Female Ashes, Knowledge, and the Construction of Masculinity : Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Sammanfattning: In Bradbury’s dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451, knowledge is illegal, and popular culture is promoted as a way to control society. Guy Montag, the central character of the book, undergoes through a journey of liberation from the oppressive system to the further achievement of the forbidden knowledge. The female characters in the book are key to his awakening and evolvement. Unfortunately during the course of the story these women perish. Using the theories of Simone De Beauvoir and Janice Radway, this essay explores the concept of “otherness” and the consumption of popular culture in a patriarchal and oppressive society. This paper also argues that the construction of the masculinity of the protagonist would not be possible without the women, and their death is a violent reaffirmation of a patriarchal order.