451 Intro

 

451 Intro

Ray Bradbury introduction

*Bradbury hated computers, never wanted to drive, wrote 451 in less than a week, had his first work published at 14

Ray Bradbury, American novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, screenwriter and poet, was born August 22, 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois. He graduated from a Los Angeles high school in 1938. Although his formal education ended there, he became a "student of life," selling newspapers on L.A. street corners from 1938 to 1942, spending his nights in the public library and his days at the typewriter. He became a full-time writer in 1943, and contributed numerous short stories to periodicals before publishing a collection of them, Dark Carnival, in 1947. 

His reputation as a writer of courage and vision was established with the publication of The Martian Chronicles in 1950, which describes the first attempts of Earth people to conquer and colonize Mars, and the unintended consequences. Next came The Illustrated Man and then, in 1953, Fahrenheit 451, which many consider to be Bradbury's masterpiece, a scathing indictment of censorship set in a future world where the written word is forbidden. In an attempt to salvage their history and culture, a group of rebels memorize entire works of literature and philosophy as their books are burned by the totalitarian state. Other works include The October Country, Dandelion Wine, A Medicine for Melancholy, Something Wicked This Way Comes, I Sing the Body Electric!, Quicker Than the Eye, and Driving Blind. In all, Bradbury has published more than thirty books, close to 600 short stories, and numerous poems, essays, and plays. His short stories have appeared in more than 1,000 school curriculum "recommended reading" anthologies. 

2. Read the First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

How does this apply to your life?

 2. Copy the Character List:

Guy Montag The protagonist, an unhappy, complacent man who is thirty years old. He has been a fireman for ten years. He meets Clarisse and finds that her outlook on life is refreshing.

Mildred Montag (Millie) Guy's self-destructive wife, also thirty years old, who reveals to Montag the alienated existence of citizens in his society. She has never wanted children and considers her family to be television characters.

Clarisse McClellan Montag's new neighbor, seventeen years old, who calls herself crazy and enjoys conversations. Her recalcitrance and nonconformity allow Montag to discover how jaded his view of life has become.

Captain Beatty The antagonist of the book and Montag's superior, the Fire Captain, who functions as the apologist for the dystopian culture in which Montag lives. He is well read and uses his knowledge of books as a weapon to fight curiosity about them.

Mechanical Hound A machine, similar to a trained killer dog that the firefighters use to track down and capture criminals. The Hound disables and kills offenders with a morphine or procaine needle.

Unidentified Woman A woman from the ancient part of the city. Her martyrdom reveals to Montag the power of civil disobedience, books, and ideas.

Faber An elderly man, a retired English professor who is an underground, though ineffectual, scholar. He becomes Montag's ally and mentor.

Granger An ex-writer who is the unacknowledged leader of the social outcasts and criminals. He unites the group to keep the content of books safe.

Stoneman and Black Montag's fellow firemen who are conformists, and conservatives. Together with Beatty, they form Montag's familiar working colleagues.

Mrs. Phelps and Mrs. Bowles Millie's friends who do not question the social structure. Their husbands are called away to war. They also view the television characters as their families and become agitated when Montag reads to them.

Fred Clement, Dr. Simmons, Professor West, Reverend Padover, and Harris in Youngstown Social outcasts and criminals who are led by Granger. They choose and memorize a book to ensure that the story is never forgotten.

3. Read the following overview:

     Guy Montag is a fireman who lives in a society in which books are illegal. His job is not to

extinguish fires, but to light them. He burns books, and all the firemen wear the number "451" on their uniforms because that is the temperature at which books burn.

     But the role reversal of the firemen is not the only difference between present-day society and the world in which Montag lives. People of Montag's world take no interest in politics or world issues. The only point of life is pleasure. Montag's wife, Mildred, spends her time watching the televisions that take up three of the four walls in their parlor, or listening to the seashell radios that fit snugly in the ear. It isn't until Montag meets a young girl named Clarisse that he realizes that there might be more to life than the electronic entertainment that absorbs everyone. Clarisse

makes him think about the world beyond the wall television and seashell radios; she makes him wonder about life