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Bradbury's novel criticizes the mas media by mocking the distracting and superficial nature of the the television programming.

Peter Sisario argues that Bradbury alludes to the mythical Phoenix, with messages of rebirth from fire.

Sisario also argues that Bradbury's frequent use of Biblical allusions supports this idea of rebirth and the cyclical nature of life.

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Based on Bradbury's novel, the artist Ralph Steadman, responsible for the artworks for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, as well as Flying Dog Ale labels, and the Gonzo artwork, created a series of works interpreting the novel.

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Released in 1999, Dark Hallucinations was an album by the British hard rock band Steel Prophet. It highlighted the indoctrination of the modern citizen in the society of Fahrenheit 451 with lyrics like:

Don’t question what I do
Questions are just for fools
Houses have always been flame proof
Firemen don’t put out flames
we've always burnt books
everyone knows

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Tim Hamilton's Graphic Novel Adaptation of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451

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Tim Hamilton's Graphic Novel Adaptation of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451

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Illustrated by Tim Hamilton and with a introduction written by Bradbury, a graphic novel adaptation was published by Hill and Wang in 2009.

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What Makes Fahrenheit 451 an American classic?

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What Makes Fahrenheit 451 an American classic?

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• Defines the Science Fiction era of literature

• Provides social criticisms

• Wide appeal and interpretation

• Incidences of Banning

• Various adaptations

• Awards

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1. "1933 Book Burnings." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. <http://www.ushmm.org/research/research-in-collections/search-the-collections/bibliography/1933-book-burnings>

2. American Libraries, Vol. 17, No. 2 (Feb., 1986), pp. 132-137

3. McGiveron R. Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. Explicator [serial online]. Spring96 1996;54(3):177. Available from: Humanities International Index, Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 25, 2013.

4. Sisario, Peter. A Study of the Allusions in Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" The English Journal , Vol. 59, No. 2 (Feb., 1970), pp. 201-205+212

5. Michigan Law Review , Vol. 107, No. 6, 2009 Survey of Books Related to the Law (Apr., 2009), pp. 895-912

6. Davis, Scott A. "The California Book Awards Winners 1931 - 2012." Common Wealth Club. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. <http://www.commonwealthclub.org/sites/default/files/u123/Official%20Complete%20California%20Book%20Awards%20Winners.pdf>.

7. "Libertarian Futurist Society." Awards: A Short History. Libertarian Futurist Society, Feb. 2012. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. <http://lfs.org/awards.shtml>.

8. "Dark Hallucinations." Encyclopedia Metallum. N.p., 6 Apr. 2013. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. <http://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Steel_Prophet/Dark_Hallucinations/1891>.

9. ”Dark Hallucinations Lyrics.” LyricsMania. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. <http://www.lyricsmania.com/dark_hallucinations_album_lyrics_steel_prophet.html>.

10. "Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451." Macmillan, n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. <http://us.macmillan.com/raybradburysfahrenheit451/RayBradbury>.

11. Bradbury, Ray, and Tim Hamilton. "Fahrenheit 451 - Series." Tor.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. <http://www.tor.com/features/series/fahrenheit-451>.

12. "Sam Weller: Ray Bradbury's 180 on Fahrenheit 451." Dallas News. The Dallas Morning News, 12 Apr. 2013. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.

13.  "The Big Read." Fahrenheit 451. The Big Read, n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.

14.  "Bibliography: Fahrenheit 451." Bibliography: Fahrenheit 451. Internet Speculative Fiction, n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.

15.  Freyne, Patrick. "Bad Lands: Fahrenheit 451 and Other Fiery Dystopias." Irish Times. N.p., 21 Oct. 2013. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.

16. Sisario, Peter. The English Journal , Vol. 59, No. 2 (Feb., 1970), pp. 201-205+212

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Brave New World, Aldous Huxley (1932)

1984, George Orwell (1949)

Bradbury, Ray. Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaptation. Illus. Tim Hamilton

New York: Hill and Wang, 2009. Print.

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When the book was published there were mixed feelings as to whether this sci-fi was a literary masterpiece or a simply unimpressive publication. in 1954, The Chicago Sunday Tribune praised the novel for its compelling and imaginative storytelling. Groff Conklin, a critic for Galaxy Science Fiction, stated in his review that Fahrenheit 451 is “among the great works of the imagination written in English in the last decade or more."

