When you think of a character from a novel you’ve read, you probably don’t imagine that they aren’t real. However, in Fahrenheit 451, it is something to be considered. One main character from the book is Clarisse McClellan. She lived a life in which relatively few people understood her. But one day, she met Montag, a hard working fireman who burnt every book in sight for a living. They became great friends and eventually she changed how Montag saw things, inducing him to read books and eventually get into conflict with his job. Some readers believe Clarisse is an imaginary character made up in his head due to how she changed him, but they are wrong. Clarisse McClellan is real because she can do things that other real people can do and multiple people other than Montag know about her existence. To start off, Clarisse McClellan is proven to be real because of all the regular, everyday human activities she is capable of doing. Therefore, when talking to Montag, Clarisse utilizes one of the five senses that everyone has, her sense of smell. “‘Let’s talk about something else. Have you ever smelled old leaves? Don’t they smell like cinnamon? Here. Smell.’” (Bradbury, 26). This quote proves that Clarisse is real because she can do everyday human things such as using her sense of smell, like when she compared the scent of leaves to cinnamon. Since she can do things that people do every day, she does multiple different activities that she enjoys and even has her own hobbies. “Once he saw her shaking a walnut tree, once he saw her sitting on the lawn knitting a blue sweater … “ (Bradbury, 25). Clarisse has the ability to do things that don’t always have to do with Montag, such as knitting and shaking trees. This makes her seem real and live a normal life just like anybody else. In addition to not always having to be about Montag, Clarisse has her own feelings and reactions to events and other people. “The girl stopped smiling. ‘I’m sorry. I really thought you were having fun at my expense. I’m a fool.’” (Bradbury, 26). Clarisse started to feel bad when Montag appeared as though he wasn’t enjoying her company, which is not what he meant. This shows that Clarisse’s feelings aren’t just made up in Montag’s head because
In Fahrenheit 451, Clarisse is one of the main characters throughout the book. Although Mildred and Captain Beatty influenced Montag, Clarisse impacted him the most. In this book, Ray Bradbury kills off one of the most influential characters. Even though she is “dead”, Bradbury somehow made her a symbol. We don’t know why Bradbury killed off this important character, but it left readers wondering. She had some type of influence on Montag that made him think about things. She was interested in learning and asking questions. I believe that Clarisse has impacted Montag because she taught him that thinking was an option.
“With rebellion, awareness is born,” quoted by Albert Camus. An act of rebellion can cause awareness and open people's eyes to horrendous acts. In the book Fahrenheit 451 written by Ray Bradbury, when Montag realizes that the government wasn’t being fair, he decided he needed to make the society aware. Montag knew a rebellion was the only way to show that the government was not treating citizens right. It is acceptable to rebel when it is believed that the government is being unfair to their citizens because citizens should have the right to freely speak their opinions. People shouldn’t be told what they can or can’t-do for pleasure and they should be able to express their uniqueness.
Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel for all ages, written by Ray Bradbury. The author crafted a society highly dependent on technologies such as cars, televisions and radios. In this city, the people lack creativity or knowledge because they chose to burn books instead of reading them, however, others like Montag who is a fireman, wants to read books. In this society, instead of stopping fires, firemen start them, they burn books. Montag's wife, Mildred, a TV addict, is highly dependent on technology and hates books. As the story progresses Montag learns that he doesn’t love Mildred and questions if he ever did. In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury indirectly characterizes Mildred’s actions to communicate that technology destroys relationships by
Have you ever binge watched a TV series? Many people usually do and even consider this a normal behavior in our society; however, the main character, Montag, from the novel Fahrenheit 451 written by Ray Bradbury is the only one in his society to be detached from the world of media. The civilians are brainwashed from the nonsense that they are watching and listening to. Television helps people to not interact with one another and trying to stop conversations. The people in the society are also getting into harm's way, when they are watching tv. In his novel, Ray Bradbury puts the focus on technology ruining the lives of innocent civilians.
This study examines the issue of freedom of information in the story of literary oppression found in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Bradbury presents the oppression of an authoritarian state that does not allow its citizens to reads books. Guy Montag is initially a servant of the state that requires him to locate and persecute members of the community that still collect books. In various cases, Bradbury defines the rights of certain citizens to rebel against Guy and the other “book burners”, which suggest liberation from tyranny and the freedom of information. Guy also becomes convenient that the policy to destroy books is a threat to civilization, and the rebellion allows him to change his views and to rebel against the government. More importantly, Clarisse’s role in inspiring Guy to revolt becomes a major catalyst for freeing the society from banning books that are deemed a threat to the social order. In essence, an analysis of freedom of information will be examined in this study of literary oppression found in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451.
