Though many literary elements and devices are used throughout Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, two are most prevalent. Irony is used in the sense that the protagonist, Montag, is a fireman. One would normally expect that to mean his job is to put out fires; instead, he is tasked with starting them. In a sense, Bildungsroman (coming-of-age) is also employed throughout the story, though not in the traditional sense.
Before we get into the story, let us look at the definitions of the two literary devices listed above (provided here by the Ohio Department of Education and UC Berkeley):
Irony: "An irony of situation is when an event occurs that directly contradicts expectations."
Bildungsroman: "[T]racing the spiritual, moral, psychological, or social development and growth of the main character usually from childhood to maturity."
Very early in the story, Montag talks with a neighbor about his profession. This conversation gives a backstory for Montag, describing his role as a fireman and where he is currently at in his life. His neighbor, Clarisse McClellan, mirrors the reader in that she is ignorant as to what a fireman does (within the context of this story):
...then Clarisse McClellan said:"Do you mind if I ask? How long've you worked at being a fireman?""Since I was twenty, ten years ago.""Do you ever read any of the books you burn?"He laughed. "That's against the law!""Oh. Of course.""It's fine work. Monday burn Millay, Wednesday Whitman, Friday Faulkner, burn 'em to ashes, then burn the ashes. That's our official slogan."
These few lines act as a form of exposition, telling the reader a great deal about Montag's life in a relatively short amount of time. He is thirty years old and has worked as a fireman for the past ten years. This requires him to burn books, which are outlawed. Bradbury's use of alliteration in the last part of the quote helps showcase the monotonous routine of his work: Monday, he burns books; Wednesday, he burns books; Friday, he again burns books. The reader is also shown that Montag is at least aware of those three authors's names, though it is implied that he has not read any of them. This passage showcases the first use of irony in the story. In real life, firemen are tasked with putting out fires and saving people. Firemen in Fahrenheit 451, however, have the opposite job of starting fires, burning books, then "burn[ing] the ashes." This contradicts the reader's expectations of what constitutes a fireman.
In addition to irony, Bildungsroman is also used throughout the story—though admittedly, not in the traditional sense (i.e., "from childhood to maturity"). The previous passage clearly shows Montag is not a child. However, his discussion with Clarisse suggests that he missed out on the early inquisitive years that make up one's adolescence and help to form individuality. After meeting this new neighbor, Montag's mind awakens, and he begins his journey toward moral and psychological growth; he begins to read and collect books, questions the practice of burning books, and faces the figurative 'firing squad' for his newfound beliefs. He goes from ignorantly burning books because he is told to do so (much like a child told to clean his room, eat his vegetables, etc.), to forming his own beliefs about the importance of books and knowledge.
For further study on how Bildungsroman is shown throughout the story, you might investigate the specific ways in which Montag's lack of world/general knowledge early in the story mirrors that of a child. Then, you might compare that with his transformation later in the story to showcase his development and growth as a character.
The phoenix is a literary device that Bradbury uses to shape his theme of rebirth and renewal. It is one of the symbols of the firefighters because it represents rising up again from a fire. Montag, like the other firefighters, wears the "phoenix disc" on his chest to show he is impervious to the fires he helps to set. He was once proud of this symbol, just as he was once proud of his job.
But the phoenix has a wider meaning as a general symbol of renewal, change, and rebirth. The bird that can be reborn from the flames ironically changes for Montag from a symbol of book-burning to a symbol of his transformation into a person who wants to preserve books and the knowledge they contain.
At the end of the novel, Montag has joined an underground group living on the edges of society and working to save what he, as a firefighter, once sought to destroy. As Montag joins this renegade group, the phoenix comes to represent the message he is working to spread. As Granger says,
"There was a silly damn bird called a Phoenix back before Christ: every few hundred years he built a pyre and burned himself up. He must have been first cousin to Man. But every time he burnt himself up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself born all over again. And it looks like we're doing the same thing, over and over, but we've got one damn thing the Phoenix never had. We know the damn silly thing we just did. We know all the damn silly things we've done for a thousand years, and as long as we know that and always have it around where we can see it, some day we'll stop making the goddam funeral pyres and jumping into the middle of them. We pick up a few more people that remember, every generation."
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