`` Cool Kids `` By Ray Bradbury

Guy Montag is a fireman whose job is to burn books. Essentially, guy’s job is to start fires supposed to put them out. Books are against the law in futuristic USA, and have been replaced by wall size TV sets. Books were made illegal because they would provoke thought that would cause disagreements and they also offend the readers. Over time, books were revised to make them shorter. Eventually, the books were revised so much that the “books” were 1 page long. Later on, the government concluded that it is best if books no longer exist. Homes were constructed to be fireproof, and the fireman's job was changed to burn the

Readers will know there must be a reason why he thought that way when burning things, and will ask themselves why Montag said; “It was a pleasure to burn. It was a pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed" (Bradbury 1). Fireman or pyromaniac. He is presented to the reader as a fireman; however, the descriptions of Montag’s actions are misleading—making one believe he is a pyromaniac. Statistically speaking, various readers would share the same view if they analyze Guy Montag’s word choice when describing the action of burning.

Writing this novel Bradbury has let other readers feel close to him allowing them to feel like they can relate to him through his stories as well as Montag. Bradbury and Montag relate because they know what is expected of them to succeed and satisfy themselves. Montag holds the responsibility as being a fireman and burning books instead he keeps them other characters in the story can relate who have escaped the society and they will also help him to do the same. They both feel they need to catch up on their past and make the most of their life while they have it. “ Montag opines on several occasions throughout the novel that he needs to catch up with the memories of the past.” They both love books and would

“’Strange. I heard once that a long time ago houses used to burn by accident and they needed firemen to stop the flames’” (Bradbury 6). In the dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Guy Montag is a fireman, someone that burns books for the government to keep a firm control on what knowledge society has. However, through a series of events populated by an attempted suicide, a young girl, and an old man, Montag is shown a life where books are treasured instead of feared and hated. Armed with a vision of what the world has been, and could be like again, Montag ultimately meets up in the aftermath of a war with others that share his vision, and they begin their mission to make fire something other than a source of fear: a healing power.

Being a fireman, Montag is often times seen surrounded by light; this profession also creates a dueling identity- a man that sees the truth and the façade he must create to disguise him when he is working. Subsequently, Montag is shown continually putting himself at risk to practice what he believes, as he knows that being found out would mean his death. The English professor Faber recognizes Montag as a beacon of hope, he guides Montag and acts a mentor much like God to Jesus. The fire captain Beatty, a well-read and charismatic man, tries to tempt Montag away from books and forces him to question his beliefs. “Hold steady. Don’t let the torrent of melancholy and drear philosophy drown our world. We depend on you. I don’t think you realize how important you are, we are, to our happy world as it stands now” (Bradbury 59), the speech Beatty gave almost caused Montag to lose hope, this acts as evidence of his persuasive abilities and supports him being a Devil-like

In the book’s introduction, Montag is described as a stolid man that enjoys his work as a fireman. He is portrayed as having

Guy Montag, a local ‘firemen’ lives in a despairing dreary world where instead of firemen extinguishing fires they create them, they burn and banish books. They believe that books are a sin and trouble to society. Although Montag is one of the main sources of the books being burned he meets a bright young girl that changes his ways of thinking and

A couple pages into the book, Bradbury introduces another character whose name is Clarisse McClellan. Clarisse is introduced to Montag as his new neighbor. In the book, Montag thinks of Clarisse as crazy. The way she was exposed to the world and how her mind works is something that Montag had never seen before. It’s was strange and foreign to him. She begins to ask Montag many questions regarding his beliefs and decisions about his job. With each absurd question he begins to slowly see her view of the world. Even though he still thinks they are ridiculous and unheard of questions. The last question that she asks him is, “Are you happy?” He had never thought of asking himself that question before. Was he really happy with burning books and not exploring something new?