Albert Camus once stated, "The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so free that your existence is an act of rebellion." If something is not how it ethically should be then it is acceptable to rebel within the limits of what is morally correct. In Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, he presents a world where the government has restricted access to printed literature so they can gain increased control over their citizens. The main figure, Guy Montag, shows an incredible growth in his personality through his journey of enforcing and accepting the government restrictions to stop the flow of information to a realization that the sharing of knowledge leads to a stronger society. Guy Montag's role comprises many qualities, including that he is a loyal and accepting government employee that works as a "fireman" whose job is to destroy all remaining books and to burn the personal property of those that he caught reading the outlawed books. A depressing and lonely home life influences Montag's personality, including a drug-addicted and shallow wife, named Millie. While sadness and loss surround Montag, he is a strong individual that can overcome obstacles and the challenge of the government's policies. Montag struggles when he realizes the impact of his orders from his boss puts on others, and that he must take a stand for the betterment of the public. When the government is not doing their duties of protecting their citizens, either by limiting their knowledge, putting them in danger or destroying those who disagree with them these actions can prompt citizens to turn toward rebellion.
The average person in our society spends 7-8 hours a day(The Washington Post) using technology; that is stuff like television, video games, surfing the web, etc. Let that set in; that’s a long time. Our society procrastinates also is constantly distracted by technology like no other. We are practically glued to technology; before we become slaves of technology we must change that. The theme of technology in Fahrenheit 451 informs us that the overuse of technology makes people lazy/procrastinate, that technology will overpower people’s lives, and technology takes away from people’s education.
Fahrenheit 451 is a novel based on a character amed Montag and the life he lives. Throughout the novel his belief will be challenged and he will begin to see the world he and the other characters live in differently. Overtime the man who he was will not be the man he becomes. His beliefs, the characters who have influenced him, and the ways that Montag changes will all be discussed in this essay.
Clarisse’s and Mildred’s presence in Ray Bradbury's story Fahrenheit 451, gives the idea that both characters are alive but metaphorically dead by looking at their personalities and ways of being in their dystopian community and personal relationships. Clarisse and Mildred may have different personalities but they both share the same concept. Clarisse has a personality that does not exist within other people. She tends to point out on the real significance of life, which leaves characters in shock and confusion after interacting with her. As for Mildred and Montag’s relationship, Mildred shows lack of attention and love towards Montag. Mildred would pay attention more to her “family” and her friends instead of her marriage relationship. This gives Mildred the image that she is figuratively dead between her relationship with Montag. These figuratively dead characters lead to change Montag’s perspective.
Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is a display of how humans are relying more and more on technology for entertainment at the price of their ability for intellectual development. It is a novel about technological dystopia, often compared to other novels such as, George Orwell’s 1984 and Asimov Ender’s Game. Although today’s technology has not quite caught up with Bradbury’s expectations, the threat of having his vision of a dystrophic society is very realistic. He sees a futuristic society in which this submission of thought is highly valued. In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury displays a futuristic utopian society where "the people did not read books, enjoy nature, spend time by themselves, think independently, or have meaningful conversations" (Mogen, Pg. 111).
“When a man has lost all happiness, he’s not alive. Call him a breathing corpse,” as proclaimed by an Ancient Greek playwright by the name of Sophocles. This quote relates to the citizens of the dystopian society portrayed in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. The entertainment and technology encompassing the world deeply captivates their lives, resulting in a lethargic emotional state in which true happiness is not apparent. In conventional thought, firemen hold the task of extinguishing fires, while Guy Montag’s occupation consists of setting fire to books. The novel’s society is subjected to the control of government censorship and technology in order to prevent the surge of free thought and inquiry. It is their belief that the characters
Clarisse McClellan symbolizes clarity and inquisitiveness in Fahrenheit 451. Throughout the Hearth and the Salamander, her innocence, curiosity, and adoration of nature stirs Montag’s inner belief that something is very wrong. “He felt his body divide itself into hotness and coldness, a softness and a hardness, a trembling and a not trembling, the two halves grinding upon the other.”(page 21) After his conversation with Clarisse, Montag loses his sense of self. He does not know whether to continue being a typical individual in a damaged, unhappy world, or to acknowledge his inner belief that something is wrong. This is a society where suicide is common, love is nonexistent, and books are prohibited, therefore knowledge, thinking, and happiness
How does somebody go from being a follower to a questioner? Fahrenheit 451 is set in a future dystopian world where books are not allowed and if found with them, they will be burned and be sent to jail. The story follows a fireman named Guy Montag whose job it is to burn books. In the story Fahrenheit 451 the character Montag has many distinct and large changes in his beliefs and in his character. Montag has many character changes from who he is at the beginning, who he is at the end, and there are many characters who influence that change in him.
In the novel, Fahrenheit 451, the character Clarisse contributes of the meaning of the book because she is the instigator of Montag’s realization by demonstrating true emotion; Clarisse not only avoid the materialistic world unlike the rest of society, allowing us to understand how overdependence on technology hinders rather than helps society by making us slaves to our devices.
Last night I thought about all that kerosene I’ve used in the past ten years. And I thought about books. And for the first time I realized that a man was behind each one of the books. A man had to think them up. A man had to take a long time to put them down on paper. And I’d never even thought that thought before. (49)