THE BIBEL AND FAHRENHEIGHT 451

BY: NIKKI GORMAN

connections

In Fahrenheight there are many direct references. Each of the hobos and Montag have a book of the bible memorized in their heads. “Here we all are… we are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.” On the train montage is reciting and trying to remember the story of the lilies of the valley.“ they toil not- “Denham's” consider the lilies of the field, shut up, shut up.”As well as many other references.

Intertextual references

In the book of revelations god sends all these devastating things to earth like natural disasters and famine. Then this dragon who is the devil goes to earth and convinces all the people to follow him instead of god. This relates to Fahrenheight because the dragon and the fireman are the same. The both breath fire and create destruction. The society in Fahrenheight chooses to follow what the government and what the fireman tell them even though burning the houses should be a bad thing, they treat it like a fun thing. The people in revelations also follow the dragon.

In the bible there is a famous story where Christ turned ordinary water into wine. This shows up in Fahrenheight with Montag and Faber. Faber descries montage as being fire and Faber is the water and the two combined will be wine. “he would be Montag-plus Faber, fire plus water, and then one day after everything had mixed and simmered and worked away in silence, there would be neither fire nor water but wine.”

Lastly , at the end of the book there is a direct reference to the tree of life. “And on either side of the river was there a tree of life… and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of nations.” in the bible this tree of life bears the fruit that will cure the nations. The way I see it these men with the books in their head are the fruits that will cure the nation.