OH HAI. IT'S MY LAST BLOG. Fire/Heat Symbolism.

THIS IS MY LAST BLOG.  HALLELUJAH.  In "Fahrenheit 451" heat is a very large factor.  There is of course the name to reference to.  Research tells me that at one point the title had an addendum that said: "Fahrenheit 451…the temperature at which books burn."  So that explains the title.  There is also the matter of anger.  There are a lot of angry people in this book.  At one point Montag senses Clarisse's presence and it is because her body temperature is elevated to a high temperature from her anger.  Heat in "Fahrenheit 451"  mainly symbolizes destruction.  The fire destroys books, it destroys houses that have any literature inside of them, and it incinerates any person not willing to let go of their literature.  There is also an atomic bomb that comes through and wiped out almost everything.  I have never personally experienced an atomic bomb, however, I can imagine the heat would not be at a preferable level.  I'm sure the people who experience or have experienced atomic bombs could easily agree with me.  After the bomb, though, the people who have survived are described as phoenix rising from the ashes.  Ray Bradbury is almost using fire as a representation of bringing on new life.  Now that the town has been wiped out, along with everything with in a very large radius around it that is, the hidden professors can now come and start anew.  They now have the opportunity to start their own, new and improved civilization.  They have no fire fighters to tell them what to do or what to set fire to and so on.  It is just them to make rules and abolish rules as they please.  So fire is not used to symbolize only bad things.  At the very end, Montag also makes the discovery that fire can be used for warmth.  He has lived his life believing it was made for destruction.  This shows what growth he went through the book.  He begins with only seeing fire as destructive, but through out the book he grows and matures and is able to make the realization that fire can also be used for good.  



Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1967. Print.