Well, I have to say that I don't think the original
copyright date indicating the year of publication of this book doesn't have any direct
correlation with the comments that Mildred's friends make after hearing the poem that
Montag reads to them, as I think that the poem relates to all people of all times and
contexts. However, if you want a specific relation to the year of 1953, consider what
the USA and the world had recently emerged from in the form of World War II. It is hard
to overestimate the importance of this event. Even though the USA was only involved in
this war in the later years, vast numbers of soldiers were killed and died fighting in
this war, and the social, economic and psychological impact of this vital historical
event, much like aftershocks of an earthquake, continued to be felt for many years
afterwards. Now, let us relate this scenario to the final lines of the poem, "Dover
Beach," by Matthew Arnold:
And we are here as on a darkling
plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and
flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by
night.
This is an excellent
choice of poem by Bradbury because it exposes the real state of humanity, and also would
have echoed the experience of war for so many people who either were involved first hand
or were sat at home dreading the arrival of a telegram that would announce the death of
a son.
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