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Examples Of Montag's Transformation In Fahrenheit 451

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“It was a special pleasure to see things eaten… blackened… changed”(3). This line appears at the beginning of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, and it exemplifies Guy Montag, the protagonist's, view of the society he lives in and of his profession. Though a blind and brainwashed slave at the beginning of the novel, Montag grows and changes slowly over the course of the book into a rebellious, brave, but frightened man. The first step in Montag’s gradual transition is his encounter with Clarisse McClellan. Bradbury shows that with her there is a difference from the rest of the society, a difference from the monotony, “her eyes...two shining drops of bright water...two miraculous bits of violet amber” (7). Montag notices this difference, both in her appearance and in her spirit. She talks to him of sitting and talking with her family and of thinking by herself. Montag …show more content…

This is what really pushes Montag over the edge, because he is told outright that ‘now he’s done it.’ Captain Beatty makes him burn his own house, which is in a way purging him of his association with the society. As I mentioned though, this pushes him over the edge, and he kills Beatty. He flees, and is chased by a mechanical hound that is sent to kill him. He has been purged, but still needs to be cleansed. He hurries to Faber’s house. Faber is a man who has helped him before and, in this case, helps him escape from the city. He washes himself in brandy and changes his clothes, running to the river and getting in. “He stepped from the river. He fell back under the breaking curve of darkness and sound and smell” (143). This is his final baptism and escape from the society. He is free to think and do as he pleases, especially since he meets a group of men similar to him, all of whom watch with him as nuclear war tears apart the city, flattening it. In the end, Montag is thoughtful, no longer submissive or

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