Construction And Destruction In Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

When I first began reading Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451, I didn’t think much about the major themes and motifs in the story; however, as I continued to read the novel, I found a reoccurring theme throughout the story. The novel shows how nature is a cycle of construction and destruction, whereas technology only leads to destruction, and in the end humanity is always left devastated and ruined. Throughout Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury writes about how nature is a continuous cycle of construction and destruction. “He waded in and stripped in the darkness to the skin, splashed his body, arms, legs, and head with raw liquor; drank it and snuffed some up his nose. Then he dressed in Faber’s old clothes and shoes. He tossed his own clothing into the river and watched it swept away. Then, holding the suitcase, he walked out in the river until there was no bottom and he was swept away in the dark” (Bradbury 165). When I first read this, I didn’t think much of it. I simply thought that Montag was washing himself to disguise his scent from the hound; instead, after further analyzing this, I realized that Montag was cleansing himself of his old identity, and is becoming part of nature. After realizing this, I understood that Montag’s old clothes and the city represent the ignorance he is leaving behind,

"We are living in a time when flowers are trying to live on flowers, instead of growing on good rain and black loam. Even fireworks, for all their prettiness, come from the chemistry of the Earth. Yet somehow we think we can grow, feeding on flowers and fireworks, without completing the cycle back to reality” (Bradbury 111-112). Here, Faber is comparing humanity and technology to flowers and nature to the Earth. Faber is explaining how humanity must always rely on the Earth, and how humanity cannot rely on technology forever or else they will eventually destroy