Fahrenheit 451: The Impact of Nazi Book Burnings on Bradbury's Novel, Schemes and Mind Maps of Literature

Download Fahrenheit 451: The Impact of Nazi Book Burnings on Bradbury's Novel and more Schemes and Mind Maps Literature in PDF only on Docsity! Palacký University in Olomouc Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies Fahrenheit 451, its Dystopian Concepts and Possible References to the Modern World Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis Benjamin Mik English Philology Supervisor: PhDr. Matthew Sweney, PhD. Olomouc 2019 Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci Filozofická fakulta Katedra anglistiky a amerikanistiky 451 stupňů Fahrenheita, prvky dystopie a možné souvislosti v moderní společnosti Bakalářská práce Benjamin Mik Anglická filologie Vedoucí práce: PhDr. Matthew Sweney, PhD. Olomouc 2019 Table of Contents 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 6 2. Historical Background ........................................................................................................ 8 2.1 Synopsis ..................................................................................................................... 11 2.2 Fahrenheit 451 and the Nazi Book Burnings ............................................................ 13 2.3 Fahrenheit 451 and the Communist Regime of the Twentieth Century ................... 16 3. Important Allusions in Fahrenheit 451 ............................................................................. 18 3.1 Allusions to Non-Biblical Works of Literature ......................................................... 22 3.2 Biblical Allusions ...................................................................................................... 29 4. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 31 5. Summary ........................................................................................................................... 33 6. Resumé .............................................................................................................................. 34 7. Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 35 8. Annotation ......................................................................................................................... 37 9. Anotace ............................................................................................................................. 38 6 1. Introduction This thesis is focused mainly on one of the most famous works of Raymond Douglas Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451. Bradbury was an important figure in the literary world of the twentieth century. The world that he grew up in was changed significantly by World War II, and in 1953, eight years after the end of the war, he published Fahrenheit 451. The book is considered a dystopian novel and although it is technically a work of fiction, its theme is not as far from reality as it might appear at first sight. Bradbury obviously could not experience, for example, what the Czechs experienced during the communist era. Still, the communist era had already begun and he managed to foresee the problems that might arise from it. One of the most significant problems was oppression of the intelligentsia in general. In Fahrenheit 451, the ruling party knew very well that intellectuals are dangerous. There is always a risk of doubting the regime in terms of its right to authority. This questioning of the regime’s ways of governing can present a strong enemy to the party in power, which is absolute and aims to control its citizens. As mentioned, Bradbury managed in some ways to function as a prophet and created a vision that was not far from the reality of the era of communism, at least in our country. The ruling party in the novel tried to control people’s minds by applying strong censorship. The communists, compared to the book, were not much different. Censorship was a real issue and the intellectuality was viewed as a problem. Also, individuality was suppressed and people had to simply fit into the system, otherwise they faced the consequences of political imprisonment and/or bad treatment from the government. However, there had been a significant event in the recent history even before the wide spread of communism in Europe. The Nazi book burnings of 1933 provided certain inspiration for Bradbury’s writing. The theme of physical destruction of opinions and thinking which do not correspond with the ideology of the party in power is visible in both the actual book burnings that took place in Nazi Germany, and those in the novel. Nowadays, the situation is quite different. With the disintegration of the Soviet Union, many countries became independent and democratic again. The censorship as we knew it is no longer required, but it is there in a different form. The control of people’s minds is real even in the democratic systems. Commercial television stations with their strongly biased news prove the point. It is sometimes extremely difficult to recognize fake news or even relevant news. The threat of people being manipulated is present in today’s world and in this thesis I will focus on the parallels of today’s world with the famous dystopian novel. 