In his novel, Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury uses different forms of tone, figurative language, syntax, and diction to give a description of what the world would be like if books were illegal to own. Bradbury wanted to illustrate through his novel how awful it would be to live in a world controlled by censorship and illegality of books. Bradbury’s tone in his novel is an eerily gloomy.
He uses this tone to emphasize the dystopia of a world without books and education. A dystopia is the opposite of a utopia, a place where the education of children is not of importance and suicides are a common occurrence.A place like the one described in Fahrenheit 451 would be a dreadful place to live. Bradbury wrote this novel as a warning to future generations to what could happen if the public gives up on books like the public in Fahrenheit 451. The protagonist Guy Montag is a fireman an occupation that requires him to burn books found the people’s homes.
When Montag burns a woman alive who would not leave her books, he undergoes a transformation to an enlightened man who understands the importance of books. Bradbury uses figurative language to paint a picture of a world ignorant of knowledge.Bradbury uses imagery and multiple symbols to connect the world he has created in his novel to the reader for the reader might believe this world could go from science fiction to the real world. Two huge symbols in Fahrenheit 451 are fire and water.
Unlike fire in other novels, Bradbury uses fire as a cleaning tool that rids people of things that make them unhappy. “Fire is bright and fire is clean” (Bradbury 60) by using fire not only rids a person there problem the problem in the firemen’s eyes will not return “You always said, don’t face a problem, burn it” (Bradbury 123).Also when Montag sets his own house ablaze due to the books he had hidden there he is inadvertently ending his old life as a fireman and starting anew aware of the power of a book. Water is also a prominent symbol towards the end of the novel. Water like fire in this case is a method of cleansing for Montag. When Montag is on the run from the hound for murdering Captain Beatty he stops and “Washed his hands and face and toweled himself dry” (Bradbury 125) this is a form of washing away his former self.
Also when Montag jumps into the river to escape the mechanical hound the river is also ridding him of his past life, “there was only the cold river and Montag floating in a sudden peacefulness, away from the city and the lights and the chase, away from everything” (Bradbury 140). This sense of peacefulness is similar to baptism in Christianity which cleanses the body of sin.
Bradbury’s syntax or sentence structure is composed of a mix of complex and simple sentences.Bradbury uses one word sentences to emphasize the situation he is describing to the reader. “Why had the search turned inland? Montag listened. Nothing.
Nothing. ” (Bradbury 143) theses short sentences create a feel of suspense in the novel during the manhunt for Montag and the one word sentences add to the suspense. Bradbury does this several times during the novel to create that eerie feel he hoping to capture by using very direct words. As for diction which is the words Bradbury chose to use.Bradbury repeats words often to add the moment in the story this can be when Montag was on the run “Would you shout, shut up, shut up! Millie, Millie. And he was sad.
” (Bradbury 143). With this repletion the reader can really visualize the Montag getting out of the river looking back to the city he just fled and thinking back to the wife he just left behind after ten years of marriage. Through his tone, figurative language, diction, and syntax Bradbury was able create another world to serve as an example to mankind on what not to do with new technology.With his eerie tone and multiple symbols Bradbury was able to better connect to the reader to give him the will to never let a place like the one described in the novel become reality. Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 as a warning to modern man to never forget the men and women who took the time to write down their thoughts in a book in order to better mankind. To censor their work to a crime which no punishment could give justice to.
Work Cited Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451: and Related Readings. Evanston Ill. [u.
a. : McDougal Littell, 2002. Print.
