Introduction Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopia, i.e. a description of a society that is rather frightening. The genre became popular in the 20th century, and one of the main themes of this genre is totalitarian state control. Similar to Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four or Zamyatin’s We , Bradbury’s novel is about a society in which human beings and their lives are extensively controlled by the state. Fahrenheit 451 is filled with symbols, i.e. images that bear profound and hidden meanings. The most appealing symbol is fire. Fire is used in the described society to destroy everything that can disturb the established order—primarily, books, as they carry intoxicating ideas of liberty and self-expression. In this system, firemen serve “as custodians of [the] peace of mind” (Bradbury 56). Fire symbolizes totalitarian rule: what does not fit in is burned down, even ideas. However, there is the other side of this symbol. At the end of the story, the legend of the Phoenix is told. This bird dies in flames and revives from the ashes, which symbolizes the cycle of life and the history of humanity, which brings itself to disasters in which it perishes but manages to be reborn. The difference between humanity and the Phoenix is that the former can remember its previous lives and can learn from its past. The character who tells the story of the phoenix then says that a factory of mirrors should be built to “put out nothing but mirrors for the next year and take a long look in them” (Bradbury 157), which is another symbol—a symbol of self-reflection and learning, a symbol of becoming better through cognizing oneself. The Primary Conflict in Fahrenheit 451 Like in other dystopias, the primary conflict in Fahrenheit 451 is the conflict between a human and society. Montag, the story’s main character, goes through a transformation, starting as a loyal member of the system and a man with a key function in it—a fireman who burns books, thus destroying controversial ideas that disturb the existing order. Later, however, he escapes and starts pursuing knowledge. His inability to reconcile himself to the described society and the same inability of other people he meets constitute the main conflict that shows that human nature is incompatible with the totalitarian rule. Attempts of the state to completely regulate the lives of people are doomed to fail because human nature finds a way out and protests. Other conflicts in the novel affect the primary conflict, e.g. the conflict between Montag and his boss Beatty. Beatty is the antagonist of the story and a proponent of the current rule. He says that everything that disappoints people should be burned so that everyone is happy and satisfied (Bradbury 57). In a different part of the novel, however, Beatty confesses that he used to be a passionate reader once but then decided that books were a bad thing. This shows the primary conflict from a new side: when living in a system that is anti-humanistic, discourages free-thinking, and oppresses the natural urge for knowledge and development, one can choose to either surrender and become convinced that the system is just and wise or to fight against it. Beatty chose the first option, and Montag chose the second. Realism in Death of a Salesman and Fences Realism is a literary style in which everyday situations and problems of people