Ray Bradbury: Biography and

Writing Style

“I know you’ve heard it a thousand times before, but it’s true — hard work pays off. If you
want to be good, you have to practice, practice, practice. If you don’t love something, then
don’t do it.”

-Ray Bradbury
Growing up, Ray Bradbury might not have ever expected that he would become a
cultural icon, but he always knew what he loved – writing. Bradbury spent a lifetime
doing what he loved, writing every single day, in pursuit of his dream to live forever in
the pages of the stories he wrote. Ray Bradbury is widely considered one of
America’s greatest writers, and his contributions to literary culture are celebrated
worldwide.

Ray Bradbury’s Childhood and Adulthood

Ray Bradbury was born in Waukegan, Illinois, on August 22, 1920. Bradbury had an
enjoyable childhood where he spent much of his time with family, going to the local
library, and reading. His hometown, Waukegan, left an impression on Bradbury, and
he often used this location as a setting in his short stories under the name Green
Town, Illinois. In the years leading up to the Great Depression, Bradbury’s family
struggled financially, moving back and forth between Tucson, Arizona and Waukegan
as his father found various employment opportunities. His family settled in Los
Angeles, California, when Bradbury was 14.

Bradbury always knew he wanted to be a writer, penning his first short stories by the
age of 11. He published his first short story in 1938, the same year he graduated high
school. Having never attended college, Bradbury would say he was a “student of life,”
reading by day and writing by night. He became a full-time writer in 1943 after it was
determined he was ineligible for military service in World War II due to poor eyesight.
Though he published several short stories in his early writing career, it was the
publication of his first major novel, The Martian Chronicles, in 1950 that established
his reputation in the writing community. Published the following year, The Illustrated
Man remains one of Bradbury’s most popular collections of short stories.
In 1953, Bradbury published Fahrenheit 451, which would become his most
significant work. The novel was immensely popular and an instant classic at the time
of publication. The story’s themes about government censorship and control tapped
into society’s fears during the peak of McCarthyism in the United States. Bradbury
himself was investigated for Communist ties throughout the 1950s. Bradbury shared
that his short story, “The Pedestrian,” published in 1951, is a direct prequel
to Fahrenheit 451. The story was inspired by an experience where he was walking
down the road with a friend one evening, and the police stopped them for appearing
suspicious. They were told to go home and not walk anymore. In Fahrenheit 451,
Clarisse shares a story with Montag about a time her uncle was arrested for being a
pedestrian, which is widely believed to be a reference to the main character in “The
Pedestrian,” Leonard Mead.

Ironically, Fahrenheit 451 has been banned or censored several times since its
publication. Though it is considered a mainstay in school curriculum, it has been
challenged on numerous occasions for what some consider to be vulgar language,
references to drug use and suicide, violence, and the story’s treatment of the Bible.
These challenges often don’t recognize the fact that the aspects of the text that are
being scrutinized are part of Bradbury’s underlying warning of the devastating
outcomes of restricting reading and censoring information. In 1979, Bradbury added
a Coda to future publications of Fahrenheit 451, where he shares his thoughts on the
numerous requests he has received for modifications to a number of his works. In
short, Bradbury’s message is clear: do not mess with his work!

Bradbury continued writing well into his 80s. He had a number of successful novels,
including Dandelion Wine in 1957, a semi-autobiographical novel focused on a 12-
year-old boy’s summer in a small town, and Something Wicked This Way Comes in
1962, a dark fantasy centered around two 13-year-old boys and a sinister carnival.
Both novels are set in Green Town, Illinois, Bradbury’s fictional version of his
hometown Waukegan, Illinois.

Bradbury was married to his wife Maggie for nearly 60 years, and they had four
daughters. He won countless awards for his work, which was often adapted for TV,
film, and stage despite his aversion toward television. Bradbury maintained his stance
against technology throughout his life. He used a typewriter for all of his writing,
never drove a car, and refused to give digital publication rights for his work for years.
He finally agreed to digital publication in 2011, less than a year before his death.

