The Inspiration for Fahrenheit 451

It was a pleasure to burn.

I love the classics, but it wasn't always like that. I hated them at school. That was until I read the subject of this article, Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, and my love of dystopian classics erupted. This book leads me to Animal Farm, 1984, Brave New World and many more.

What was so special about the book? Ray Bradbury, for a start, I have loved everything he has written. Fahrenheit 451 was my first Bradbury but not my last, as I have spent years devouring all his stories. If you haven't read his book Zen in the Art of Writing, you should.

451 is not only a riveting read, ahead of its time, but it has a fascinating history. This is a spoiler-free article, so feel free to carry on even if you have not read the book yet, although there may be some spoilers for a couple of his short stories.

Fahrenheit 451

In 451, books are dangerous and need burning. All the information comes to the citizens through a large screen in their lounge. The information passed through the scene is curated and manipulated. Books are considered dangerous as they demand individuals to think for themselves.

We follow the story of Guy Montag, a fireman. This is when houses are burn-proof, firemen set fires rather than stop them, and the fuel they use is books. The plot follows our fireman through this life, and that is all I am telling you because if you haven't read it, you should.

Although many of us get our information through tiny little screens we hold, the world does not sound too far away from the one we inhabit now. That is the strength of the book. Although written in the 1950s, it has endured with a theme that relates as much today as it did then.

Inspiration

The book was published in 1953, but the idea had been in Bradbury's head for years. Bradbury was twelve when he read a history book about the burning of Alexander and the books that were lost there. A couple of years later, he watched on television as Hitler burned books.

Inspiration did not only come to Bradbury from world events but also from other books he read. At one point in 451, Montag meets a mechanical dog. The inspiration for this dog came from Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskerville.

The first essence of the story can be found in his 1951 short story, The Pedestrian. In The Pedestrian, Leonard Mead is strange. Rather than sit in front of his television night after night, he likes to go for a walk. During one of these walks, he encounters a police officer. Crime is non-existent in this futuristic world, so this lone policeman is looking for walkers.

A conversation between the two ensues, culminating in Leonard being taken to a centre to remove his strange ways. Those who have studied 451 will remember Clarissa McKlennan mentioning her Uncle being arrested for walking.

The Pedestrian was not the only short story that was used in 451. In another of his short stories, Bright Phoenix, we see the idea of book burning being explored.

The story that is recorded as being the inspiration for 451, though, is known as The Fire Man and introduces us to Guy Montag. It was this novella that Bradbury would develop into a longer novel. Wanting to change the title to something more dramatic, he phoned his local fire station to find out the temperature paper burned, and the name was there.

Published

The first edition was published by Ballantine Books in 1953, costing 35 cents. It will cost you considerably more to purchase today. The first run of books was both paperback and hardcover and contained two other short stories; it has a blue cover if you are lucky enough to see one in a charity shop.

These first editions, however, are not as expensive as some of the later designs. If you come across a red hardcover version, it is part of a personal set given to Bradbury. To buy at auction, this would set you back £4000.

However, the rarest of all the editions is an asbestos-covered fireproof version. Only 200 copies were ever produced, each numbered and signed by Bradbury. One of these would cost you anything from £10,000 upwards. Although we all know how dangerous asbestos is, it may not be the type you want to own.

Another less dangerous and unique copy is printed on paper that you can only read if you apply heat. My favourite copy by far, though, has a match stick for the last digit of the title. The side spine is then the strike for the match.

Subconscious

With the many reprints of 451 and its continued success, it is easy to pick up an affordable copy if you have not read it before or if this article has inspired a re-read.

When Bradbury was asked why he named the main characters after paper-related companies, he answered that it was something his subconscious did without him even knowing. Montag is named after a paper company, and one of the other characters, Faber, is named after a pencil company. I am not sure I believe it was subconscious. Do you?