Examples Of Conflicts In Fahrenheit 451

The novel Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury is a fascinating story which talks about a dystopian world which is always evolutionizing, specially the characters which never “alight”. Guy Montag, the main character of this story is in a constant dilemma. “Be or not to be?” Montag, living in his point of view a normal life, till one day when he met this girl Clarisse. The one that changed his life by making him think in a different way. He feels the necessity to make changes, he can't live like he use to after Clarisse. Since his real eyes, realize the real lies his world hide. He goes through several changes while the development of this story. Bradbury develops the theme of change and transformation by the way Montag discovers each time more and more about his situation which makes him change his thoughts and transform as a person as well.

For every student, there is a teacher. In Ray Bradbury's dystopian novel, Fahrenheit 451, Clarisse and Beatty are the two main influences in Montag’s life that travel an attitude reversing journey with him and teach him about himself along the way. Clarisse is an outcast who teaches how him to enjoy the little things in life and shows him that there is more to life other than this corrupted society. Beatty, his boss, was the final change in Montag that caused the last turning point in the novel. Guy Montag experiences a character transformation from a mindless fireman who enjoys his book burning job, into a literate being who is well aware of the world around him with the help of Clarisse and Beatty.

The first time Montag and Clarisse meet, Clarisse shows that she is very curious by questioning everything. Many of these questions insult Montag or make him angry. Some make him wonder and question things that he has always known. In the very first conversation Montag and Clarisse have, Clarisse asks “'Are you happy?'she said.” (Bradbury 10). At first, Montag thinks this is a stupid question. Then after he goes home and ponders this question, he realizes that he isn't happy at all. Clarisse also tells Montag of a time when

Another incident that stayed in Montag 's mind is the old women who set her self and her books on fire. However, Montag tried stopping her by telling her that the books were not worth her life. Before she burned herself, Montag took one of her books and kept it. At that time Montag did not think about what did the old lady burned herself with the books, he did not think about it might be the value and morals that books hold to teach is. The old lady knew the importance of these books and what do they have, so she preferred to burn herself with them, and not watch the firemen burn them, who do not even know the importance of books. But they do know that books are unreal and there is so importance of them, plus they are against the law!

In Montag 's case, he understands that he is unhappy with the way he is living, and he begins to rethink his ways of destruction. In like manner, a literary criticist, Rafeeq McGiveron, gives a good analysis of the character of Montag when he says that Montag has a “blithely clear and pathetically blank conscience” towards burning books until he relives his childhood through walks with Clarisse (p.6). Clearly, Clarisse tugged and Montag 's heart and helped him understand the heartlessness of burning books. Most definitely, it was Montag 's hand and not his brain or mind that was the true monster. In another example, the reader sees Montag 's private life during a conversation between he and Mildred, his wife, when she says, “when can we have a fourth wall television put in? It 's only two thousand dollars” and Montag responds by saying that two thousand dollars is one-third of his yearly pay (Bradbury 33). The example presented adds more depth to the grim life of the main character because Montag is married to a woman that is selfish and has no interest for any part of Montag 's life. Similarly, because Montag is faced with unhappiness in both his professional and private life, he is quick to accept the words of Clarisse that there is a better and brighter life possible for him. Overall, Bradbury successfully acomplishes a sense of sympathy for Guy Montag by revealing the

Mahatma Gandhi once declared, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” Change happens throughout the lives of everyone, and, like Ghandi, anyone can change the world by fighting for what you believe in and standing up for what is right. Similarly, in Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, the protagonist, Guy Montag, continues to change as he faces more problems in his society and new ideas. Montag, originally a fireman, burned books for a living, but when he meets an eighteen year-old girl named Clarisse who fills him in on what society used to be. Clarisse further questions Montag by asking if he is really happy in this society, and at first Montag is confused why she asked this. However, when Montag thinks about the question, he feels questioning of society coming upon him naturally. Montag, the protagonist, changes as a result of three main conflicts with his dystopian society, that teach him curiosity, confidence, and courage.

Montag is someone who is shy and keeps his thoughts to himself, but thinks many things. He shows that he is distracted instead of being happy throughout the book. At the time, he was walking home from work and was looking at Clarisse. Clarisse is a girl who would roam the streets and was also Montag's neighbor. She walks over to Guy and they start to have a conversation while walking to their houses. They discussing if talking about to see if Montag is really happy or if he was lying. She keeps questioning him. Bradbury explains “He was not happy. He was not happy. He said the words to himself. He recognized this as true state affairs. He wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run across the lawn with the mask and the way

One of the major changes in this new society is depersonalization, the loss of self and intimacy. After an alarm is sent to the firehouse for a home possessing books, Montag travels to the location with the other firemen. He then discovers that this is his own house, and his wife Mildred turned him in to the firemen. Then, Beatty, the head fireman and Montag’s acquaintance, forces him to burn it down himself. After doing so, he stands outside and watches his house burn. He ruminates, “A great earthquake had come with fire and leveled the house and Mildred was under there somewhere and his entire life was under there…” (112). Despite some of these things that are a part of Montag’s life not being the most pleasant, they are still a large part of who he was. As the house is being burnt down, Montag realizes that everything about him is being destroyed with it. Without his house, Montag has nothing familiar left, and registers that his whole life is essentially gone. After killing Beatty as revenge for forcing him to destroy his home, Montag starts his escape. He stops at the house of Faber, an ex-professor he met prior to the events of the story, for help. In shock, Montag voices his wonder about how he ended up in this situation. He

When Montag met Clarisse, he had a different look on life. Before he met her, he did not realize all that was going on in the world and after he begins to question his happiness.