Bradbury passed away on June 5, 2012, at the age of 91. His personal library was
willed to the Waukegan Public Library, where he spent much of his childhood. He is
buried in Los Angeles, and his tombstone carries the simple epitaph: “Author of
Fahrenheit 451.”

Ray Bradbury’s Greatest Influences

As a child, Bradbury loved fantasy fiction, particularly the works of Jules Verne, Edgar
Rice Burroughs, and L. Frank Baum. The science fiction adventurers Buck Rogers,
Flash Gordon, and Tarzan, the boy raised by apes, were some of his favorite
characters growing up. Bradbury was also a fan of horror and the writings of Edgar
Allen Poe in particular. His family encouraged his love of fantasy, and their
enthusiasm in setting up elaborate displays every Halloween created memories that
Bradbury would later incorporate into his writing. He enjoyed attending carnivals to
see the magicians, often reflecting on an experience with a magician named Mr.
Electrico as a source of inspiration. Real-world events such as the Great Depression
and World War II also impacted his writing

Bradbury strongly believed that writing should be developed through one’s own life
experiences. His childhood experiences growing up in Waukegan played an essential
role in shaping his writing philosophy. Many of his stories are centered around
everyday people and families impacted by the changing world around them. He saw
the way humanity was affected by political conflicts and the rapid evolution of
technology, and his fears of society growing overly dependent on mass media and
technology are a prevalent theme throughout many of his works. Bradbury saw the
aftermath of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan at the end of World War II, and the
threat that came from the race for bigger and stronger weapons unfolding around the
world is often present in his writing. His use of the fictional version of Waukegan,
Green Town, was often intended to show how the small-town life of his childhood
was disappearing during a time of globalization.

Ray Bradbury’s Writing Style in Fahrenheit 451

While known as one of America’s most prolific science fiction writers, Bradbury
described his writing as fantasy, stating that Fahrenheit 451 was the only science
fiction piece he had ever written. The science fiction genre is typically characterized
as stories that take place in an imagined future impacted by advanced forms of
science and technology. Science fiction considers real possibilities that the future
could hold, whereas fantasy is based on imagined ideas that are impossible or highly
improbable. The use of magic or impossible powers makes fantasy something that
could never happen. In a 1999 interview with the New Mexico publication, The
Weekly Alibi, Bradbury stated:

“First of all, I don’t write science fiction. I’ve only done one science fiction book and that’s
Fahrenheit 451, based on reality. Science fiction is a depiction of the real. Fantasy is a
depiction of the unreal. So Martian Chronicles is not science fiction, it’s fantasy. It couldn’t
happen, you see? That’s the reason it’s going to be around a long time — because it’s a
Greek myth, and myths have staying power.”
This distinction is important to note when reading Fahrenheit 451. Bradbury believed
this was the only piece of science fiction he ever wrote, indicating that of all of his
work, the world he created for Fahrenheit 451 is the only one he believed could be a
possible reality in the future.
Figurative Language and Imagery

Bradbury uses a heavily descriptive style with vivid imagery in Fahrenheit 451. His
language appeals to the senses in such a way that it creates a contrast between the
reader and the people in the story’s society.

The novel opens with a vivid depiction of the destructive force of burning and the
heightened sensations that destruction creates:

“It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed. With
the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the
world, the blood pounded in his head, and his hands were the hands of some amazing
conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning to bring down the tatters and
charcoal ruins of history.” (Bradbury 3)
Bradbury speaks in symbols, similes, and metaphors, creating details that sound more
like poetry than prose. His use of symbols shifts throughout the story to fit the
various images he creates. The negative connotations of a python spitting its venom
to represent how the burning of books has poisoned society creates a parallel to the
details used only a few pages later when describing the machine that sucks out the
poison of Mildred’s overdose:

“They had this machine. They had two machines, really. One of them slid down into your
stomach like a black cobra down an echoing well looking for all the old water and the old
time gathered there. It drank up the green matter that flowed to the top in a slow boil. Did
it drink of the darkness? Did it suck out all the poisons accumulated with the years? It fed
in silence with an occasional sound of inner suffocation and blind searching.” (Bradbury
14)
Where dark imagery fills the pages with all that has gone wrong in society, Bradbury
creates a contrast with lighter imagery to represent what is right, what is good, and
what is hopeful. Montag’s first encounter with Clarisse illustrates this shift in imagery:

