APPLIED MODERNISM: Essay

Fahrenheit 451 is a modernist novel because it has many elements of modernism in it; a distopian view of the future, focusing on inner-self and consciousness and lastly the idea of "sticking it to the man".

The whole story takes place in the "future" where books are considered a waste of time and are actually illegal to own. Books represent knowledge and freedom of expression through writing. This is absolutely a distopian view for the future.

The main character is Montag. Montag goes on a journey to find out why books are so bad for people to own and read. His inner-self changes dramatically throughout the story and we know this because the author writes in a way that allows us to tag along with Montag while he faces challenges and his view toward books changes.

The author "sticks it to the man!" By making one of the major themes: Don't be afraid to question authority to find out something for yourself. Questioning authority is a big part of modernism because the modernists didn't follow the romantic way of writing, they wanted to write their own way to express how they felt.

Modernism took place in (1900s-1965) post WWII when people questioned if the future would be a peaceful place or not. They focuses on the way the characters felt and not so much of what they just did.
Fahrenheit 451 displays all of these things traits and that's why it's a modern novel.