Transcript Post WWII America and F451 Connection

Fahrenheit 451
Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury
• Illinois, August 22,
1920
• Died June, 5, 2012
at 93 years old.
Mr. Electrico
When do you think this
book was written?
Originally published in
1951 as a short story
called “The Fireman,” it
was adapted into a novel
by 1953.
America in the
1940s and 1950s
Invention of the
television
1950’s was considered the
‘golden age’ of television
Young people often watched
T.V. for more hours than
They went to school.
PHYSICAL context
• In the story it is the 24th century and books are
considered dangerous and illegal. No one is allowed to
own them. Most people are happy being plugged into
their technology, where they think too hard. All books
that are found are burned.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
• Written during the 1950s (WWII 1939-1945)
• WWII had just ended, the U.S. had dropped the first
atomic bombs on Japan (Hiroshima and Nagasaki).
• Bradbury was influenced by the book burnings of the
Nazi regime in Germany during the 1930s.
• Political repression and dictatorship in the Soviet
Union and fascist Spain even after WWII when books
were banned and intellectuals persecuted.
• During the 1950s was the era of McCarthyism and the
threat of nuclear war loomed.
The novel was inspired
by real life events
• McCarthyism– fear of communism
• 1950s lifestyle
• Cold War
Timeline of the 1950s
• 1954- U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy begins a televised
anticommunist witch-hunt. This became known as
“McCarthyism.” Basically, the Cold War revolved around the fact
that:
• The USA was a Democratic country where people could do what
they want, become rich and have freedoms.
• The USSR was Communist, which meant people listened to the
government, lived equally and shared resources.
• The US declared Communism countries to be enemies. The US
government wanted everyone to think that Communists were evil
so they spread hate propaganda.
• McCarthy accused random people he didn’t like of being
Communists, which ruined their lives.
Joseph mccarthy
Fahrenheit 451 themes
and genre
Common elements of
dystopian novels:
• Over-controlling government
• A specific group the is outcast or oppressed
• At least one individual who questions the system
• An eventual attempt to revolt or overthrow the
government
Themes to watch
for in f451
• Individual selfexpression is important
• Violence is selfdestructive
• Mindless pleasure
seeking and materialism
make for an empty life
• Humanity should
preserve and value the
culture of the past.
Theme: censorship
• The suppression of
speech or deletion of
communicative
material which may be
considered
objectionable,
harmful, sensitive, or
inconvenient to the
government or media.
THEME: Ignorance of
knowledge
• Bradbury focuses on
the importance of
learning and how it
impacts our ability to
make decisions. He
believes that without
the ability to think
about what we’re
doing, we’ll be lead
to do wrong.
PREDICT OR PREVENT?
• Bradbury claimed he was
trying to “prevent the
future.”
• He did foresee many
future developments:
• Walkmans, earbuds, big
screen and interactive
T.V.s, rise in violence,
growing illiteracy, etc.
More themes
• Humanity has the ability to
be reborn or revived
• In the wrong hands, modern
technology can be dangerous
• Commercialism can erode
spiritual values
• People lose their humanity
when not able to
communicate and interact
with each other on a personal
level.