Introduction to
Fahrenheit 451
By Ray Bradbury
Adapted from the Fahrenheit 451 Teacher’s Guide
“You don't have to burn books to
destroy a culture. Just get people to
stop reading them.”
-Ray Bradbury, "Reader's Digest", January 1994
The Author – Ray Bradbury
Wrote for Alfred Hitchcock & “The Twilight
Zone” TV show
 Author of more than 500 published works
 Social Critic: Analyzes problems in society
and proposes solutions by specific
measures, radical reform, or even
revolutionary change
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Bradbury tries to “prevent the future,” not
“predict the future,” but he actually does
anticipate the future
– Seashell radios in this novel were a
prediction of the Walkman
– Big-screen and interactive TV/Wii
– Population explosion
– Rise in violence (including gun violence)
– Growing illiteracy
– Condensation of information into what
we now call “sound bites”
Dystopian vs. Utopian Literature

Utopian literature describes an ideal
(imaginary) world.

Dystopian literature paints the opposite of
the ideal world, a place that is highly unpleasant,
such as a government that seeks total control of
individuals' lives. A fatal flaw
has occurred to destroy the
intended perfect world (utopia).
Other Dystopian novels/stories
1984 by George Orwell
 The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
 Animal Farm by George Orwell
 Anthem by Ayn Rand

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
 A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
 “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut
 The Giver by Lois Lowry
 The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Historical Context
Written in the 1950s
 World War II (1939-1945) had just ended; the US
had dropped the first atomic bombs on the
Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
 Bradbury was influenced by the
book burnings of the Nazi
regime in Germany during the
1930s

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Political repression and dictatorship in Soviet Union
and fascist Spain after World War II: books were
banned and intellectuals persecuted.

By 1949, communism had spread to Eastern
Europe and China

After World War II: Europe & US vs. the Soviet
Union in what was called the “COLD WAR.” The
threat of nuclear war increased (more on this to
come).

By mid-1950s, nearly 60% of Americans were
members of the middle class;
– More $$$ to buy things.
– Consumerism = Success
– Increased technology

The electronics industry became the 5th largest
industry. Television had a widespread impact in
American homes

The increase in prosperity after the war led to an
increased passivity and conformity. Jobs were
plentiful and the common adage of the time period
was “follow orders, and you will succeed.”
Fear Leads to Censorship
Fears that the Soviet Union was going to
attack and take over the US democracy
lead to mass paranoia and intense fear
among the American public
 The world could now be destroyed by the
push of a button
 Senator Joseph McCarthy began a
campaign to root out secret Communists
in the government and entertainment
industry
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McCarthy charged, without evidence, that
dozens of government officials and artists were
secret members of the Communist Party.
He formed the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities.
Films were censored, artists blackballed, and
many people never worked again.
The public went along with the campaign, too
afraid of nuclear war to stop the madness. Very
few had the courage to speak up against the
unjust persecution.
By the end of the 1950’s, former President
Truman called the HCUA the “most un-American
thing in the country today.”
Issues/Themes to Watch For
The dangers of technology
 Censorship/Free Speech

– The importance of books

Individualism vs. Apathy
– the power of one person, following what they
know to be right & without regard for the
cost, to change the world
Government Corruption/Political
Repression
 Alienation & Loneliness vs. True Happiness

In 1979, Bradbury discovered that his own
editors had censored language in 75
separate sections of Fahrenheit 451
without his knowledge or consent!
“Students, reading the novel which, after all,
deals with censorship and book-burning
in the future, wrote to tell me of this
exquisite irony.”
Some banned books from around
the world:
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The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
The Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling
Tom Sawyer & Huck Finn by Mark Twain
Hamlet & MacBeth by Wm. Shakespeare
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Bible and The Q’uran
Little Red Riding Hood
For more information: http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/bannedbooks.html
Consider this:
“There is more than one way to burn a
book. And the world is full of people
running about with lit matches.”
- Ray Bradbury
– Is there ever a time when we should censor a
book, a piece of art, etc?
– Who gets to decide what gets censored and
when? Government? Schools? Parents?
Employers?