Line 38 of All’s Well that Ends Well by William Shakespeare

“All's well that is well in the end."

Source: Act IV, Scene iv, Line 35 of All’s Well that Ends Well by William Shakespeare

“… tyranny of the majority.”

F451, p. 108: Faber says this of Beatty, when telling Montag that he must decide whether to swayed by his arguments.

Source: History of Freedom and Other Essays by John Dalberg-Acton

“Burning Bright”

F451, p. 111: The title of the book’s third section

Source: “The Tyger,” poem by William Blake

“There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats, for I am arm’d so strong in honesty that they pass by me as an idle wind, which I respect not.”

F451, p. 119: Beatty says this to taunt Montag, who has turned a flame-thrower on him.

Source: Act IV, Scene iii, Line 66 of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

“To everything there is a season…”

F451, p. 165: One of the two Bible passages Montag memorized.

Source: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

“And on either side of the river was there a tree of life, which bore twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of nations.”

F451, p. 165: Montag intends to recite this to the others to give hope that something might be reborn out of the ashes.

Source: Revelation 22:2

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