Allegory Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury relates his story to real-life events during the Beat generation. Bradbury becomes influenced by the Red Scare, Nazi Book Burnings, and his contributions to World War II.

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Ray Bradbury went through some personal experience with the police that helped shape small stories before Fahrenheit 451, from which he combined and edited to the story it is today.

Bradbury was out walking with a friend and a police officer came up to them and asked what they were doing, Bradbury sarcastically responded with “putting one foot in front of the other!”.

The police officer didn’t like that response and told him not to do it again. Bradbury became so angry that he went home, and wrote a short story called “The Pedestrian”. The Pedestrian shares some similarities with Fahrenheit 451 like a few quotes that are very similar to each other and the fact that they both take place in some sort of dystopian future. The author was also influenced by World War II. Bradbury couldn’t help the United States by fighting in the war because of his poor eyesight, instead, he helped in any way he could. He decided to put his writing skills to good use by writing for the Red Cross, and The Department of Civil Defense. By 1946, Ray Bradbury had written a collection of short stories, one of which won the O. Henry award for the story “Homecoming”. That same year was the year he coincidentally met his future wife in a bookstore. In 1950, after his time with the Red Cross, Bradbury met an author by the name of Christopher Isherwood.

His brief encounter with the British author helped shape his career in science fiction because Bradbury gave a copy of his previous story called “The Martian Chronicles” and Isherwood’s review of the book helped bring Bradbury’s name into the spotlight.

Fahrenheit 451 was published in late 1953, less than a decade after World War II had ended. During the second world war, Bradbury experienced a lot. And soon after World War II had ended, the Cold War began. Not all was good during this time because of the ongoing World War. This war was unlike the world had ever seen before and millions upon millions of people were dead, whether they were soldiers or civilian men, women, and children. Hitler, out of nowhere, became the primary focus of the Allied Powers who seemed to have entered yet another world war. The standard of living during the Eisenhower period was a time of growth and prosperity among Americans. Most of the world was still left in shambles following World War II and many countries were still recovering from the damages economically. There was minimal inflation, the economy grew to over 30% in the 1950s, and Americans also had 30% more purchasing power than before. The 1950s were a prosperous time for the United States, especially in 1959. In the same year, Alaska and Hawaii joined the united states becoming the 49th and 50th states respectively.

Bradbury relates his story to many events that were happening to either himself or the world.  

Works cited

1. Bradbury, R. (1953). Fahrenheit 451. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
2. Eller, J. R., & Touponce, W. F. (2004). Ray Bradbury: The Life of Fiction. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press.
3. Reed, D. W. (2015). Ray Bradbury: A Critical Companion. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
4. Bradbury, R. (2010). The Martian Chronicles. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
5. Fjellman, S. M. (2008). Vinyl Leaves: Walt Disney World and America. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
6. Nash, J. R. (2010). World War II: A Concise History. New York, NY: Perseus Books Group.
7. O'Brien, G. (2012). The Red Scare: The History and Legacy of America’s Cold War Era Political Repression. New York, NY: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
8. Rubin, L. J. (1995). World War II: A Brief History. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s.
9. Tofel, R. S. (2005). Vannevar Bush: The Life and Times of an American Scientist. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
10. Welsch, R. L. (1992). The Red Scare in the Midwest, 1945-1955: A State and Local Study. New York, NY: Garland Pub.