However, there were others with more negative views towards the novel. The New York Times criticized the book as a work that represents Bradbury’s animosity towards present-day culture. Other literary critics such as P. Schuyler Miller, Anthony Boucher, and J. Francis McComas faulted the book for its “nagging detail” and having its verbal brilliance masked by inept storytelling. Although much of the initial reception of the novel was negative at the time, the novel grew to become one of the most relevant pre-cautionary tales of book burning, government power, and virtual media.
Though critical reception was mixed, the general public's opinion was overwhelmingly positive. At this point in Bradbury's life, he had only written a few short stories and been a part of some small writing jobs such as script writing for television shows. This was the novel that rocketed him to stardom and solidified his status as an incredible sci-fi writer.

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The Life of the Mind and a Life of Meaning: Reflections on "Fahrenheit 451"

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Review by: Rodney A. Smolla

Michigan Law Review , Vol. 107, No. 6, 2009 Survey of Books Related to the Law (Apr., 2009), pp. 895-91

This source notes how the major theme of censorship is explored in the novel. It frequently points to Batty’s explanation for how the banning of books came to be. In the book, it is said that the books first became censored by the general populace, as people avoided books that offended. Soon enough, authors stopped writing thought-provoking books, and then stopped writing altogether. In the novel, Beatty cites the contradictory nature of the different novels, claiming that this makes them useless. The article claims that this quality of literature is what makes it so great, and lauds Fahrenheit 451 as an example of great literature functioning in society.

Now Was Then, Then Is Now: The Paradoxical World of Fahrenheit 451

Written by: Michael R. LaBrie

LaBrie, Michael R. Now Was Then, Then Is Now: The Paradoxical World of Fahrenheit 451. Thesis. Salve Regina University, 2010. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.

In this article, LaBrie juxtaposes the society that is represented in the novel Fahrenheit 451 and modern American society. LaBrie touches on things such as materialism, virtual media, and literature and how they have changed for the past five decades. By doing so, LaBrie shows how Fahrenheit 451, after more than 50 years since its publication, still serves as an important dystopian novel today. Its themes of conformity vs. freethinking and powerful governments are universal and impactful. There's no doubt that it will only become more relevant as time goes on.

“As the Constitution Says”: Distinguishing Documents in Ray Bradbury’s FAHRENHEIT 451

Brown, Joseph F.; Explicator, 2008 Fall; 67 (1): 55-58. (journal article), Database: MLA International Bibliography

Brown points out a mistake made by Captain Beatty, the leader of the men with the responsibility to burn books, which is a misquote of the United States constitution that actually belonged to the Declaration of Independence. Independence is simply not a part of peoples' lives in this dystopian society. “We must all be alike,” explains Beatty, “not everyone born free and equal, as the Constitution says, but everyone made equal” (58; emphasis in original). Brown points out that this is not a simple mistake; the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were two documents separated by more than a decade and had a different audience and purpose. This mistake encapsulates exactly what Bradbury is trying to warn against, a path towards illiteracy and societal fundemantalism.

Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 Explicator . Spring96 1996;54(3):177

This article by Rafeeq McGiveron deconstructs Bradbury's use of imagery involving hands throughout the novel. The article talks about how hands are used by Bradbury as "significant reflectors of conscience." Through the novel, the descriptions of hands represent the mental states of their owners. As an example, McGiveron points to the description of Montag stealing a book from the fire. Throughout the passage, Bradbury describes Montag's hands as moving on their own, out of his control. The hands actions reflect on the conscience of Montag, though he doesn't yet realize it. The descriptions of hands moving on their own continues throughout the novel. At the end of the article, McGiveron points out that all of the descriptions in the novel seem to attest that actions speak louder than words, and that Bradbury's many explicit references to hands makes this theme plain.

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In 1982, BBC Radio produced a play based on Bradbury's original text. It starred Micheal Pennington, and was broadcast in 1982, and rebroadcast in 2010 as well as 2012 on BBC Radio 4 Extra.

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When asked by National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Dana Gioia “What was the origin of the idea of books being burned in the novel?”, Bradbury talked about two things. The first thing he cited as an inspiration for writing the novel was the burning of the Library of Alexandria. The second, and more important event, was during Bradbury's childhood. When he was 15, he remembers when Adolf Hitler had thousands of books burned in the streets of Berlin. He said "Since I'm self-educated, that means my educators – the libraries – are in danger. And if it could happen in Alexandria, if it could happen in Berlin, maybe it could happen somewhere up ahead, and my heroes would be killed." This was the major inspiration for Bradbury's "preventative writing". Fahrenheit 451 is connected to both the past, like most classics, but also the future in it's preventative nature, which makes it important and relevant to society for years to come.

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The novel, quite ironically, has been banned several times, not because of its message, but because of its frequent use of vulgarities. It also depicts the burning of the Bible, a controversial image.