7 In the thesis there will also be mentioned various allusions to books important for the history of mankind, influential works ranging from those of secular thinkers to the Bible itself. These references are important for the development of the story as well as for the reader’s deeper understanding of the relevance of this seemingly fictional novel to the reality of today. The relevance of its implications is clearly visible on the recent case of a massive book burning initiated by the government of President Erdogan in Turkey. “More than 300,000 books have been removed from Turkish schools and libraries and destroyed since the attempted coup of 2016, according to Turkey’s ministry of education.” 1 It seems very likely that now is the perfect time to start being alerted by the frightening allusions that Fahrenheit 451 provides and that are in the process of becoming very realistic in this age once again. 1 Alison Flood, “Turkish government destroys more than 300,000 books,” The Guardian, August 6, 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/aug/06/turkish-government-destroys-more-than-300000-books. 10 four walls, soap operas and sentimentality abound, and books, the carriers of ideas, are burned.” 6 The resemblance is remarkable in the form of technology, represented by the enormous TV screens. This technology is not far from the reality of today’s TV industry. Furthermore, Peter Sisario in this excerpt mentions the issue of what is being broadcasted. The content presented by television stations in Fahrenheit 451 is highly sentimental and represents a form of manipulation and dictation. The theme of manipulation by media will be covered in the thesis as well. 6 Sisario, “Study of Allusions,” 201-2. 11 2.1 Synopsis Fahrenheit 451 is a world-famous dystopian novel written by Ray Bradbury and published, as foreshadowed in the introductory section, in the postwar era of the twentieth century. The story is set in a futuristic society in an unspecified city in what we now know as America. The central character is a fireman called Guy Montag. Since all houses in recent years became fireproof, thanks to the technological advancement of civilization, Montag’s profession consists of setting fire rather than extinguishing it. The aim the firemen is to destroy books. In his society books present a threat to the vast majority of population. The idea is not to think, but to be impulsive and to live in the moment. Books in general are considered an obstacle to people’s constant pursuit of happiness. Over the years, people themselves choose to stop reading. The literature is too confusing and provocative. The media that can easily entertain masses take control. Households now often include rooms with televisions that cover all four walls. The televised content is generally entertaining in a non-intellectual way to appeal to most people. The news, presented through television or radio, is not meant to be questioned. Guy’s wife, Mildred, is a good example of an intellectually numb citizen. She does not question anything as she is addicted to immediate satisfaction and freedom from worry. However, her lifestyle has a negative impact on herself. A good example of such impact is her overdosing on sleeping pills, which invokes deeper thinking and concerns in her husband. Montag, unlike his wife, starts to feel unhappy about the society and the system that he lives in. The acquaintance with his neighbor, Clarisse McClellan, gives him another perspective on life. It makes him appreciate the nature along with its peacefulness, which is a theme long forgotten and overlooked in his society. The fireman, who is supposed to burn books, starts hiding them in his house. His superior, Captain Beatty, deduces from Montag’s recent strange behavior that he is hiding the books. However, he pretends that he does not know and secretly sends mechanical hound to scare Guy and make him dispose of the books that he illegally possesses. But Montag’s revolt continues. He meets with Faber, a former professor and an intellectual, and together they start planning a conspiracy. Their plan to plant books to the firemen’s houses and eventually destroy the book-burning business proves unsuccessful. Montag is compromised, most likely by his wife, and one day he arrives at a house, with his fellow firemen, that turns out to be his own. He knows the consequences and in a desperate attempt to escape his fate he burns Beatty to death and flees from the crime scene. 12 Luckily, he manages to escape from the urbanized area in a river and finds himself in the country. Then he encounters a group of renegades; the outcasts from the system that cannot abide individuals, who stand out of the ordinary. The group consists of intellectuals, a sort of resistance movement, whose aim is to pass the knowledge from books to future generations. They are more powerful than it first seems, because they memorize the prominent literary works and together create a virtual library in their heads. This allows them to pass the knowledge to their children and potentially to the whole civilization, which suffers from a constant warfare. Montag proves himself useful when he admits that he has tried to memorize a part of the Old Testament. That makes him an important member of the resistance. Soon there may be an opportunity for them to make the world a better place, after the major city centers will be destroyed by extremely efficient bombing. The prophecy is fulfilled when Montag witnesses the destruction of the city where he used to live. He sees the city turn to ruins and dust in just a few seconds. Then the former fireman joins the intellectuals on their journey to the war-affected cities, whose people need their help and knowledge to change their self-destructive lifestyle and create a better future for their offspring and themselves. 