Hi Period 6 Students...
Using your list of allusions, please consult all of the allusions for part 1--The Hearth and the Salamander. Choose one allusion to discuss as it relates to the events/characters--elements in the novel. If the explanation on the handout is not sufficient for your complete understanding, please research your allusion on the Internet. Every student must choose a different allusion, so make sure you communicate before you begin to claim the allusion you would like to explore. Thanks for your hard work!!! :)
13 comments:
I think I would feel wrong if I did not use the allusion of Benjamin Franklin. This book, so far, is mainly based on firemen, and the burning of books, and Benjamin Franklin was one of the first firemen. It’s true, that he was a firemen but all the other firemen, other than the chief and Guy, think that Ben was a burner of books. In all truth he was not, he was a firemen that put out fires, not started them. I believe its wrong to think that firemen have alway started fires in this society. But, in the story, I can see where they believe the wrong fact, because they also believe that all houses have always been fireproof. It is stupid to believe, but in this society most of the people are distracted, anyway, and could not tell the truth between what they have been told and what is true.
Brianna, it kind of makes you question recorded history, huh? I mean, who is to say what is real and what is not---or what has been skewed. Wars have always been written by the victors; don't you think there would have been some prejudice in there somewhere? It is crazy to think about history that way, but it is someone's account of what happened. Thinking about it like that, makes one question ALL!!!
Stoneman and Black are fitting names for not only these two firemen, but all of the firemen. It seems like the firemen in this society have hearts as hard as stone. They tear through peoples houses and end up burning them to the ground. When they invaded the woman’s house because there was suspicion of books and she wouldn’t leave before they were going to burn it, the firemen just let her stay in there. Montag tried to get her out, but it was like the other firemen didn’t even want to help. This clearly shows that they have a sick side to them. Another thing that makes them seem dark and their heart seem cold is when they bet what animal is going to get caught by the Hound first, making it a cruel game. Using Black for a name is also very fitting, because the firemen are always around soot and smoke, which causes things to darken, like skin and hair.
The allusion I had to choose was the allusion about the salamander. Obviously because it has to do with mythology! In mythology the salamander represents fire. The salamander was believed to have been created from fire. Salamanders were believed to be able to face fire without burning.
The salamander represents a few things in this world. One things I thought of, that didn't seem so obvious, are the houses. The houses in the society are fire proof. They are just like the salamander in the sense that they can't burn.
The first part of Fahrenheit 451 is named hearth of a salamander, so obviously the salamander is represented there. Throughout this part the firemen burn books. Just the burning of books and fire itself is representing the salamander. I feel like it represents more then that, because if a salamander is fire proof, then why would the books be destroyed? I think Bradbury has more in store for us on this allusion. Maybe the books live on it away that we don't know yet.
I thought the allusion for Guy Montag was pretty cool. I liked how the name Guy came from Guy Fawkes. Steinbeck probably chose to name Guy Guy because of how similar one thing in Fawkes life really was to Montags life. Fawkes had been a part of an assassination plot called the Gunpowder Plot. The plan was to blow up the king in one of his wardrobe houses, but the plan was discovered by spies. If the plan had gone through he would have started ahuge fire killing the king, which would be similar to Guy and the firemen burning the books and the burning of the woman with her books. I thought that was cool how Guy got his first name. The Montag wasn't as interesting but it was a company that made furnaces which make place warm, so I can see the similarities between the furnace and the fires Montag make.
These allusions are so sneaky. I never would have noticed these without this sheet.
The allusion I like the best is the one about pigeon-winged books. This gives me a great image of what is happening in the book. I can see the books in the air with the pages spread looking like they are pigeon wings. The wings of a pigeon are spread out just like the pages of the books were. This is a great allusion because it really gives me a good mental image of how awfully the books are being treaded. They are being thrown like they are pigions flying through the air. This allusion really helps create the setting that the author has made.