• 1987: Classified as a "third-tier" novel in the Bay County School District in Panama City, FL, effectively removing it from school curriculum for its vulgarity. A class action lawsuit later abandoned their tier system and approved the book for students.

• 1992: "Obscene" words blacked out in Irvine, CA schools. Unwanted media attention later resulted in the redistribution of uncensored copies.

• 2006: In Montgomery County, TX, parents of a student complained that the book should be removed from the curriculum for its vulgar words and depictions of Bible burnings. This incident led to no changes in the actual curriculum, as the student was given an alternative reading assignment.

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Match To Flame: Bradbury's story of Fahrenheit 451's Development

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Match To Flame: Bradbury's story of Fahrenheit 451's Development

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To help readers understand the true process of his creation of Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury published a compendium of the initial short stories and novellas that fueled the book's genesis in 2007, entitled Match to Flame: The Fictional Paths to Fahrenheit 451. Almost 500 pages long, the almanac contains the previously mentioned stories "Bright Phoenix," "The Pedestrian," "The Fireman," and six others, including "The Library."

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1954 - American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature

- Commonwealth Club of California Gold Medal

1976 - Spoken Word Grammy nomination for the audiobook, recorded by Bradbury

1984 - Prometheus Hall of Fame Award

2004 - Earned the "Retro Hugo" for 1954

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As the 1930's progressed, the genre of science fiction saw a huge explosion in both number of works and popularity, with such names as Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Ray Bradbury. The huge influx of works focused on dystopian societies created a whole new facet in the genre and fiction itself. With an incredibly wide-read background, Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is most likely the most notable of this so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction, and although only written in 1953, creates the best case for the consideration of classics from this era. To be a classic has been redefined by new emerging genres for decades,, and with this in consideration, it's easy to see why this work would do the same for the rising force of the science fiction novel.

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In 1966, the novel was adapted to a movie, directed by Francois Truffaut and released by Universal Studios. It starred Oskar Werner as Guy Montag, and Julie Christie as Clarisse, recieving decent critical reception.

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1966 - A film adaptation featuring Oskar Werner as Montag was released.

1982 - BBC Radio produced a radio play based on the novel.

1984 - Fahrenheit 451 the text adventure game is published for Macintosh, DOS, Commodore 64, and Apple II computers.

2006 - A stage play version is produced by the Godlight Theater Company and goes on to win a 'Pick of the Fringe' award at the Edinburgh Festival.

2009 - Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaptation, a graphic novel version of the story by Tim Hamilton, is published.

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Since Bradbury lived so long after the publishing of Fahrenheit 451, his own interpretation of the novel has changed over time. In 1956, he said in an interview that he saw the main theme of the novel as one against censorship.

"I wrote this book at a time when I was worried about the way things were going in this country four years ago. Too many people were afraid of their shadows, there was a threat of book burning. Many of the books were being taken off the shelves at that time."

However, over time, Bradbury's interpretation of the novel changed. In later interviews in the 1960s and beyond, his ideas changed and he began to explain the novel as a parable of the separation and alienation caused by technology.

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Throughout the adaptations of the novel, perhaps the most relevant and ironic would be the creation of a text adventure computer game in 1984 by Trillium. With creative and written input from Bradbury himself, the adventure can be considered at least semi-canonical to the original text, building off and creating an extension of the story for the player.

The text adventure game made an appearance on the magazine American Libraries, recommending it as a computer game that gets kids to read literature.

"All-text interactive fiction is also the best type of game for libraries to purchase and circulate because it requires a lot of reading. Some libraries have encouraged it, playing host to adventure clubs. Others have allowed them to be counted as books read for a summer reading program"

- American Libraries, Vol. 17 no. 2

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1. The book initially began as “Bright Phoenix”, a story about a librarian who confronts a "Chief Censor" who has been burning books. Written by Bradbury in the years of 1947-1948, the story wan't actually published until 1963.

2. Bradbury writes “The Pedestrian” after a run in with an overzealous police officer in the summer of 1951, where the protagonist is harassed by an automated police cruiser for taking nighttime walks

3. Bradbury combined the concepts present in “Bright Phoenix”and“The Pedestrian”in his novella “The Fireman”, published in the February issue of Galaxy Science Fiction."The Fireman" was written in the basement of UCLA's Powell Library on a typewriter that he rented for a fee of ten cents per half hour. The first draft was 25,000 words long and was completed in nine days.

4. After being urged by a publisher at Ballantine Books to lengthen “The Fireman,” He proceeded to write Fahrenheit 451 in another 9 days.