15 but also implying that they could not feel entirely safe even in the abandoned parts of the country. The similarity of the book-burning theme in the novel and in Nazi Germany of 1933 is quite obvious. Yet they both raise a question: Is it possible to destroy knowledge by burning of books as its primary source? The answer, if there is any, is quite complicated. Certainly books have served as a major source of knowledge throughout the history of mankind and have stimulated one’s mind in a way that television or radio could not have. Once they influence one’s mind, the knowledge is hard to eradicate. The outcast intellectuals perfectly demonstrate the power of books. Memorizing the classical works of literature is an extreme but powerful method to convey the noble ideas and the intellectual heritage of mankind along with the principles of freedom to the future generations. The motif of learning books by heart could have possibly served as an inspiration in the recent post-apocalyptic movie “The Book of Eli” 11 , where the main character attempts to learn the whole Bible by heart because of a lack of existing copies and the fear of it being forgotten after the last copy possibly can be destroyed. The Germans who were hiding secret copies of Jewish works of literature, or those who remembered at least parts of the texts in their head, helped to revive the Jewish literary heritage. In conclusion, it is very important for totalitarian regimes to eliminate book-related knowledge in order to get a better control over the citizens, but it is extremely hard to do so thoroughly. The human factor needs to be considered. 11 The Book of Eli, directed by Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes, Los Angeles: Silver Pictures, 2010. 16 2.3 Fahrenheit 451 and the Communist Regime of the Twentieth Century Even though the book was first published in the early fifties of the twentieth century, not only was it way ahead of its time, but the themes and implications in Fahrenheit 451 also resembled the behavior of particular regimes at that time. In addition to Nazism, there was at the time, and still is, a very ideological regime called communism. The thought of equality and unity, which it is based on, is noble in theory, but often leads to a suppression of individualism in reality. This does not always have to be perceived negatively. One can even argue that life under the communist government is easy in the way that the government takes care of common people by sort of predetermining their careers and not giving an individual enough freedom to make unlucky decisions and become homeless, for example. On the other hand, this system, which an individual must fit in, necessarily brings a certain level of censorship with it. This censorship applies to various types of media, but books as such are possibly the hardest to filter in terms of censorship. The literary language is often not straightforward and provides the reader with hidden messages and meanings that only a well-educated censor can discover after thorough reading of a work of literature. The book censorship performed by the ruling, often totalitarian, party is often being connected to the party’s selfish intentions of eradicating any thoughts that might jeopardize its power. Such was the case of Czechoslovakia in the twentieth century. One can doubt the morality of forbidding the citizens to express themselves freely, but in Fahrenheit 451 the leading fireman Beatty provides the reader with what can be perceived as a noble motive behind similar behavior of the fictional government in the book. “Colored people don’t like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White people don’t feel good about Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Burn it. Someone’s written a book on tobacco and cancer of the lungs? The cigarette people are weeping? Burn the book.” 12 What the fictional character of Beatty explains here is in itself a noble act of maintaining a certain kind of equilibrium. The burning can be even perceived as making precautions against the spread of racism. Nevertheless, Beatty later goes even further. “Funerals are unhappy and pagan? Eliminate them, too.” 13 and “Let’s not quibble over individuals with memoriums. Forget them.” 14 Interestingly enough, he calls funerals “pagan” but in communist Czechoslovakia they were one of the few Christian ceremonies which the government did not feel particularly 12 Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, 59. 13 Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, 59-60. 14 Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, 60. 