Fahrenheit 451: The Phoenix

The Phoenix is a popular mythical creature from Roman, Sumerian, Persian, Egyptian and many more ancient religions. It is commonly viewed as a very large fiery bird and represents life, fertility, rebirth, and hope. The symbol of the phoenix is mentioned on a few occasions in Fahrenheit 451 and in my opinions it is an excellent (albeit often times overused) symbol for the novel. The most relevant use of it is when Granger says that they will rebuild the city after the bombs drop and the city is wiped clean. They say that like the phoenix they will build a new city and society and be reborn as a whole much like after the Phoenix is killed. When a phoenix's life span of 500-1000 years is over it constructs a nest usually out of something flammable and then ignites itself dieing in the fire and reducing itself to ash. It is then reborn from the ashes to begin it's life cycle once again. To me all though the chance for redemption is there it seems like the cycle of the destruction of intellectualism and the demise of society due to media is an ever-present threat and I am not hopeful for the future of those in the book. Due to the repetitive nature of the Phoenix's life and it's continual birth and demise it seems that what Bradbury is saying is that in time the reason the society was founded will be forgotten and the same thing will be bound to happen again. As the old saying goes those who do not learn from history are bound to repeat it is very relevant here. And although the Phoenix is an excellent symbol in this novel for being a great fire bird that is known to be representative of flame and destruction the symbol of the phoenix is often times overused in novels and other other forms of entertainment, but in Bradbury's defense not many other things would work as well as the Phoenix.