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Justin Le

Mrs. Moore

Literacy

17 February 2017

Ray Bradbury: Using Power

Raymond Douglas Bradbury or Ray Bradbury was a writer of science fiction but mostly

fantasy and a person that had changed writing and a person that had inspired many to begin writing or

some other way by using his power. During his life and continuing to this day he had lots of influence,

had many accomplishments, and had done more than just writing, by doing these things he had been

useing his power for the benefit of humanity.

With a certain amount of influence that a person has would be considered a way that they possess

power and Bradbury had that amount of influence. While he was alive, Bradbury had quite a bit of

influence over the realm of writing and the real world. In the writing world what he had done was he had

inspired many people young and old to begin writing (Mass, Wendy 2004). But the influence that he

possessed extended beyond the ordinary people when the news of his death had been spread, the former

president Barack Obama had commented on his death that Bradbury had said that Bradbury he had

reshaped our culture and expanded our world (Flood). Not only him but Steven Spielberg had also talked

about his death, saying that Bradbury was my muse for the better part of my sci-fi career, and that he

lives on through a legion of fans (Flood). Along with the many others who had commented on his death,

you could see that since his work had inspired Spielberg to create his masterpieces, and according to the

previous leader of the U.S, he had changed the world for the better.
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Since he is so well known, The Sci-Fi Master, Bradbury (Mass) had done many things in his

lifetime that resulted in numerous achievements. Starting with the awards that he had received the list

starts off with the 2004 Medal of Arts, the 2007 Pulitzer Prize Special Citation (Bradbury), along with the

fact that he was nominated for an academy award, and was also nominated to be president of Science

Fiction (Mass 80), and was on the receiving end of the 2000 National Book Foundation for Distinguished,

Contributions to American Letters (Bradbury). One of the most impressive feats that he had accomplished

was when he had sold sci-fi & fantasy stories, not because of the fact that they were sold, but the fact that

they were all successful which was amazing at the time as those genres were not as popular as today.

(Mass, Wendy 2004) There was a story that Bradbury had written named Dandelion Wine and on the

moon, there is a crater that was named after that story, Dandelion Crater(Mass 80). The fact that he had

won this many awards and had completed an almost impossible task back then and having a crater

dedicated to him shows how he had done many things and because of the certain awards and the

unattainable task, shows his power in this world.

Bradbury was well known for his written works, but he had done other things that had branched

out from writing, or departed all together. Obviously he was a writer, so he had written stories, 600 of

them actually along with tons of script such as the screenplay for Moby Dick, nonfiction books, and

childrens books (Schofelt and Cordon). And some schools were lucky enough to have Bradbury himself

give lectures (Ray Bradbury Teenreads), not to mention the book review, articles on outer space, and

politics(Mass 79). So he had done more than just write stories and most of the other things that he did

such as lectures would be him spreading more of his influence and further using his power.

Though he is very famous now, before his career had taken off, he had problems along the way to

what is his glory. The first problem that he had faced was that he had bad eyesight, evident from his skip

in the military draft(Mass 39). In addition to that he had resented most of technology, riding his bike

around and using a typewriter during his career (Schofelt and Cordon). It was also hard for him to write
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when he had 2 kids, so the solution to that was for him to go to the library and renting a typewriter. When

he was starting his career, he had no choice to write in pulp paper which was low quality magazine

paper. Though he may be famous now, he of course had some problems along the way just like everyone

else. So even people that use their power to benefit humanity have encountered problems along the way.

Through Bradburys 91 year lifespan he had a lot of impacts, had numerous achievements, and

had accomplished more than simply writing, by doing these things he had certainly utilized his power to

benefit humanity and had continued so even after his death. With the influence that he had gained, he had

used it and by that means, used power. With the awards and achievements that he had received proves

how he had changed society. Besides writing he had other things that he had done which had also made

him use his power even further. However, he may seem as if he were a person that had started off with

barely anything when he had faced problems that also all have faced.
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Works Cited:

Mass, Wendy. Ray Bradbury: Master of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow,

2004. Print.

"Ray Bradbury." Ray Bradbury | Teenreads. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2017.

<http://www.teenreads.com/authors/ray-bradbury>.

"Ray Bradbury." Ray Bradbury. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Feb. 2017. <http://www.raybradbury.com/>.

"Becoming Ray Bradbury." Becoming Ray Bradbury - Illinois Issues - A Publication of the University

of Illinois at Springfield - UIS. N.p., 2012. Web. 10 Feb. 2017.

<http://illinoisissues.uis.edu/archives/2011/12/bradbury.html>.

Flood, Alison. "Ray Bradbury's Influence on Our Culture Was Transformative, Says Barack Obama."

The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 07 June 2012. Web. 10 Feb. 2017.

<https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/jun/07/ray-bradbury-influence-barack-obama>.

Schofield, Christine, and Hector Cordon. "World Socialist Web Site." Science Fiction Writer Ray

Bradbury: 1920-2012 - World Socialist Web Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2017.

<https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2012/06/brad-j14.html>.
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"Ray Bradbury." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 31 July 2015. Web. 7 Feb. 2017.

<http://www.biography.com/people/ray-bradbury-9223240>.