17 threatened by. The quotes by Captain Beatty imply that the fictional government in Fahrenheit 451 was in in some ways more extreme than the communist party in Czechoslovakia, for example. The real cause of this behavior might be the desire to maintain the fast tempo of life and consequential eradication of deep thinking. Even though the communism as such does not focus on the fast way of life, it is concerned with deep thinking. The motifs that connect the book with the sad Czech reality of the twentieth century are therefore the oppression of intelligentsia and the related strong censorship of any influential source of information, including books. Whatever the differences between the regime in Fahrenheit 451 and the actual communism may be, there is a vivid inspiration from reality, and possible future, in this particular work of Bradbury. Due to the technological advancement of the book’s civilization and its fast way of life, there is a possibility of discovering similarities with capitalism. The resemblance of the society in the novel to today’s capitalistic Western society will be further discussed later in the thesis. Bradbury however used Captain Beatty to explain something suspiciously similar to a communist philosophy. When Beatty tries to lecture Montag about the history of firemen and mankind as such, he uses several statements to support his claim. “You always dread the unfamiliar.” and “We must all be alike.” 15 That could be a reference to communism, as the motto about familiarity corresponds with communist ideology and the dread of the unfamiliar (which is perfectly natural to some extent) can be a convenient excuse for any totalitarian government for gaining better control over its citizens, promising them that there will not be any unfamiliarity for them to fear. Shortly after, Beatty makes a very interesting point. “Not everyone born free and equal, as the Constitution says, but everyone made equal.” 16 The process of forbidding an individual to stand out of what is set to be the norm is a typical feature of communist regimes. The fact, that Bradbury put emphasis on the word “made”, only makes the possible reference more vivid. Nevertheless, the persecution of those who stand out of the ordinary is in the novel connected with the government of democratic origin, at least at first. Only after some time does the regime become totalitarian. This could be an alarming message that even in today’s democratic Western society there is a threat of forming a regime similar to communism. The raising percentage of extremists among young people in Western society is an interesting and convenient recent trend to support the argument. 15 Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, 58. 16 Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, 58. 20 Sisario refers to the allusion where mankind itself is the Phoenix, which is, historically speaking, very relatable. The novel’s publishing date is in the middle of the twentieth century, shortly after the two world wars. Referring to the mankind as the Phoenix was perhaps a desire that mankind would learn from its terrible self-harming mistakes and stop the dreaded cycle once and for all. Bradbury in his novel made one more important allusion to be analyzed in this thesis. During Montag’s card session with his fellow firemen, he questions the very nature of their work. “Didn’t firemen prevent fires rather than stoke them up and get them going?” 25 The fellow firemen then present him with an answer from their rulebook, which says “Established, 1790, to burn English-influenced books in the Colonies. First Fireman: Benjamin Franklin.” 26 This story is presented as a plain and simple fact to the firemen and is definitely not meant to be questioned. Interestingly enough, it is an artificially created fact that is in itself a lie. It is obviously not true to claim such things about Benjamin Franklin, but with a lack of unbiased and relevant historical data at their disposal, the firemen should be content with this information and do not question its truthfulness. However, there are certain facts that make the reference to Franklin more believable and therefore convenient for the government. Benjamin Franklin is considered one of the most important figures in American history. He can be referred to as a hero, which is something that connects him with the idea of a fireman. Firemen are generally perceived as heroic and incite feelings of admiration and respect in people. Furthermore, there indeed is a historical connection between Franklin and the idea of a fireman. “On December 7, 1736 Benjamin Franklin co-founded the Union Fire Company, also known as the “Bucket Brigade”. It was the first formally organized all volunteer fire company in the colonies and was shaped after Boston’s Mutual Fire Societies.” 27 This fact may have served to prevent further questioning of the lie that is based on it. The mentioned statement from the firemen’s rulebook is supposed to give even more credibility to their profession, even though the profession has become very immoral after households became fireproof. What Bradbury may be after here, is an implication that false statements gain a lot of credibility when a famous and well-respected name is linked to it. This false allusion to Benjamin Franklin’s life can cause further thinking when one attempts to compare this particular way of manipulation to the techniques of modern media. 25 Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, 34. 26 Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, 34. 27 “Union Fire Company,” Benjamin Franklin Historical Society, accessed August 17, 2019, http://www.benjamin-franklin-history.org/union-fire-company/. 21 When a commercial TV channel, for example, presents in its daily news a problem that sounds believable and does not leave room for viewer’s further thinking about the issue, the majority of the viewers do not question the news’ validity. The lack of evidence for the contrary can present an often-used manipulation technique by the media. The desire to insert certain ideas into people’s minds is a timeless motif that simply proves the relevance of Bradbury’s novel in today’s world 66 years after the first publishing of the book and 69 years after the publishing of the preceding shorter version for a magazine. 