Annabel Claudia

JeanSatpreet Valerie

The books leapt and danced like roasted birds, their wings ablaze with red

and yellow feathers. And then he came to the parlor

where the great idiot monsters lay asleep with their white thoughts and their snowy dreams. And he shot a bolt at each of the three blank walls and the vacuum hissed out at him. The emptiness made an even emptier whistle, a senseless scream. He

tried to think about the vacuum upon which the nothingness had performed, but he

could not.

Symbolism Imagery

Lighting Sound

He held his breath so the vacuum could not get into his lungs. He cut off its terrible emptinees, drew back, and gave the entire room a gift of one huge bright yellow flower of burning. The fireproof

plastic sheath on everything was cut wide and the house began to shudder with

flame."When you're quite finished," said Beatty

behind him, "you're under arrest."

Symbolism Imagery

Lighting Sound

The house fell in red coals and black ash. It bedded itself down in sleepy ink-gray cinders and a smoke lume blew

over it, rising and waving slowly back and forth in the sky. It was three-thirty in the morning. The crowd drew back into the

houses; the great tents of the circus had slummed into charcoal and rubble and the

show was well over.

Symbolism Imagery

Lighting Sound

What is striking about the language in this passage? How does this make the events more

interesting for the readers?

In the extract, Ray Bradbury makes use of

• Lighting• Sound• Symbolism• Imagery

Lighting

• "..their wings ablaze with red and yellow feathers."

• Through the use of vivid lightning and colours such as red and yellow, Ray Bradbury manages to convey a sense of passion and angst, and strikes a memorable image of destruction.

• However, it also shows that Montag is the one who is burning bright, filled with passion and a thirst for knowledge.

• "...gave the entire room a gift of one huge bright yellow flower of burning.“

• Also, by potraying the burning of Montag's house as a "bright yellow flower of burning" it signifies the purification and cleansing of Montag's past goals and ideals as a firefighter, and his reincarnation into a man who embraces the knowledge found in books.

Lighting

Symbolism

• "The books leapt and danced like roasted birds, their wings ablaze with red and yellow feathers."

• Books being able to “leapt and danced like… birds” is symbolic of them being able to bring about freedom and enlightenment.

• However, by showing that the birds' wings were on fire, it shows that the birds are unable to be free. This emphasises on the fact that thinking and knowledge in the world of Fahrenheit 51 is censored.

• The books are also a symbol of Montag in this passage. Just like how Montag could not save the books from being burnt to crisp, he is also unable to save himself from the totalitarian regime at that point of time.

Symbolism

Sound

• "vacuum hissed out at him. The emptiness made an even emptier whistle, a senseless scream. "

• The silence demonstrated by the "emptiness" reflects Montag's inner self - that his mind is in a perpetual state of blank. "emptier whistle, a senseless scream" portrayed how much his inner thoughts are then amplified - that dreading of what is to come after the burning of the house and his contradicting emotions and struggle as well.

Sound

• "circus"

• This word presents the stark contrast of the burning state of the house, being described as a "circus“ (which is usually filled with excitement), with Montag's inner self (that is only filled with emptiness), thus placing further accentuation on Montag’s inner intense feelings and also showing that Montag is not affected by the burning state of his house.

Imagery

• "the books leapt and danced like roasted birds, their wings ablaze with red and yellow feathers."

• the author uses the simile to describe the books akin to "roasted birds", implying that the books are done for, and bound to be destroyed.

• It also demonstrates the futility of resistance put up by Montag trying to save his books.

Imagery

• However, the burning books are also described like a phoenix, "the books… like roasted birds… with red and yellow feathers,“ suggesting that the burning of the books, though seemingly futile, is going to aid in Montag’s transformation, to rise and change the totalitarian society where censorship is encouraged.

• Hence, it shows that he becomes more courageous after the burning.

Imagery• "the great idiot monsters that lay asleep with

their white thoughts and their snowy dreams"

• This portrays an image of the parlor walls being burnt alive without even knowing, nor putting up any sense of a fight. It also shows the author's great dislike for them as he, in a way, insults them for their ignorance. Moreover, it depicts that the parlor walls are a vacuous existence as "white" thoughts and "snowy" dreams show emptiness and lack of substance.

Imagery

• "circus“

• The "circus”, in a general sense, is filled with fun and laughter, however the burning of the house is significantly solemn and dreadful.

Imagery

• "circus… slummed into charcoal and rubble"

• This shows that even though the house is burnt to its ashes, it is just simply a show and entertainment for the others. By this portrayal of a show, it indicates how insignificant the burning is to the others, who prefer to chase after meaningless activities, and conform loyally to the dictatorial society..

• This scene of the burning of Montag’s house is relatively depressing, as shown by the burning of books. Montag’s frustration of the status quo of the dictatorial society is also put forth by his “senseless scream” as he struggles to find meaning beyond his single-minded society.

• When the burning of the house has ended, “the circus had slummed into charcoal and rubble and the show was well over,” implying a sense of dejection. Hence, this scene seems to be the opposite of the title “burning bright”, which has a sense of enlightenment and hope.

• However, the scene actually portrays the cleansing of Montag’s past, as represented by the house where he lived in as a conformist.

• “A great earthquake had come with the fire and leveled the house and Mildred was under there somewhere and his entire life under there and he could not move. The earthquake was still shaking and falling and shivering inside him.”

• From this, we can infer that this burning has allowed Montag to leave behind his past. His attempt of struggling, “shaking and falling and shivering” shows him going through a transitional period.

• Through this process of burning, the burning fire also connotes the passion that Montag has in knowledge, as well as the creating of the new world.

• The end of the burning may be a note of dejecton but it can represent too, a new beginning, just like the burning books that are described like a phoenix, the burning has “burnt the old Montag away”, thus allowing him to rise from the ashes to a new beginning.

• In this sense, the fire burns brightly as it has aided Montag through his transitional period, into a revolutionist, and thus, Montag himself is burning brightly with hope, determination and ideals to change his world.