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Fahrenheit 451 Symbol Analysis

Decent Essays

In the novel, Fahrenheit 451, author, Ray Bradbury, uses symbolism to feed the reader with a deeper more insightful meaning of the story by guiding his protagonist and the mindset of the society in which he lives, from a brainwashed technology driven society lacking independent thought, to a human-focused society through the use of the symbols fire and mirrors. Each symbol is used to build a way of foreshadowing the journey from the once overruled society of technology and the lack of independent thought to the rebirth and reflection into a positive human-focused society. There are numerous symbols used in this novel, some tie into each other as well. At the beginning of the novel, Montag, the protagonist, is a direct reflection of the society that the world has then become. The first symbol is seen, fire, and Bradbury portrays this element as destructive and negative. Montag, a fireman of an …show more content…

They should, “build a mirror factory... and put out nothing but mirrors . . . and take a long look in them" (Bradbury 164). This new element represents inner reflection as Montag continues his journey to becoming a freethinker. Even at the beginning of the novel when Montag meets Clarisse, Bradbury does not use the term “mirror” but makes a reference to the future when Montag, “saw himself in her eyes, suspended in two shining drops of bright water, himself dark and tiny, in fine detail, the lines about his mouth, everything there, as if her eyes were two miraculous bits of violet amber that might capture and hold him intact... How like a mirror, her face. Impossible; for how many people did you know who refracted your own light to you? How rarely did other people's faces take of you and throw back to you your own expression, your own innermost trembling thought?” (Bradbury

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