Being a fireman, Montag has never felt guilty about his work when victims scream or cry but this woman had not screamed nor cried. In fact, she was eerily quiet as these men stormed her house and prepared her precious books to be burned to ash. Montag tries to ease his troubled mind by convincing himself that he’s only hurting books, mindless, emotionless objects, he’s not hurting people. However, this woman’s silence feels more accusing than the screaming and

Montag was first shown as a person who loves to burn book but, after Montag saw the death of the lady and the books he realizes, “...There must be something in books, things we can’t, to make a woman stay in a burning house…”(Bradbury 48) the government is hiding what books are trying to show us and that is what he’s realizing. He now knows that the truth lies in the book and we’re getting false information, and that is what Bradbury is trying to show us. Montag also knows that firemen were different back then and not what the government is actually showing us. Before the death of the lady he tells Beatty, “Didn’t firemen prevent fires rather than stoke them up and get them going”(Bradbury 31) he finds out from Clarisse the truth of firemen and not what the government is telling us when Beatty reads, “...First Firemen:Benjamin Franklin”(Bradbury 32) to show that firemen were book burners since the beginning in 1790 but. In reality it was to water down

1a. Montag- Guy Montag is a 30 year old fireman in an era where the job entails burning books. Although he had enjoyed burning books, his enthusiasm decreases after Clarisse asks him if he is happy. Montag knew, “He was not happy. He said the words to himself. He recognized this as the true state of affairs. He wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run off across the lawn with the mask and there was no way to going to knock on her door and ask for it back.” (Bradbury 12). Using direct characterization, Montag tells us that he is not happy, and it does not need to be assumed. Montag is intelligent enough to understand, and see things like Clarisse does. Due to this, Montag realizes that he is not happy, and choose to look into books for the answer. The reader uses indirect characterization to make this assumption. Montag wears a black uniform with a salamander on his arm and a phoenix-disc on his chest, along with a helmet which is numbered 451. Montag also smells of kerosene, which the firemen use to start the fires. One day wehen Montag is looking at the firemen, he realizes they all look just like him, “Had he ever seen a fireman that didn’t have black hair, brown brows, a fiery face, and a

There was no apparent conflict with Montag and his cultural upbringing in the opening of the novel. Montag lives in a futuristic society so advanced that all houses are fireproofed and housefires are not an issue. Along the line of advancement in society, firefighters were in need of a new purpose, so they were given what was seen as one of the highest honors. They were to protect their society from nihilism and free-thinking; to burn all books, manuscripts and written information. Montag laughed as his neighbor, Clarisse, began telling him that she once heard that a long time ago "they needed fireman to stop the flames" (6). The reader knows it to be true that firefighters did in fact stop fires. Without knowing what a book is or the reason anyone would value one, it gave the protagonist the illusion that he was only doing what was best for his society. In chapter 1 Bradbury announces that "It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed"(1). Towards the beginning of the novel Montag favored his job as a firefighter above all else; he loved to burn things. Books and their

Guy Montag, a prominent and respected man in his community, suddenly becomes unhappy with his life devoted to the burning of books as a fireman. Though he struggles to find his way, he becomes obsessed with rebelling against the system he had worked so hard to protect. Mildred Montag, Guy’s wife, is a lifeless woman with no touch to reality. She spends her days glued to television screens, suicidal and disconnected from those around her.

Guy Montag is the protagonist and central character of the book, Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury that transforms from a conformist in a totalitarian society to rebuilding a society that reads books. Montag fits the cliché description of a good-looking male with “black hair, black brows…fiery face, and…blue-steel shaved but unshaved look.” (Bradbury, 33)  For the past eight years he has burned books. He is a 3rd generation firefighter, who in the beginning of the story, loves his job, which consists of burning the homes of people who perform criminal acts of reading and keeping books in their homes. By understanding Montag’s relationships, discontentment, and future, one can begin to understand the complexities of Guy Montag.

In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, there is a story of the character Guy Montag who is a fireman in a dystopian society, a society in which people get entertainment from giant TVs they call “Parlor Walls” and houses have been deemed fireproof. Since fireman do not need to run around and eliminate fires, they start them. The job of a fireman in this dystopian society is that they burn books and the places that contain them, all the while being the official censors of the state. But there is something different about Montag, he used to be a proud fireman, he had the look of one: “black hair, black brows... fiery face, and... blue-steel shaved but unsaved look” as it states on page 30, the feel of one: “It was