15. Discuss the use of quotations from literature in Fahrenheit 451. Which works are quoted and to what effect? Pay specific attention to "Dover Beach", the Bible, and quotes from Shakespeare. Explain using specific examples from the text in your arguement.
I think Ray Bradbury uses quotes from literature that have been very influential and important throughout history. I think he wants to prove how significant books are and why it is so awful that there are firemen that have the job of burning the books. He predicts in the future more and more people will pay less attention to these books and their significance won't be acknowledged. On page 55, Bradbury talks about how Hamlet was shortened even though it was a classic by Shakespeare "But many were those whose sole knowledge of Hamlet... whose sole knowledge, as I say, of Hamlet was a one-page digest in a book that claimed: now at last you can read all the classics; keep up with your neighbors." He is making a point that even great classics like Hamlet is shortened to only one page because people don't find it necessary to read and study it. Beatty thinks that Shakespeare is insignificant "Why don't you belch Shakespeare at me you fumbling snob? 'There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats, for I am arm'd so strong in honesty that they pass me as an idle wind, which I respect not!'" (Page 119) I think Bradbury is also saying that
Shakespeare is so well-know that even the head of the firemen is knowledgeable in his work.
On page 76, Ray Bradbury talks about how the Bible might not even be considered a valuable piece of literature in the future. "How many copies of the Bible are left in this country?... How many copies of Shakespeare and Plato? None! You know as well as I do. None!" No Bibles left in the enitre country proves how little importance it has. Montag's wife gets mad at him for trying to keep the Bible because she thinks she is much more important than a book. On the last page of the book (page 165) the Bible is quoted ad Montag and the men move back toward the war damaged town. "And on either side of the river was there a tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month; And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." Montag remembers this quote from the Bible because it has meaning to him. This quote is inspiring him to want to rebuild his town. A book can have so much meaning to a person that they can connect it to their lives and let it inspire them and I think that's what Ray Bradbury is saying with this quote.
How influential books can be is another thing Bradbury mentions. On page 99, Montag reads a poem, Dover Beach, to Mildred and her friends who don't read literature and aren't familiar with much of it. "Ah, love, let us be true... Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light... swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, where ignorant armies clas by night." After Montag finished reading the poem one of the ladies, Mr. Phelps, starting crying. I think she was so overwhlemed by the beauty and meaning of the poem because she had never heard something like that before. I think Ray Bradbury is trying to prove how much of an effect literature can have on a person. When Montag and the other firemen must burn a woman's house she refuses to leave. She quotes Latimer "'Play the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.'" (Page 36) This is what Latimer said to Nicholas Ridley as they were being burnt alive. I think Bradbury is comparing being burnt alive to burning books and saying they are equally awful. The fact that the woman would rather be burnt with the books than survive also says how important they can be to a person. Books can be so meaningful and emotional and they should hold a special place in all our hearts.
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