Examples Of Foreshadowing In Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury uses foreshadowing throughout Fahrenheit 451 to hint to the reader what will happen later on in the novel. He uses Clarisse, the ventilator grille, and the mechanical hound to foreshadow. This helps the reader anticipate what will occur next as well as entertains the reader to try to make their own conclusions on what they believe will happen next in the novel’s plot. The first way Bradbury uses foreshadowing is through the character of Clarisse. Towards the beginning of the novel, Clarrise asks Montag, “Are you happy?” (Bradbury 7). This helps the reader learn that Montag will later realize he is in fact not happy. This is important because Clarisse plays a big part in Montag character development. She helps him realize that he is unhappy with his relationship and the way society is. Ray Bradbury uses Clarisse to prepare the reader for a change in Montag’s thoughts and how he views society. The scene with Clarisse sets up the rest of the story and leads to Montag’s realization that he wants to change

Throughout the beginning of Fahrenheit 451, Montag continues to look up at the vent. An example of this is when “He stood looking up at the ventilator grille in the hall and suddenly remembered that something lay hidden behind the grille” (Bradbury 8). This is a huge hint to the reader that Montag has something very valuable hidden in the vent. This is valuable information to the reader because as said previously in the novel, Montag and other firefighters are forbidden to own books and their job is to burn them. The reader can use this foreshadowing to predict that Montag may be keeping books hidden behind the ventilator grille. Bradbury repeatedly uses Montag looking at the vent to foreshadow that he is secretly keeping books and hiding them behind the vent. This also allows the reader to predict what might happen to Montag if he gets caught hiding