Ray Bradbury uses a lot of stylistic devices in his texts, and there is an evidence of different literary devices in this novel. Some examples of these devices in the third part of the novel (Burning Bright) are:
Metaphor: "Old Montag wanted to fly near the sun and now that he's burnt his damn wings, he wonders why." (Pg 52)
Allusion: "You think you can walk on water with your books." (Pg 54)
This is a reference from the New Testament in the Bible, in which Jesus has the ability of walking on water. In this quote, Beatty is telling Montag how useless are books and that he has no right to own them. He is also telling Montag that books have only brought destruction, that being surrounded by books is not good and he is not the Lord of Creation or anything like that, he is just a regular men who break the law.
The effect on the reader is that it helps to understand how the religion is an important motif in the book and how the different Biblical references from Beatty shows that the books are not forgotten yet.
Personification: "The books leapt and dance like roasted birds, their wings ablaze with red and yellow feathers." (Pg 54)
In this example of personification, the character describes how the books burning look, and says how the sheets of paper are burning one at a time and they seem like they are dancing and while they are burning, the color change from red to yellow to ashes. Also it is making a description of how it is burning and how much time is passing, in this case it is very slow.
The reader can understand how the paper is burning, and maybe feel like it is roasting slowly because of the description the character is making while watching the books burn. Also, how burning books in that time can mean so much to a person who likes books, and how beautiful it is to look something burn if you pay attention.
Simile: "...moving with such drifting ease that it was like a single solid cloud of black-grey smoke blown at him in silence." (Pg 55)
This quote is a simile because it compares the mechanical hound with a solid cloud of smoke that is coming towards Montag. During this part of the book Montag burned, not only the books, but Beatty too. The simile in this case is used to make a emphasis of how the mechanical hound is going to attack Montag and how he is coming as silent as a cloud towards him to attack him.
The effect on the reader is that it helps to understand how the mechanical hound is visible but at the same time it is silent but can black out whoever gets on his way without even blinking. Also it makes this part of the book have a little mystery and makes the reader interested in the novel.
Imagery: "Now, the dry smell of hay, the motion of the waters, made him think of sleeping in fresh hay in a lonely barn away from the loud highways, behind a quiet farmhouse, and under an ancient windmill that whirred like the sound of the passing years overhead." (Pg 66)
This imagery is describing the countryside and creates a calm environment. After Montag escapes the mechanical hound and the authorities that were looking for him, Montag is able to think clearly and imagine how a special place could be, with nature surrounding him without society censoring everything and being free. He is letting himself free from society and imagines this place as something very calm and peaceful .
This makes the reader feel calm after everything that has happened throughout the book like Montag escaping the city, the books and Beatty burning, the chasing, the fire. In this part the reader can rest from the stress of Montag running around trying to escape from the authorities. And it also helps understand how is the ideal place of the people who in that society think different.
Metaphor: "Old Montag wanted to fly near the sun and now that he's burnt his damn wings, he wonders why." (Pg 52)
This quote talks about a mythical creature that is a human with wings; it is a metaphor because it relates the wings with the human body, and human soul, that when it burns there is nothing anyone can do but just let it go, and move on. Also, during this part of the book, Montag's house is being burned because of the books he had hidden in it; Captain Beatty wanted to make Montag feel like a criminal and tell him that he couldn't get away that easy with stealing the books, and that what he did was wrong and even if he tried to hide it, he would still burn in the flames.
The effect on the reader is that it helps to understand how Montag's plan to hide the books was a total fail and also helps to find out how is Captain's Beatty feeling towards the fact that one of his 'friends' has books in his house.
 |
| https://www.pinterest.com/laguoss/fallen-angels/ |
Allusion: "You think you can walk on water with your books." (Pg 54)
This is a reference from the New Testament in the Bible, in which Jesus has the ability of walking on water. In this quote, Beatty is telling Montag how useless are books and that he has no right to own them. He is also telling Montag that books have only brought destruction, that being surrounded by books is not good and he is not the Lord of Creation or anything like that, he is just a regular men who break the law.
The effect on the reader is that it helps to understand how the religion is an important motif in the book and how the different Biblical references from Beatty shows that the books are not forgotten yet.
 |
| https://tmrichmond3.net/2015/07/01/doing-the-jesus-walk-on-water/ |
Personification: "The books leapt and dance like roasted birds, their wings ablaze with red and yellow feathers." (Pg 54)
In this example of personification, the character describes how the books burning look, and says how the sheets of paper are burning one at a time and they seem like they are dancing and while they are burning, the color change from red to yellow to ashes. Also it is making a description of how it is burning and how much time is passing, in this case it is very slow.
The reader can understand how the paper is burning, and maybe feel like it is roasting slowly because of the description the character is making while watching the books burn. Also, how burning books in that time can mean so much to a person who likes books, and how beautiful it is to look something burn if you pay attention.
 |
| https://reviewsbylola.wordpress.com/2010/09/29/book-review-fahrenheit-451/ |
Simile: "...moving with such drifting ease that it was like a single solid cloud of black-grey smoke blown at him in silence." (Pg 55)
This quote is a simile because it compares the mechanical hound with a solid cloud of smoke that is coming towards Montag. During this part of the book Montag burned, not only the books, but Beatty too. The simile in this case is used to make a emphasis of how the mechanical hound is going to attack Montag and how he is coming as silent as a cloud towards him to attack him.
The effect on the reader is that it helps to understand how the mechanical hound is visible but at the same time it is silent but can black out whoever gets on his way without even blinking. Also it makes this part of the book have a little mystery and makes the reader interested in the novel.
 |
| http://www.glogster.com/glog/6lisjdu4nts1upcunql76a0.html |
Imagery: "Now, the dry smell of hay, the motion of the waters, made him think of sleeping in fresh hay in a lonely barn away from the loud highways, behind a quiet farmhouse, and under an ancient windmill that whirred like the sound of the passing years overhead." (Pg 66)
This imagery is describing the countryside and creates a calm environment. After Montag escapes the mechanical hound and the authorities that were looking for him, Montag is able to think clearly and imagine how a special place could be, with nature surrounding him without society censoring everything and being free. He is letting himself free from society and imagines this place as something very calm and peaceful .
This makes the reader feel calm after everything that has happened throughout the book like Montag escaping the city, the books and Beatty burning, the chasing, the fire. In this part the reader can rest from the stress of Montag running around trying to escape from the authorities. And it also helps understand how is the ideal place of the people who in that society think different.
 |
| http://2geh.com/369561.html |
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/451/section8.rhtml
http://www.heliweb.de/telic/bradcom.htm
http://www.secret-satire-society.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Ray-Bradbury-Fahrenheit-451.pdf
http://www.heliweb.de/telic/bradcom.htm
http://www.secret-satire-society.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Ray-Bradbury-Fahrenheit-451.pdf
