Through out Fahrenheit 451, there were many different symbols that could be found and interpreted. One of the main symbols was fire. Since the entire book was about the burning of books, this is a pretty obvious symbol. Fire represented many different things throughout the story. At first, it represented death and destruction. I mean, the pieces of literature were being destroyed, that's pretty much as destructive as it gets. But then by the end of the story, Montag realized that the fire could be used to heat the people, and didn't have to be so evil. That scene reminded me of a caveman first discovering fire. Obviously, it wasn't their first time discovering it, but it was the first time they realized that fire could be used for good instead of evil.
Another prominent symbol throughout the story were insects or "gross" animals. Yeah, that sounds a little "3rd graderish," but the images of insects or animals were prominent through out the story. In one of the helicopter chase scenes, the helicopter was described as insects. Also, when Mildred had to get her stomach pumped, the machine was referred to as a snake. The Mechanical Hound (which sounds like a dog to me) had eight legs, kind of like a spider. There is an obvious pattern. The things that are referred to as insects or animals are all pieces of technology. Basically, all those pieces of technology are things that the government used to control the people. It was pretty much a skewed version of nature.
One final symbol, which was a little weird, was when Montag stripped down naked and jumped in the river at the end of the story. Alright, so that was a little weird. I felt the same way I did when I finished reading The Grapes of Wrath. But that scene was really important. After all of the terrible things that happened in the story, when it was all over, Montag stripped away his clothes so he could take on a new identity. Taking off his clothes symbolized that he wanted to start over. It might have been a little weird, or even slightly funny, but it was a very important symbol in the story.
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Ballantine, 1953. Print.
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