22 3.1 Allusions to Non-Biblical Works of Literature Various references made by characters in Fahrenheit 451 to real books, often found in the students’ reading lists, help to underline the significance of book reading and the wisdom that books can convey. The first quotation comes from Jonathan Swift’s famous novel, Gulliver’s Travels. The quote that Montag reads from a book that he picked up from the floor is not as random as it first seems. “‘It is computed that eleven thousand persons have at several times suffered death rather than submit to break their eggs at the smaller end.’” 28 The statement depicts a demonstration of extreme stubbornness. It is even absurd to imagine people who are willing to die rather than change a habit of little to no importance to their existence. His wife’s reaction, however, is somehow fitting to create a complete picture of the dystopian society which they live in. “What does it mean? I doesn’t mean anything! The Captain was right!” 29 The brainwashing by government and partly by Captain Beatty, who Mildred refers to, appears to be successful. She is not able to comprehend the moral of the story, her perception is shallow as she is bound to understand only the literal meaning of the quotation. One can argue that this is through no fault of her own, but undoubtedly her misconception, or rather an utterly shallow conception of the passage that Montag just read, is a clear indication of dystopia in Fahrenheit 451. The dystopia is indicated by the fact that people are no longer able to think critically and assess the credibility of a statement, let alone its deeper, non-literal meaning, due to a lack of a knowledge of history. Mildred not only cannot see the message that the quote conveys, but she even relates herself to the quote unknowingly because she comes to a quick conclusion. Her conclusion is a result of her habitual behavior caused by the government and the society that she lives in. Fundamentally, she shows a stubborn behavior by quickly repudiating any meaning of the mentioned excerpt from Gulliver’s Travels, which also deals with stubborn thinking and points to its absurdity. However, Bradbury used another book reference earlier in the story. Guy Montag investigates the origin of his profession with the help of Beatty, who is his superior at work and also on the intellectual level. Beatty at one point mentions a world-famous tragedy by William Shakespeare. “But many were those whose sole knowledge of Hamlet was a one page digest in a book that claimed: now at last you can read all the classics; keep up with your neighbors.” 30 It is no coincidence that Beatty uses Hamlet as a book to demonstrate the 28 Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, 68. 29 Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, 68. 30 Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, 54-55. 25 character to demonstrate the negative influence of television on one’s psyche, if the individual is addicted to shows that are not intellectually stimulating in any way and is not given an alternative. Mildred compares her favorite TV show with books in general. “Books aren’t people. You read and I look all around, but there isn’t anybody!” and then “My ‘family’ is people. They tell me things, I laugh, they laugh! And the colors!” 38 Her fictional “family” is of course nothing but a TV show. Is it even possible to compare classical pieces of literature with a form of entertainment that does not provide almost any stimulation of the brain? For Mildred it surely is. It is even more absurd that she is convinced that her favorite TV show is better than the books in general, because it is more interactive and colorful. This point of view is not much different from that of many people today, at least in the Western civilization. It seems that our society tends to prefer the forms of entertainment that do not require much imagination and provide us with visual and audio experience, like television. The colorful images along with loud and emotional characters on screen usually attract more attention than seemingly boring and complicated works of literature. Sadly, the show is actually very artificial and definitely not as realistic and interactive as Mildred thinks. As opposed to the books that she has recently come across, the show has no point, no message and does not require almost any form of thinking. However, it is not entirely true that she has not been given an alternative. Later in the novel Montag speaks to Faber, a retired professor and intellectual. At one point, Faber reminds Guy of a very important fact from the history of their society. “Remember, the firemen are rarely necessary. The public itself stopped reading of its own accord.” 39 This statement partly takes the blame away from the government. Even though the regime in the novel is very totalitarian and manipulative, it is the people who have initiated their own intellectual destruction. “Censorship is in many respects a natural human instinct, a reflexive impulse. To tolerate the speech we loath is counterintuitive.” 