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Cole David

Mrs. Lynda Davis

ENG 20803

1 March 2017

Fahrenheit 451: Preservation of History and Individuality

The film Fahrenheit 451, released in 1966 and directed by Francois Truffaut, depicts a

dystopian society that takes place many years in the future, where firemen burn books and the

masses are tightly monitored by their totalitarian-style government. The film, a representation of

Ray Bradburys novel, uses symbolism to convey many warnings to society about the dangers of

socialism, state-based censorship, and technological advancement. These warnings created the

foundation for the themes Truffaut attempted to portray throughout the film. These themes match

those described by the Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees, in their academic journal,

Explorations in Utopian and Dystopian Fiction, such as the freedom of the mind, the

evocation of the past; the integrity of the individual; [and] the allurements and traps of the

future (SIU, 1983). Through these themes, as created by Bradbury, Truffaut creates an effective

and eye opening ideological bias for his film.

Historical Context

World War I and II, the most globally influential and devastating events of human history

played a large part in a monumental shift of human ideology at a global level. In the 1930s, the

Nazi Book Burnings were a very eye-opening event that occurred in Germany (Zipes, 2008).

People all over the world witnessed a totalitarian government literally burn their citizens

freedom of speech to the ground. Truffaut made this reference clear to the audience when the

film showed the burning of Hitlers autobiography Mein Kampf (Harrison, 2001). The Nazism
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and conformist ideology of WWI and II led to a global division of communist and democratic

societies. This division caused extreme tension between the communist USSR and the

democratic United States leading to an era known as the Cold War. During the Cold War, there

was a global movement of support for communism and the idea of a utopian society, that

contrasted with the US McCarthyism movement and a widespread, fearful, hatred of

communism. This conflict, combined with the spark of too rapid and pervasive technological

change [within a tradition of] humanistic conservatism, created the criticism Ray Bradbury

wanted to portray to society when he wrote Fahrenheit 451(SIU, 1983). He wanted to portray all

the potential outcomes that could come from these movements and conflicts. A utopian society

seems like a positive aspiration, but would only work if individual thought was taken from the

people. All human innovations and advancements were created with the guidance of individual

thought. Bradbury reminded his audience the importance of this through his portrayal of a true

utopian society. Bradbury also wanted to send warnings about the severe reliance on

technology that came with this progressive, technological, era. With this era of rapid

technological advancement came an immense amount of responsibility for mankind to remember

where it came from and not lose the sense and direction that has been laid out for them by their

ancestors.

The Evocation of the Past

Throughout the film, Fahrenheit 451, Truffaut effectively used many symbols to represent

the destruction or evocation of the past. The film begins with very suspenseful music and a scene

that depicts many firemen on their way to put out a fire. The shot then shifts to a man casually

smoking a cigarette in his living room where he answers the phone to a young womans voice

demanding that he leave immediately. The audience assumes that this man has committed a very
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bad crime because of the suspense created by a zoom shot and then a quick cut to the man

running away. The firemen enter the home and begin rapidly searching for books that, ironically,

they plan to burn. After the firemen found several books they walked outside and set them on fire

with a blow torch in front of large group of citizens. There are several cuts to expressions of

people watching this event, even one showing two children fearfully watching from their

window. Truffaut effectively portrays several of Bradburys main themes during this scene. The

main symbol present in this scene, fire, lays a foundation for Truffauts intended ideological bias

by establishing the theme, the evocation of the past. This theme is exemplified when the main

character, Montag, masks himself, representing the blindness of society, and took aim at the pile

of books with a blazing flame thrower. The flaming books are symbols for the destruction of

history. People study history because there are invaluable lessons that come along with the

knowledge of historical events that allow for the advancement of society. Historically, people

always strive for more freedom and prosperity. If the community within the film were to read

and learn of this history, then they wouldnt be as oblivious to their mistreatment. This complete

and utter destruction of the past closes a gateway towards individual and personal thought, which

brings attention to Bradburys next theme portrayed by Truffaut, the freedom of the mind.

The Freedom of the Mind

Human advancement depends fully on a society that encourages personal thought.

Throughout the film, the government used many tactics to prohibit society of individual thought.

One of these tactics was the use of giant television screens as the main source of information

channeled to the citizens. Montags wife, Linda, obsesses over the screen and feels a personal

connection to The Family, the host of the programs shown on the screen. As stated in an

academic paper by Jack Zipes, Bradbury want[ed] to get at the roots of American conformity
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and point a finger at the complicity of state and industry for using technology to produce

television programs to block self-reflection (Zipes, 2008). Truffaut and actress Julie Christie

do an excellent job portraying Linda as an ignorant and oblivious character and also a symbol for

Bradburys theme. Clarisse, another character used to establish this ideology, ironically, is played

by the same actress, Julie Christie. Unlike Linda, Clarisse is the character that brings this issue to

light and recognizes the distractions as a prevention of people being alone with their own

thoughts (Zipes, 2008). We can infer that Truffaut purposely casted Christie in both roles to

blatantly establish this theme from two different perspectives. To contemporary viewers of today,

this theme sparks interest because of the accuracy of Bradburys portrayal of the future.