The allusion that I chose was 451 degrees Fahrenheit. I believe that this allusion doesn't have to do with just a little part of the story, but with the entire book. Or what we have read. On the allusion sheet this is what is put under 451 degrees Fahrenheit: the temperature at which book paper catches fire and burns. In the book, I think that the books aren't the only thing burning. The people are burning too. People aren't thinking, let's themselves get talked into things, without a second thought. The women in the house full of books burned with them, at 451 degrees fahrenheit. Another thing would be that Montag is burning. Inside, he's waiting for someone to accuse him of taking the books from people's house and bringing them home. He's burning with guilt.
I choose to address the Man in the moon allusion. It said in the packet that the man in the moon is an image that reflects the oppressive nature of a society that burns books. I really didn't see that, I don't understand how it represents oppression. It would seem that it is something imaged by children, or told to children by their parents. How exactly does a child's imagined ideas represent oppression. Obviously this is thinking about it a bit literally and somewhat avoiding the symbolism. Even though I don't necessarily understand how it represents oppression symbolically. If you could clarify it for me that would be great. Personally I think it represents the imagination and ingenuity of children, and how this is like a bastion of hope for a society drowning in it's own oppressive nature. Mainly Clarisse of course, her inquisitive nature and how she questioned everything. It even said in the book, she didn't want to know how, but why. Maybe that gave other children a chance, and the man in the moon represented that, a light in a dark place that isn't quite as bright as it could be.
The TV parlor represents a big part of the civilians' lives in this book. It's all about distraction. For one, the multidimensional characters are distraction enough. It's like having people in your house all the time! Second, the people are supposed to be family members. This means that the government is preventing any social interaction between families, because when they get together, they start talking. And talking leads to discussion about certain topics, which could have an affect on how the people behave. Lastly, the TV characters include the real people in their conversations. This way, the TV characters can control where the conversation is headed, how the people are feeling, and the thoughts of the people. It's really strange how much the devices in the futuristic world we are reading about control the everyday lives of the people.
I can only imagine the kind of worry and pain that Guy went through when he saw his wife on the bed.. more than half dead with a container of sleeping pills in her stomach. I can't even fathom his emotions when he saw the "black cobra" of a vacuum go into her system and suck out everything unwanted. Ironic, isn't it, that the machine used to suck all the poisonous material out of her body was taken by a machine that looked like a venomous snake (python) who was run by a "handyman" who's eyes were like those of a "puff adder" a poisonous snake found in Africa. The eye of this machine is cold and analyzes everything that could potentially be sucked out and is told that it can peer into the very soul of it's subject. But, even if it could, what would it do? I believe that if a robot could be given a mind of it's own, it wouldn't save a person, if they felt that persons soul wasn't strong enough to be saved. Even calculations and numbers can be wrong, just as wrong as a human's ability to determine right from wrong. Guy was terrified for his wife as he should have been, I know I would have.
I chose the allusion "electric bees." I chose this allusion because it was clear to me what was being said. The seashell ear-thimbles that Mildred uses are like an ipod, but without the ipod and headphone cords. Instead it is just the headphones themselves. The ear-thimbles buzz in her ears like bees flying around her head. The noise from the headphones is just like the buzz sound bees make. The ear-thimbles really are electronic bees because if a bee were to be flying around your head, it would block out other noise, just like the ear-thimbles do. However, the ear-thimbles are convenient and enjoyable, but the bees are not. This is a great allusion because I can really picture what the ear-thimbles look like and what they do. This allusion was one of the most understandable and easy to imagine.
Clarisse and Brightest:
This allusion really got me thinking. Now that I know that Clarisse’s name derives from the Latin word brightest, I can easily see that comparison. Clarisse was probably one of the brightest people we have encountered so far. Not only does her name represent her knowledge and her wonders, but it also represents her personality. Guy is somewhat of a stoic and Clarisse definitely contrasts his personality because she talks a lot, she is always thinking, and she seems like she is always happy. Her personality seems so much more bubbly then the other characters of the book. Everything about this allusion is basically dead-on. Ray Bradbury did an excellent job comparing Clarisse’s name with it’s Latin root.
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