full title Fahrenheit 451
author Ray Bradbury
type of work Novel
genre Science fiction
language English
time and place written 1950–1953, Los Angeles, California
date of first publication 1953 (a shorter version entitled
“The Fireman” was published in 1951 in Galaxy
Science Fiction)
publisher Ballantine Books
narrator Third-person, limited omniscient; follows Montag’s
point of view, often articulating his interior monologues
climax Montag’s murder of Beatty
protagonist Montag
antagonist Beatty, but also society in general
setting (time) Sometime in the twenty-fourth century; there have been
two atomic wars since 1990
setting (place) In and around an unspecified city
point of view Montag’s
falling action Montag’s trip out of the city into the country
tense Past, with occasional transitions into present tense
during Montag’s interior monologues and stream-of-consciousness
passages
foreshadowing Montag’s uncanny feelings of prescience; early descriptions
of the Mechanical Hound; Montag’s nervous glances toward the ventilator
shaft where he has hidden his books; discussion of the qualities
of fire
tone Foreboding and menacing, disoriented, poetic, bitterly
satirical
themes Censorship, knowledge versus ignorance
motifs Paradoxes, animals and nature, religion, television
and radio
symbols Fire, blood, the Electric-Eyed Snake, the hearth, the
salamander, the phoenix, the sieve and the sand, Denham’s Dentifrice,
the dandelion, mirrors
