Allusions In Fahrenheit 451

An allusion is a reference to a famous person, place, thing, or event. Among Ray Bradbury’s most influential and widely recognized works, Fahrenheit 451 displays the impact that censorship and forced conformity plays on a group of people living in a dystopia. The book takes place in the future and is told through the main character, Guy Montag’s view. Fahrenheit 451 demonstrates the struggles with the censorship and propaganda the government is using to convince people to conform to their idea of an ideal society. Guy Montag is troubled and wants to make a difference, but doesn’t know what he can do. The novel, written by Ray Bradbury,was created to be a wake up call to society. The book was meant to depict the dystopia that people “today” would be …show more content…
The author says, "They were like a monstrous crystal chandelier tinkling in a thousand chimes, he saw their Cheshire Cat smiles burning through the walls of the house, and now they were screaming at each other above the din" (Bradbury 93). The Cheshire Cat is a famous animated figure that originates from the book and movie known as Alice and Wonderland. The Cheshire Cat’s trademark is his smile. He's very mysterious, and in his own way, very dark. The cat disappears at will and sometimes leaves behind his smile. The reason that Cheshire Cat was referenced in this section of the book was to describe Mildred and her friend’s fake smiles. The women smiles are showing the fake happiness that is present in the dystopia in which they are living in. The Chesire Cat was also alluded to to show that everyone in the society wears fake smiles and grins. The people in Fahrenheit 451 act to impress others while in reality they are unhappy. Their society is broken, but everyone's too busy to care. The allusion to the Cheshire Cat was to demonstrate the actual emotions present in the dystopian