The character of Montag expresses the theme of the ability to think for oneself and the importance of self-reflection. The main character Montag transforms throughout the story. At first, Montag is content with his job as a fireman. Montag is comfortable with his life. Shortly into the story, the character of Clarisse McClean is introduced. Montag tells Clarisse, “You think too many things” (Bradbury 6). Reading further Bradbury’s dialog between Clarisse and Montag demonstrations Montag lacks critical thinking. Clarisse enlightens Montag and the character of Montag awakens. Montag begins to understand the world around him and comes to realize he is unhappy. In a way, Montag rebels against his society. Montag begins to think for himself. Montag reflected upon his happiness and the theme of self-reflection is conveyed for the first time within the novel. “He wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run off across the lawn with the mask and there was no way of going to knock on her door and ask for it back” (Bradbury 9). It wasn’t until Clarisse asked Montag “are you happy” did Montag stop to consider if he was happy. Bradbury expresses the importance of self-reflection by displaying Montag as content and then developing Montag’s character to awaken and identify he is unhappy. In addition, Bradbury illustrates the ability to think for oneself creates happiness. Bradbury creates an overzealous Montag towards the end of

When walking home from another duty as a fireman Montag stumbles upon his new neighbor, Clarisse McClellan. The two engage in philosophical conversation, mainly driven by the young, “socially ill” neighbor. Before heading into his home, Clarisse asks Montag a question. She asks if he is happy. He laughs at the question at first but after looking at Clarisse’s bright, cheerful home, Montag realizes he may not be as happy as he thinks he is while standing in his cold bedroom. A metaphor describes his feelings as Bradbury writes, “He wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run off across the lawn with the mask and there was no way of going to knock on her door and ask for it back,” (12). Then as matters couldn't get worse, he discovers his wife has attempted suicide shortly after accidentally kicking an empty sleeping pill bottle on the floor. From that moment on he continues to refer to this incident, wondering why his wife took the pills in the first place. Even after calling for help and saving her life, Mildred continues to bother Montag with distrust and ignorance. She even reports Montag’s interest in books to the fire department, leading Montag to completely change the way he thinks about their

Since the beginning of his firefighter career, Montag has had an inner sense of resistance that only grew after his meetings with Clarisse and other citizens in his society that impacted him. When Montag first met Clarisse, she had readily caused an impact on him. She had asked him a string of questions and told him of occurrences that you would not usually tell. One of her questions had made him realize something about himself rather quickly, “She laughed at this. “Good night!” She started up her walk. Then she seemed to remember something and came back to look at him with wonder and curiosity. “Are you happy?” She said. (7). The question confused Montag at first, reassuring himself that, yes, he was indeed happy. Until he thinks it over and over inside his house, “He felt his smile slide away, melt, fold over and down on itself like a tallow skin, like the stuff of a fantastic candle burning too long and now collapsing and now blown out. Darkness. He was not happy. He was not happy. He said the words to himself. He recognized this as they rue 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 of going to knock on her door and ask for it back.” (9). A simple question from Clarisse had Montag realizing a sad truth about himself- he was not happy. Instead of truly feeling the emotion, he wore it as a mask, covering the dissatisfaction he felt with his life, his love and his job by seemingly contentedness, which was not really there. Another impact Clarisse had had on Montag was longingness. Though

The exposition of this book is very spread out. We find out that Montag is a fireman(and what that entails), his name, and we meet Clarisse in the first four pages. Then, on page five, Clarisse introduces the idea of Montag reading the books(which of course is illegal) and asks the question “are you happy”(Bradbury, 7). This introduces the main conflict of the story. However, the more important main characters like Mildred and Beatty aren’t introduced until page nine and page twenty-five. Lastly, the setting isn’t really plainly introduced in the book or given a name. It’s just a city in the twenty-fourth century that is very close to the war that is happening throughout the book.

In life, everyone follows a journey; humans are born, adapt, and learn from society, often they have their views shattered, and must go through many challenges to realize their true purpose. In literature, this is called the hero’s journey, where the main character goes through a cycle to become reborn as a new person. In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, a book of dystopian fiction, the main character, Guy Montag, starts out as a fireman who loves burning books in a futuristic society. As the storyline progresses, Montag meets his neighbor, Clarisse for the first time, who opens his eyes to the emotions and feelings of others. Eventually Montag breaks the

The final catalyst that convinces Montag that creativity is not to be destroyed is his last job as a fireman. He is taken to an old woman's house, and he finds hundreds of books that "fell like slaughtered birds" when the "suddenly odious" firefighters walked among them (Bradbury 35-6). Montag feels the woman's presence in the house; he feels her accusations, and he suddenly feels guilty about his actions. The firefighters pour kerosene on all the books, and when they are ready to set the blaze, the woman will refuses to leave her library. Instead she lights a match