Fahrenheit 451: Fire

Fire is a very prevalent theme in Fahrenheit 451. The primary means of destruction for the books that the firemen find is by gathering them up into great big piles and burning them all at once, a spectacle greatly enjoyed by many of the firemen seeing as how most of them have some sort of obsession with fire or pyromania. The fire could be interpreted as being a symbol for destruction and death, as it is used to destroy the only remaining hope of intellectualism left in the world, the books. Alternatively if one believes that the book was written as a statement against censorship then the fire could be viewed as those who advocate for the censorship in novels. Another example of the ironic use of fire in the novel is when it is used to kill Beatty. At first it acts as a destructive and terrible thing used to burn the books and keep Montag a machine, but after he begins to realize what he is doing he uses it to free himself from Beatty. It is also ironic in the sense that Beatty used fire as his main tool for the destruction of books and in the end it was the flames the consumed and killed him. Fire is an extremely diverse element in Fahrenheit 451 and is one of the central symbols and themes throughout the entire novel. Indeed by the end of the novel the flames along with Montag were somewhat redeemed when Granger compares the destroyed city to that of a phoenix who is consumed by flame only to be reborn once again. This idea is prevalent in the city's destruction because after being consumed by the fire the ones who preserved the books in their heads will rebuild the city like the phoenix being reborn. These are some of the reason why fire is such a prevalent and interesting symbol and theme used throughout the course of the novel very well and powerfully.