Bradbury knew what was to come from this issue and Truffaut effectively portrayed this to his

audience. They were both calling for a social/political change in society that encourages freedom

of thought and individuality.

The Integrity of the Individual

Throughout the film, characters display a consistent, ignorant, perception. The

government redefined a societys moral principles and codes. The oppression of all outspoken

individual thought led to a society oblivious of their mistreatment, with a new perception of right

and wrong. In one scene from the film, Linda was spending time with her friends and Montag,

having a new perception created by his books, finally recognized the lack of individuality in his

society. In an outburst of emotion, Montag read these ladies a passage from one of his books, in

hope of opening their eyes to their lack of integrity for themselves and their society. The women

perceived this action as disrespectful and degrading, leaving in tears having listened to nothing

Montag read. These women are not at fault for their ideology, the fault solely falls on the

oppressor of their thoughts and individuality. The government discretely implemented an idea of
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conformity into the entire society and convinced all that If youre a thinker in the world of

objects, youre a heretic; if youre different, youre an enemy (Crisp, 1972). All of these themes

created by Bradbury and conveyed by Truffaut in the 1966 film led to the establishment of the

main social and political ideology that was meant for the audiences interpretation, The

Allurements and Traps of the Future.

The Allurements and Traps of the Future

Like many of the novels written during this era, such as George Orwells 1984,

Fahrenheit 451 was Bradburys perception of the future. He created it as a warning to society

about the potential consequences of their ideologies in the near to distant future. During the 20th

century, a time of rapid technological advancement, the focus of society shifted more to the

future and less to past. Anticipation for wonderful innovations that seem to raise the quality of

human life began to overtake the importance of historical events. Bradbury wanted to reiterate

the importance of a knowledge and understanding of historical content when a society meets a

time of exponentially progressive innovation. Truffaut effectively portrayed this idea through the

depiction of the Book People a society that memorizes books as a way of preserving history,

free thought, and individuality for their future generations.

Conclusion

Francois Truffauts film adaptation of Ray Bradburys Fahrenheit 451 possessed a

strongly stated, clear ideological bias at both a political and social level. Bradburys novel held

several powerful themes that gave Truffaut a solid ideological foundation for this film. Truffaut

was successful in establishing these themes through active and effective use of symbolism. He

displayed many unmistakable, and rhetorically appealing ideas that warned his audience of the
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dangers of oppression of the individual and their mind, destruction of history, and the trap of the

future.

Final Word Count: 1611

Authors Note
Development
This is the final draft of my Film Analysis of Francois Truffauts 1966 film Fahrenheit
451. I finished my first draft Tuesday March 7. Since then I have had three different classmates
review and edit my paper. I made several revisions to ensure proper use of past/present tense
verbs, sufficient organization and format as well as perfecting the overall flow of my paper. On
March 17, I emailed my paper to the William L. Adams Center for Writing where it was revised
and sent back to me. The professor helped me with passive voice, structure, citations and
present/past tense verbs.
My Assessment
My overall assessment for this assignment is positive. I enjoyed analyzing the true
political bias of my film. Considering and recognizing a bias within a film gives you a deeper
appreciation and understanding as a viewer. I thought it was very interesting the amount of issues
that this novel and film predicted accurately. Having never written a film analysis, this paper was
very difficult for me to write but I truly believe that it was good for me to get out of my comfort
zone.
General Questions
I committed an extensive amount of time to this assignment and believe that I effectively
uncovered the political bias within my film. Im not near as confident turning in this paper as I
was turning in the Protest Song Rhetorical analysis. I must admit that my level of personal
interest in this paper was very low in relation to the last, but I believe I still did well because of
the amount of time, effort, and energy I exerted for its completion. Some writing critiques that I
struggle greatly with is passive voice and consistent verb tense. The writing center has been a
tremendous help to me in relation to these, but I still would appreciate tips and advice to help
correct these issues.
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Works Cited and Consulted

Zipes, Jack. "Mass degradation of humanity and massive contradictions in Bradburys vision of
America in Fahrenheit 451." Bloom, Modern Critical Interpretations (2008): 3-18.

Board of Trustees, Southern Illinois University. Explorations in Utopian and Dystopian

Fiction. Pp. 182-198. No Place Else:,(1983)

Harrison Nicholas. Readers as Resistants Fahrenheit 451, Censorship, and Identification.

Studies in French Cinema, vol. 1, no. 1, Jan. 2001, p. 54. EBSCOhost,
lib.tcu.edu/PURL/EZproxy_link.asp?
url=http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.tcu.edu/login.aspx?
direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,uid&db=a9h&AN=7541739&site=ehost-live.

Crisp, C. G. Francois Truffaut. London: Praeger, 1972. Print.