Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel based in the 24th century, with a society obsessed with and critically dependent on technology. This book was published in 1953, a year known as the beginning of three technological eras: thermonuclear weapons, stored program computers, and modern genetics. Each of the eras listed were embodied as twisted cultural norms throughout Fahrenheit 451. Bradbury uses this to urge the reader to be careful in terms of reality. The major theme of the novel is the conflict between freedom of thought and censorship. The protagonist, Guy Montag, has been blinded by society his whole life, until he meets Clarisse, a teenage girl who has just moved in next door. In their very first conversation together, Montag is immediately peppered with meaningful questions about his life that he laughs about even though he is deeply confused. Clarisse confronts him about this and then asks Montag if he is happy. This question catches Montag completely off guard and he is still in shock, trying to pretend he is, as Clarisse says goodnight and enters. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay This is where Passage 1 picks up as Montag, now convinced, heads to his room. The light tone drops completely when he describes what his room looked like. As he walks around the dark room, he imagines his wife, Mildred, "lying on the bed, uncovered and cold, like a body exposed on the lid of a tomb." Not only is this strong imagery, which is found throughout almost the entire novel, also a foreshadowing. The foreshadowing comes into context when Montag discovers that Mildred is in fact dying of an overdose, hence the connection to a corpse and a grave. Passage 1 gives no direct context as to why Mildred overdosed on sleeping pills, but as the reader continues in the novel, many have come to the point where they strongly hate Mildred because she is not just another ignorant and superficial example of society. This is an important discovery to make because as the book progresses, it becomes a change from Montag and the society he was once a part of. Montag, the protagonist, now discovers that society itself and its values ​​have become antagonists. Imagery is used specifically in passage 1 to create an ominous tone and help the reader visualize a lifeless Mildred as described by Montag when he sees Mildred in bed "and her breath coming in and out, softly, faintly, incoming and coming out of his nostrils. , and she does not care whether it comes or goes, comes or goes.” Another very important literary element used not only in Passage 1, but throughout the novel, was the use of personification. Bradbury used personification to reflect the character's specific emotions, to set mood, and to give realistic characteristics to inanimate objects so that they could contribute to the story. Personification is often used as irony or as a double meaning of a statement. This is described when Montag realizes that he is unhappy (even before seeing his wife overdose), and his attitude completely changes from Clarisse's joyful confusion to him feeling "her smile slipping, melting, fading." fold and fold back on itself like a smile.” tallow skin, like the stuff of a fantastic candle that burns too long and now collapses and goes out.” It's a personification because smiles can't actually slip or melt. The personification is.