40 The major motif in the history, presented by Captain Beatty, is the need for simplicity. This is closely connected with the enormous popularity of mass media, such as radio and television. “These media appealed to the masses; hence simplicity became of paramount importance” 41 It is truly remarkable how Bradbury predicted in his novel the real issues connected with technological 38 Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, 73. 39 Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, 87. 40 Rodney A. Smolla, “The Life of the Mind and a Life of Meaning: Reflections on “Fahrenheit 451”,” Michigan Law Review 107, no. 6 (2009): 902. 41 Charles F. Hamblen, “Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451” in the Classroom,” The English Journal 57, no. 6 (1968): 819, https://doi.org/10.2307/812029. 26 progress and evolution of modern society. In the twenty-first century, many people find the same form of entertainment as Mildred for a similar reason. It provides an easy way to relax and to disconnect from the problems of this modern, yet hurried era. Interestingly enough, Bradbury managed to somehow predict the evolution of the television industry. Gigantic televisions that cover the whole walls in the novel are slightly exaggerated when compared to the modern televisions. Still, the difference in size is not so big nowadays when the trend is to have larger screens and higher resolution as technology progresses. Also nowadays, like in the novel, channels with little educational value make the most significant profits. It is widely acknowledged that television is a medium used chiefly for entertainment, not educational, purposes. Yet, there is a danger of possible imbalance if one becomes the twenty-first century version of Mildred. It is likely that many people in the modern era do not live a very different life from that of Montag’s wife. Even though Bradbury might not have intended to become a prophet, the dystopian elements in his futuristic society are suspiciously similar to some of the trends in the world of today. The resemblance is indeed alarming. The final non-Biblical excerpt to be analyzed is a poem that furious Guy Montag reads aloud in front of his wife and her female friends. By bringing the book for them to see, he risks a lot. He is not portrayed as a particularly courageous character, and when he steals a book in the beginning of the novel, it is hard to imagine that he would do such thing as showing any of his hidden literature to other people besides Mildred. It could surely compromise him. The poem that he reads out loud is, quite surprisingly, suggested by his wife. Mildred chooses a poem that she obviously does not understand and projects her frustration on her friends even before they actually hear it. “Ladies, you won’t understand a word. It goes umpty-tumpty-ump.” 42 Bradbury once again used the character of Mildred to illustrate the negative impact of technology on one’s personal development. Her criticism of the given poem shows her limited vocabulary, which might ironically be connected with the fact that she does not have access to literature in general. The vocabulary that she learns from the soap operas on television is very limited. The negative influence of the modern lifestyle can be observed also on her friends. Their selfish and shallow nature and way of thinking irritates Montag. He now sees their behavior from the perspective of someone who has been 42 Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, 99. 27 influenced by Clarisse, an odd girl that sparked his questioning. Montag could as well ask himself: is Clarisse really the odd one if she is derived from the majority that is odd in itself? Montag then reads a part of the poem selected by his wife; two stanzas from Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold. The poem shows the struggle of a man unhappy with the world he lives in. The man in Arnold’s poem underlines the importance of being honest with one another in a world of emptiness and enmity. This theme is very relatable to Montag and his personal life struggles. Obviously, Mildred is unable to take anything from this particular poem, but the same does not apply to one of her friends. Shortly after Montag finishes his reading, it is said that one of Mildred’s friends is “crying.” 43 This reaction proves that even in a society where literature is banned, it can still appeal to people’s thinking and emotions. The ignorance that is illustrated in Mildred luckily does not apply to all members of her society. Therefore, appealing to one’s emotions can be used not only as a means of manipulation through media, but also through literary works. There is no doubt that the excerpt from Dover Beach influences Montag, because he then spontaneously delivers one of his most aggressive, yet honest, speeches in the whole novel. “Go home and think of your first husband divorced and your second husband killed in a jet and your third husband blowing his brains out, go home and think of the dozen abortions you’ve had, go home and think of that and your damn Caesarian sections, too, and your children who hate your guts! Go home and think how it all happened and what did you ever do to stop it? Go home, go home!” 44 Montag’s monologue can be perceived as a rage against the rotten society, the brainwashed majority. He shows them the truth they have long tried to avoid. Mildred’s friends are trying their best to make themselves think that they are living in an utopian world. In fact, they are living in a dystopian world. In fact, Mildred pushes Montag to read this specific poem, because she knows that he likes it. This should give her certain assurance that he would be satisfied after the reading and let them proceed in their activities, preferably watching their favorite TV show. They reflect the theme of seeking an “immediate gratification.” 