“The autumn leaves blew over the moonlit pavement in such a way as to make the girl who
was moving there seem fixed to a sliding walk, letting the motion of the wind and the
leaves carry her forward. Her head was half bent to watch her shoes stir the circling leaves.
Her face was slender and milk-white, and in it was a kind of gentle hunger that touched
over everything with tireless curiosity. It was a look, almost, of pale surprise; the dark eyes
were so fixed to the world that no move escaped them. Her dress was white and it
whispered.” (Bradbury 5)
The use of nature imagery when Clarisse is present is purposefully designed to
contrast the technology-obsessed society. In Clarisse, and in nature, there is a purity
and innocence that has not been damaged by the destructive force of technology and
the ignorance of society. It’s no surprise that Montag is immersed in the natural world
after he escapes from the city, as his life is transformed.
Sentence Structure
Bradbury is very thoughtful of his syntax and diction throughout the novel. He often
moves back and forth from short, fragmented sentences to long, run-on sentences.
His use of fragments is typically associated with moments where Montag is feeling
troubled or anxious, for example, the moments after Mildred has been saved from her
overdose attempt:

“One drop of rain. Clarisse. Another drop. Mildred. A third. The uncle. A fourth. The fire
tonight. One, Clarisse. Two, Mildred. Three, uncle. Four, fire. One, Mildred, two, Clarisse.
One, two, three, four, five, Clarisse, Mildred, uncle, fire, sleeping tablets, men disposable
tissue, coattails, blow, was, flush, Clarisse, Mildred, uncle, fire, tables, tissues, blow, wad,
flush. One, two, three, one, two, three! Rain. The storm. The uncle laughing. Thunder falling
downstairs. The whole world pouring down. The fire gushing up in a volcano. All rushing on
down around in a spouting roar and riveting stream toward morning.” (Bradbury 17-18)
The rapid thoughts running through Montag’s mind help to emphasize his uncertainty
in this moment. He expresses how he doesn’t know anything anymore. Having had
his eyes slightly opened after his conversation with Clarisse, only to face the reality of
the life he is living by coming home to his wife after she has attempted to take her
own life.

The long, run-on sentences are designed to pull the reader into the text, often as the
narration shows the build-up of thoughts in Montag’s mind. As he is opening his eyes
to the world around him, he struggles to process the details that are often
bombarding him at the same time. A good example of this occurs when Montag rides
in the Salamander as it races, unbeknownst to him, towards his home. This is shortly
after the event at his home where he created a scene in front of Mildred’s friends,
forcing them to listen to a poem from one of the books he had been hiding:

“They rounded a corner in thunder and siren, with concussion of tires, with scream of
rubber, with a shift of kerosene bulk in the glittery brass tank, like the food in the stomach
of a giant, with Montag’s fingers jolting off the silver rail, swinging into the cold space, with
the wind tearing his hair back from his head, with the wind whistling in his teeth, and him
all the while thinking of the women, the chaff women in his parlor tonight, with the kernels
blown out from under them by a neon wind, and his silly damned reading of a book to
them.” (Bradbury 109)
Sentences like this help the reader feel a sense of the whirlwind going on in Montag’s
mind as he tries to sort through the sensory overload he is experiencing while still
feeling the frustration of his actions.
Conclusion
Through his writing, Bradbury achieved his life-long dream to “live forever.” His
observations of the world around him, transformed into stories of caution, adventure,
and excitement, have left an eternal mark on the literary world. Though Bradbury’s
catalog as an author is vast, it is notable that his most successful achievement in
writing is the only piece he would personally classify as science fiction. Fahrenheit
451 is the only story that Bradbury felt could one day be a reality. It was this fear that
drove him to write the story, and the increasingly prophetic nature of the story
continues to be the reason Fahrenheit 451 remains as relevant today as it was in
1953.
Works Cited

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. Simon and Schuster, 1950.

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