Talk:Fahrenheit 451

Not changing it on main page because not sure but...

Look, I've read the book, and I'm pretty sure that it's not about government censorship. It's just another of those 'TV makes you stupid' stories. You saw a lot of them on the twilight zone too, oddly. Honestly it felt like a complaint about a society that was addicted to TV and unimportant factoids, not a complaint about a government that removed dissenting ideas.

Clarisse's age

Clarisse is "almost 17" at the beginning of the novel. So, she is "16" or "almost 17", not "17". - SummerPhD (talk) 04:58, 27 November 2012 (UTC)

Not sure where I got that from, but on page 5 (my edition anyway) she says, "I'm seventeen and crazy." - SummerPhD (talk) 05:09, 27 November 2012 (UTC)

While she does say that, later in the novel she says that she'll be seventeen in a month, I think. I remember her saying she isn't seventeen yet, just not what page it is on. Umbreon00 (talk) 17:47, 27 November 2012 (UTC)

In addition to the quote I found in the book itself, various Cliff's Notes-esque summaries I found all identify her as being 17. If you find your quote, we might have something. From where I'm sitting, though, the only sources we have say 17. - SummerPhD (talk) 03:58, 28 November 2012 (UTC)

In my edition, she says she is "17 and crazy" on page 21, but corrects herself to say that she is 17 "next month" on page 23. 71.193.22.55 (talk) 05:14, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

The anon is correct. I shall quote it: "Yes." He thought about it. "Yes, I have. God knows why. You're peculiar, you're aggravating, yet you're so easy to forgive. You say you're seventeen?"

"Well--Next month."

"How odd. How strange. And my wife is thirty and yet you seem so much older at times I can't get over it."

Page 23, lines 7, 8, and 9. Umbreon00 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 06:47, 1 December 2012 (UTC)

I can independently confirm that she is 16. An anonymous user changed it back even after this discussion. After concluding my post here, I will see what clarifications I can make in the article to be accurate. I have the book on a Kindle and as authority and validity for my case, I will be uploading pictures. First, I have searched the book for "sixteen". I found one entry. It is unrelated. I am unsure how to upload the image, if somebody would like it, they could help me. I then searched the book for "seventeen". This yielded three results. One of these is here saying she is a month shy of seventeen. This is later in the story. I also have the image for this one. I will most likely edit the page to accomodate a chronologically natural understanding of the book. This will be the most accurate and practical solution. It will also prevent this from becoming an issue in the future as it provides clarifying information. Michael Harrington 03:00, 6 December 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by DefensorOfApollo (talk • contribs)

Linking to fireman?

Why is the first line linking the firemen in this book to real life firemen. They serve different purposes and are not equivocal, I don't think they should be linked. — Preceding unsigned comment added by DefensorOfApollo (talk • contribs) 03:21, 6 December 2012 (UTC)

Concerning Recent Edit (March 1)

The subject of Fahrenheit 451 is controversial. On one hand, it is a discussion of government control and censorship. On the other hand, it is a social critique, a warning of what might happen if people are apathetic and don't protect their rights. For anyone interested in what I have to say, you should read pages 53-62 in the book. While Bradbury discusses both censorship and natural social pressures as explanations for the emergence of a dystopian society in the book, my personal opinion is that he focused much more on social pressures, not censorship. It was "technology, mass exploitation, and minority pressure" that "carried the trick", not the government. Yes, Wikipedia articles should be impartial, so my personal opinions and interpretations are not to be taken too seriously. However, I think the edits on March 1 by Thiesen should be examined carefully and then largely undone. They have removed meaningful content from the article and skewed the interpretation of the text. These edits certainly are not impartial. They have almost entirely removed discussion of an important interpretation of the text which has been supported in several peer reviewed scholarly articles (see "What 'Carried the Trick'? Mass Exploitation and the Decline of Thought in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451." by Rafeeq McGiveron in Extrapolation 37.3) and by the author himself. 71.227.252.76 (talk) 01:23, 3 March 2013 (UTC)

What it looked like to me was that Thiesen's edits simply changed the lead to include a Bradbury interview, moved around some info, and added more information which included stuff from Bradbury himself. As far as I can tell, no meaningful content was removed, and all of the content from the previous edits still seem to be present in the article. Some parts even seem to expand on the stuff already there. Granted, I haven't exactly investigated Thiesen's edits in depth, but they seem sound. TheStickMan^[✆Talk] 02:38, 3 March 2013 (UTC)

The edits completely remove mention of this interpretation of the text from the introduction and remove all discussion of this interpretation save for what is said in the block quotes and a single mention of Bradbury's 2007 interview at the bottom of the Themes section. Although the block quotes in the Themes section do address this interpretation of the text, it is the Wikipedia article's job to explain the contents of those quotations and clarify their meaning to the reader. You can use a quotation to bring out different points, depending on how you introduce and explain it, and I think the way these quotes are being explained presently colors the reader's interpretation. Moreover, I think the edits marginalize the interpretation of Bradbury's novel as a social critique of contemporary society, rather than a critique on censorship and government control. As I have said, I think the former interpretation is at least as important as the second. It shouldn't be offered as an alternate interpretation, but rather as a second and equally important one. I have read more thoroughly, and I think I was mistaken and hasty in calling for Thiesen's edits being undone or largely undone. I think what needs to be done now is to re-integrate the societal critique interpretation in the introduction and Themes section. It would really be a small edit that could make a large difference. 71.227.252.76 (talk) 03:45, 3 March 2013 (UTC)

Seems like a fair judgment. Do you think you could make the necessary edits? TheStickMan^[✆Talk] 16:17, 3 March 2013 (UTC)

Oh gosh, sorry for neglecting this discussion, I forgot all about it. I got interested in this article because I was writing an English paper on Fahrenheit 451. Then writing the paper kinda took over my life. And now here I am, at the end of the quarter, trying to keep my head above water with all my classes. I could certainly make the edits. I'm done with finals on Tuesday, so I could probably get it done by Wednesday. 205.175.97.236 (talk) 19:47, 17 March 2013 (UTC)

Burned Down -> Burned Out

Changed an instance of "burned down" to "burned out." Houses in Fahrenheit 451 are fireproof, and the firemen only burn the contents of the house - books, furniture... people.

You could have said this in the edit summary. Please use that next time. Also, seeing that the phrase "burn out" has nothing to do with actual burning, I've changed it back. But you bring up a good point, and I'm open to having an alternate wording. TheStickMan^[✆Talk] 01:36, 4 July 2013 (UTC)