Fahrenheit 451 Group

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jazy411
jazy411
Student
High School - 9th Grade

Name three symbols in "Fahrenheit 451" and what they represent?

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Posted by jazy411 on Friday September 5, 2008 at 9:43 PM and tagged with fahrenheit 451, symbols.

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  1. ms-mcgregor Teacher
    High School - 12th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    Many major symbols appear in the titles Bradbury uses in the novel. The title of the novel, Fahrenheit 451 is symbolic because it is the temperature at which paper burns. Two other symbols associated with fire appear in the title of Part 1 of the novel, the hearth and the salamander. The hearth contains a fireplace and, when used constructively, can heat a home. Ancient peoples believed the salamander could live in fire. Salamanders are also the names given to fire trucks and are the official symbol of the firefighters.Thus, they represent the destructive nature of fire. The title of Part 2, "The Sand and the Sieve" is also symbolic. The sand represents the truth Montag, the main character, is seeking and the sieve is the human mind which sometimes makes it impossible to grasp the truth and remember it. At the end of the novel, the Phoenix, a mystical bird that would burn itself up and then rise again, is used as a symbol for the renewal of mankind. Mankind can almost destroy themselves, but they also can learn from their mistakes so, like the Phoenix, they have the capacity to rise from the ashes, and to rebuild their society.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/fahrenheit451

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    Posted by ms-mcgregor on Friday September 5, 2008 at 11:43 PM

  2. nice900
    nice900 Student
    College - Junior

    In the society of the Dystopian World the fire is a negative force which frightens people by destroying the houses and books. It erases every cultural artifact and it is used as a pressure of the government to form the citizens the way the regimen wants. For the book people fire has a positive connotation, so it has another meaning for them. It has the function to warm, to enable to make breakfast.For the people living in the forest the fire is the meeting point, a place to sit around.So also the fire is a symbol for the difference between the Dystopian World and the group living in the forest.

    Another symbol used in the novel is the water. The scene where water has the most important meaning is the scene when Montag crosses the river to escape out of the city to get into the Forest. The water divides the two completely different worlds and symbolizes a border. The river saves Montag and transports him away from the city to secrete him from the pursuing hound. Resumed the water is a symbol for a helpful force which saves Montag and is a contrast to the fire.

    Throughout the novel books are qualified mostly as birds. Like the nature the birds also stand for a positive thing. By this the great force books contain is stressed. It also intensifies the contrast with the brutality and violence of the book burning. At the end of the novel it is mentioned that birds come back to the forest after the town has been bombed. In this case the birds symbolize that a good future will follow.

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    Posted by nice900 on Thursday December 11, 2008 at 1:53 AM