Transformational Quest in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451

It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed. The opening words of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 are at once eerie and bellicose, setting the tone for the chaotic, dystopian society that constitutes the narrative landscape of the novel, and hinting at the change that will color the novel. Indeed, from these opening lines, we can clearly see that transformation—psychic and societal—is the central theme and operative concept in the novel.