45 The advancement of society in the novel comes along with symptoms such as laziness, an inability to face and solve one’s problems, the lack of creativity and intellectual void. Many of these symptoms are very up-to-date. They can be observed in our modern society as 43 Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, 100. 44 Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, 101. 45 Hamblen, “Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451”,” 819. 30 When it is Montag’s turn to say excerpts from his assigned literature out loud, he first thinks of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3. “To everything there is a season. Yes. A time to break down, and a time to build up. Yes. A time to keep silence, and a time to speak.” 50 Note that Fahrenheit 451 was published shortly after World War II. There is a possible reference to the era in which the novel was written and published. The postwar era in the twentieth century could also be perceived as a “time to build up”. It is likely that Bradbury applied this motif from reality to the fictional world of the novel to highlight its importance. Shortly after, Guy recalls another passage; this time from the Book of Revelations, 22:2. He proves to himself that his memory is not as bad as he first thought. “And on either side of the river was there a tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month; And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” 51 Again, the passage can be considered a reference to the reality of Bradbury’s postwar world. The most important factor, however, is the timing of this particular quote in the development of events in the book itself. It is in the very end of the novel, where Bradbury placed his final Biblical allusion. Montag wants to keep this passage in mind for when he enters a civilization, to which he is headed along with his book-preserving companions. The idea of “healing of the nations” is strongly present in the novel from the moment when the fugitive fireman encounters the intellectuals. Also, this idea leaves the book’s ending quite open. The reader can ask himself if such a demolished world can be rebuilt again with the revival of literature. Maybe Montag would finally have the opportunity to become a sort of “Paul the Apostle” of the future. Perhaps he would eagerly preach what he as eagerly used to persecute. 50 Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, 165. 51 Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, 165. 31 4. Conclusion This thesis aimed to analyze in detail the particular dystopian novel with the focus on the timeless motifs used in the novel, its dystopian elements and both literary and non-literary allusions. First, there are the resemblances between the totalitarian government that Bradbury created and actual regimes of the twentieth century. On the one hand, Fahrenheit 451 must have seemed to be very futuristic in the middle of the twentieth century, when it was first published; at least when considering the technological innovations, such as the extremely large televisions, which cover the whole walls; or the omnipresent fireproof houses. On the other hand, the behavior of the totalitarian government in the novel is similar to that of the infamous totalitarian regimes. One of them is fascism, which however rose and fell before Bradbury published his novel. Still, there are possible links to fascism that are discussed in the thesis. The most notorious is the book burning, which functions as the central theme in the novel and also provided a significant demonstration of regime’s power in Nazi Germany in 1933. The second discussed regime is communism. Similarities to the communist regime can be found in the book especially in the form of censorship. There is certain need to control the people, by applying strong censorship, which is present in the behavior of the fictional government in the novel and also in the behavior of the communist governments in the twentieth century. Bradbury has, in a way, foreseen the issues connected with this behavior in real world. The communist regime had already been powerful when Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451. Nevertheless, many links between the communist regime and the book’s regime could only be observed in the era after the novel was published. The novel can therefore be perceived as a warning against the totalitarian future. Sadly, the novel’s story is set in America and the totalitarian form of government there is described as a product of the society. This raises a question: is today’s democratic Western society bound to have a strong, authoritative leader? It does seem so. The recent example is the election of President Trump. He may not win over his opponents intellectually, but his strength is in his businessman’s nature and his binary perception of problems. The society in Fahrenheit 451 demands simple and straightforward solutions to problems, and therefore initiates its own intellectual destruction. In conclusion, the desire to simplify the reality when it seems that democracy becomes very complicated may by the general reason for electing such a straightforward president. What is very alarming is that in the book the government misuses its power severely. 