Download Recurring Symbolism in Fahrenheit 451 Grade 9 and more Lecture notes Technical English in PDF only on Docsity! Recurring Symbolism in Fahrenheit 451 Excerpt from the Text Why is this significant? How does it develop the themes? Symbol: Fire “It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed.”(1) “So it was now, in his own parlor, with these women twisting in their chairs under his gaze, lighting cigarettes, blowing smoke, touching their sunfired hair and examining their blazing fingernails as if they had caught fire from his look.”(92) “He burnt the bedroom walls and the cosmetic chest because he wanted to change everything, the chairs, the tables, and in the dining room the silverware and plastic dishes, everything that showed that he had lived here in this empty house with a strange woman who would forget him tomorrow”(110) “That small motion, the white and red color, a strange fire because it meant a different thing to him. It was not burning, it was warming.”(139) In the first excerpt, Montag views fire as a “pleasure” he enjoys watching it destroy things. In the second excerpt, Millie and her friends are watching tv in the parlor and their hair and nails are described using language related to fire. When it says “they had caught fire from his look”, it means that Montag is looking at the women with anger or disgust, or in some other way with a negative connotation. This shows a shift from Montag’s original view of fire. In the third excerpt, Montag uses fire to destroy his old life. This shows Montag taking control of fire to use it to burn his old life so that he can start a new life. When Montag escapes and finds the group of intellectuals, he seems them gathered around the fire and hre realizes that fire is not always used to destroy it can also be used in a positive way, for warmth, This connects to the theme of knowledge being joyful and painful. The excerpts show how fire changes as Montag gains more knowledge.At first Montag is ignorant and enjoys setting books on fir. As Montag becomes more knowledgeable, he begins to see fire in a negative way. As Montag takes control of his future, he uses fire to destroy his previous life. After this, Montag is able to see how fire is positive, providing warmth to the group of intellectuals in their camp, and finally, he is the Phoenix rising from the ashes. Symbol: Hands This is significant because as Montag rebels, he sees the actions he takes as things his hands do taking the books, killing Beatty. Montag seems This connects to the theme of being our own selfcensors. The way Montag thinks about his hands shows that he cannot fully think of himself Grade 9: Fahrenheit 451 “Montag had done nothing. His hand had done it all, his hand, with a brain of its own, with a conscience and a curiosity in each trembling finger, had turned thief.”(35) “So it was the hand that started it all … His hands had been infected, and soon it would be his arms … His hands were ravenous.”(38) “Montag felt the guilt of his hands. His fingers were like ferrets that had done some evil and now never rested, always stirred and picked and hid in pockets, moving from under Beatty’s alcoholflame stare … For these were the hands that had acted on their own, no part of him, here was where the conscience first manifested itself to snatch books, dar off with Job and Ruth and Willie Shakespeare, and now, in the firehouse, these hands seemed gloved in blood.”(101) “He twitched the safety catch on the flame thrower. Beatty glanced instantly at Montag’s fingers and his eyes widened the faintest bit. Montag saw the surprise there and himself glanced to his hands to see what new thing they had done. Thinking back later he could never decide whether the hands or Beatty’s reaction to the hands gave him the final push toward murder.”(113) to avoid facing his actions by thinking of his hands in this way as something that he doesn’t have control over, things that act on their own, and that show his guilt. By the end of the text, Montag’s hands become a force for good working together with likeminded people. This is also ironic because they are using their hands to create fire, but not in service of burning books. They are using it to create warmth to sustain themselves in their journey. as a rebel he tries to disconnect that part of himself, from himself. Over the course of the text, Montag comes to acknowledge his actions and find goodness in them, and he sees his hands working together with the other intellectuals to build the fire. Grade 9: Fahrenheit 451