Sarah Crucilla English 10

11/27/13 1

A Splash of Color: Color Psychology in Fahrenheit 451

Color changes the way we perceive the world by altering emotion. Although each persons comprehension of color differs with individual experience, certain colors ubiquitously evoke specific emotions. When reading about color, the reader pictures the color in his or her mind, thus evoking certain feelings to help them comprehend the text. In the human brain, the color pink is known to have a calming effect and resembles child-like innocence whereas the color grey represents emptiness. By using the motif of renewal represented by the color pink in contrast with the motifs of desolation and decay represented by the color grey in the novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury shows the disconnect of the citizens in the dystopian society from the natural order. By describing certain body parts of the people in the dystopian society as pink, Bradbury reveals some of the nave, primitive emotions that humans inherently feel. Contrarily, grey represents the lack of ability to think. After Mildred has been rescued from her overdose of sleeping pills, Her cheeks were very pink and her lips were very fresh and full of color and they looked soft and relaxed. Someone else's blood there (16). After being knocked out, the pink in Mildreds lips represents a physical rebirth of her body as she is resuscitated. Although Mildred is physically returning to the natural order, for she is regaining her life, with someone elses blood circulating through her veins, she is losing a part of herself. This means she is being rebirthed as something different from what she was. By defying the order of birth, Mildred delinks herself from the natural order. Instead of suffering pain like a normal newborn, Mildred feels nothing. Without true struggle and pain, Mildred has no basis for happiness, making the quality of her life decrease. Moreover, sleep is the most vulnerable state for a human being, thus

Sarah Crucilla English 10

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by describing unconsciousness as innocent when Mildred is knocked out, the author is saying that the only time that people in society are innocent are when they sleep. On the other hand the grey appearance of the other average citizens when they are awake resembles their collective lack of ability to think. As Montag is running down the street to avoid government capture, he imagined thousands on thousands of faces peering into yards, like grey animals peering from electric caves, faces with grey colorless eyes (139). Eyes, because of their reflective surfaces and their ability to portray emotion, reflect the inner thoughts of a person. Because the members of this society reflect back grey light in their eyes, Bradbury proves their lack of ability to think for themselves, for the grey represents mental decay and loss of emotion. Without the ability to think, the citizens of this society are not able to synthesize emotion thus, disconnecting them from the natural order, for they do not have the ability to synthase their own ideas and feel emotion. Without the ability to synthesize ideas and emotion, life does not have any true meaning. Additionally, through using the colors pink and grey in contrast to describe the actions of Beatty, a government official, Bradbury portrays Beattys, as well as Montags struggle to connect with nature. While Beatty is at Montags house to warn him about the adverse effects of knowledge, Beatty knocked his pipe into the palm of his pink hand, studied the ashes as if they were a symbol to be diagnosed and searched for meaning (59). The ashes that are laying in Beattys hand, which are grey in color, represent Beattys struggle between knowledge and his governmental duty to stop learning through the burning of books. As a fireman, his duty is to increase the amount of ash in society by literally burning knowledge in the form of books. Beattys prior knowledge, acquired from reading, is represented through his pink hand. By studying the ash, Beatty is ironically using his knowledge and ability to think to reflect on

Sarah Crucilla English 10

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government actions. Although this proves that he is ultimately a government figure, thus advocating for mechanisms that quell individuality, Beatty is connected to the natural order, for he has the ability to think for himself. Furthermore, when Beatty is driving up to Montags house to burn it down because of the illegal books inside of it, Beattys pink, phosphorescent cheeks glimmered in the high darkness (110). Beattys glowing skin, which is pink, shines as a beacon of light in the grey darkness of night. Because Beatty has read books and thus has an ability to think for himself, this pink light represents the rebirth of knowledge within society. By destroying Montags house, Beatty is giving Montag a chance to restart his life somewhere else, exterior of this dystopian society. Instead of living with the soulless people in society, Montag will be able to live with people who are full of knowledge. Through this, he can then work together with them to lead back to the natural order, impacting the way he lives his life. Furthermore, through the contrast of pink and grey in nature, Bradbury reflects the struggles of dystopian society to connect back to the natural order. After Montags house, which he burned down himself, fell in a heap of coal and ash, It bedded itself down in sleepy pinkgrey cinders and a smoke plume blew over it, rising and waving slowly back and forth in the sky (117). The pink cinders represent the innocence and renewal of a new day. This rebirth is reflected onto Montag both physically and mentally. By burning down his house, he is physically destroying the remnants of his failed relationship with Mildred, giving him a chance to restart his life. Moreover, Montag is now able to alter his ideas without the influence of government, changing from that of a government official to that of a revolutionary who likes books. By disconnecting from the government Montag is able to begin to think for himself, thus creating a life in which there is meaning for him, rather than meaning created by society. Further, the contrast of the pink cinders with the grey ones represent how, even through the rebirth of new

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ideas, the past will still be there. This connects Montag to the natural order, for it proves that he is reflecting on the past. Without reflection on the past, people are not able to learn from their mistakes, thus repeating similar, horrible events. In addition, after escaping the city, while dreaming about an illusionary farm, Montag pictures that there at the bottom of the hayloft stair, waiting for him, would be the incredible thing. He would step carefully down, in the pink light of early morning, so fully aware of the world that he would be afraid, and stand over the small miracle and at last bend to touch it (143). The pink light of dawn resembles renewal of a new day as well as the rebirth of Montags life. Much like a newborn baby who has not experienced many of the things the world has to offer, Montags hypersensitivity to the world proves that he now has the ability to learn new facts. Moreover, children have imagination, thus proving that much like a child, Montag can now create ideas instead of just postulating them together. Through this change, Montag will slip out of the dystopian societys illusion of happiness, for he will be able to feel a full range of emotions with his new knowledge of everything in the world, instead of the slight emotion changes of the members of the citizens. This links him to the natural human cycle of feeling a full range of emotion. In addition, after Montag has met the hobos and the city has been destroyed by a bomb, the hobos finished eating and put out the fire. The day was brightening all about them as if a pink lamp had been given more wick (164). After the bomb was dropped on the city, wiping out society completely, the pink dawn represents the renewal of society. Like a piece of clay that has not been sculpted, this society now has the ability to be re-sculpted to include aspects of knowledge, leaning back towards the natural order in which humans can work together to create a society that maximizes each persons interests. The color pink, with its innocent, child-like connotations, marks the places within the novel in which people regain their righteousness and the environment they live in is rebirthed.

Sarah Crucilla English 10

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The dark, dank connotations of the word grey mark the places in which thought is quelled in distinct repel from the natural order. When one steps away from nature, he or she steps out of the natural cycle of life, leading them to forget the emotions they feel with these experiences and altering their perceptions of thought. Without emotion, one becomes an automaton of his or herself; they are not able to feel or enjoy life, but just move around, controlled by an external source rather than their own brains, destroying ones ability to create purpose and meaning in his or her life.