32 The misuse consists of a number of manipulation techniques. The widespread of media such as television and radio makes the manipulation feasible on the majority of society. Then it is easy to present a misleading or untrue statement to the general public as a fact, knowing that the people are not going to check if it is relevant or true. The similar thing is happening with commercial television and radio stations today. The news that aims to appeal to the society through emotions is often the most discussed. However, it tends to present strongly biased and “ready-made” truth, used as a means of manipulation. The mentioned manipulation can be hard to identify, especially with the lack of alternative sources of information that the people have in the novel. On the other hand, the reality of the modern Western society is that the sources are available, but it is the people who often do not want to take the time to question what is presented to them as unquestionable. However, the core of this thesis is the analysis of allusions that are strategically used in the novel. It is no wonder that Bradbury decided to include various references to prominent literary works of the past. They help to highlight the importance and relevance of the novel’s themes in contemporary society. The story of Fahrenheit 451 is set in the future, but with the use of citations from the real literary works the reader may connect the themes with reality. If the quotes were absent, it is more likely that the reader would consider the novel to be a work of fiction. However, it is also referred to as a work of science-fiction, but it is not so simple to define its genre. There are allusions to actual and famous books along with the timelessness of the novel’s motifs, which make the genre of Fahrenheit 451 debatable at least. To summarize the conclusions made in this thesis, Bradbury’s famous dystopian novel is more than just a piece of sci-fi literature. It hides a variety of allusions and implications to be discovered by attentive readers. It may be that not all the important implications were covered in this thesis, because that also depends on what one considers important. Nevertheless, the thesis should provide a detailed analysis of such allusions and references to the modern society of the twenty-first century. The resemblances mentioned in this thesis are indeed alarming and if the novel is not perceived purely as a work of fiction, it has the potential to incite the society to think thoroughly about the problems in today’s world. If the deterring example of dystopian society is not that far from reality, it will be good to ask ourselves which actions to take in order to maintain democracy and suppress ignorance. Otherwise the society that we create might at some point resemble the one that Bradbury used as an exaggerated example of the undesirable. This thesis does not conclude that manipulation and ignorance have gotten out of control in the modern society. It simply implies that there is a connection between reality and what seems to be a work of fiction. 35 7. 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Ritchie, J.M. “The Nazi Book-Burning.” The Modern Language Review 83, no. 3 (1988): 627-43. https://doi.org/10.2307/3731288. Shmoop. “ABOUT SHMOOP.” Accessed August 15, 2019. https://www.shmoop.com/public/about_us/. 36 Sisario, Peter. “A Study of the Allusions in Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451”.” The English Journal 59, no. 2 (1970): 201-12. https://doi.org/10.2307/811827. Smolla, Rodney A. “The Life of the Mind and a Life of Meaning: Reflections on “Fahrenheit 451”.” Michigan Law Review 107, no. 6 (2009): 895-912. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40379842. Southern, Matt. “Twitter Doubling its Character Limit from 140 to 280 Has Not Led to Longer Tweets.” Search Engine Journal, October 31, 2018. https://www.searchenginejournal.com/twitter-doubling-its-character-limit-from-140-to-280- has-led-to-more-polite-users/276035. SparkNotes. “About SparkNotes.” Accessed August 15, 2019. https://www.sparknotes.com/about/. The Book of Eli. Directed by Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes. Los Angeles: Silver Pictures, 2010. Twitter. “About.” Accessed August 15, 2019. https://about.twitter.com. 37 8. Annotation Name: Benjamin Mik Faculty: Faculty of Arts, Palacký University in Olomouc Department: Department of English and American Studies Title of the Bachelor thesis: Fahrenheit 451, its Dystopian Concepts and Possible References to the Modern World Supervisor: PhDr. Matthew Sweney, PhD. Number of pages: 38 Year: 2019 Key words: Fahrenheit 451, dystopia, book burning, novel, American literature, censorship, literary allusions Abstract This Bachelor thesis deals with the analysis of dystopian elements in the famous novel by Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451. Historical events of the era when the novel was written are mentioned to highlight the possible influence of the past on the work about the future. Also, various timeless motifs from the novel are discussed and the emphasis is put on the idea that the dystopian society depicted in the novel is not in many aspects much different from the modern society of the twenty-first century.