Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451. pages 3- 66
"Mildred backed away as if she were suddenly confronted by a pack of mice that had come up out of the floor. " ( Bradbury 66)
Ray Bradbury writes this line when Montag reveals to his wife that he has been hiding books behind the grille from the air conditioner.
This quote was chosen because of the powerful imagery that's used. The imagery enables the reader to understand exactly how threatening Montag's wife, Mildred, views the books which Montag has hidden. The obvious reason why Mildred fears them is because it is against the law to own any books, and any individual which owns books will often get caught and burned with the books.
This quote also helps the reader comprehend what type of society Montag resides in; it's a society where people fear being educated. Thus, the books in this quote also symbolize knowledge or education. And the reason why Mildred fears them, and backs away from them as if they are rats, is due to the fact that everything she does throughout her daily life does not consist of learning in any way. Therefore, her backing away represents her "fear of the unknown" and the unknown in this case is being educated.
Ray Bradbury wants to make the readers aware of the fact that as a society, we are often lenient when it comes to learning, and instead prefer doing something that doesn't require us to think. For example, people often prefer watching television, or pursuing other similar activities. Another focal point that Bradbury is trying to make is that we also love having things simplified for us. But this process of simplification also "waters down our minds" because we are no longer challenged to achieve something by ourselves. And by not facing small challenges often, when we do happen to face one it often happens to be a crucial one, and because our lack of expertise in dealing with something new which requires us to think for ourselves, we are often incapable of solving that problem. Bradbury also wants to make his readers aware of the fact that if we continue in such a way, we will fall into a pattern and refuse to face the real world because of weaving ourselves into our comfort zone.
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4 comments:
Excellent analysis and application to today's society. The personalization in the third paragraph is even forgiven since this is so in-depth. Just avoid it in the future.
The posts are truly evolving and all suggestions are taken to heart and this is much appreciated!
I'll try and avoid it next time. Thank you :)
i really like the way you analyze your quotes an the book itself. i also like the the way you include the author's message.
Thanks :) I try to include as much of the author's message as I can. But it's often quiet challenging, and it takes me a while to realize what they intended to say by including that specific line in the book.
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