Fahrenheit 451: Chapter Analysis

It was almost noon, and Montag could see the plumes of smoke rising like chimneys. The silence left by the blast, the silence felt back at the camp, still remained. Montag knew that they’d be needed in finding and helping any survivors of the explosion, if there were any. Everything was gone. All that was left was debris on the outside of the former city, and mainly dust in the centre. What should have been there: skyscrapers, hotels, fire stations, were no longer a sight of the city, just a huge expanse of dust and debris, a complete alien world.

“There must be something in books, something we can imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing.”(Pg. 51) Main character Guy Montag is a servant to a society that is controlled by censorship and the fear of knowledge; Montag has spent his life burning books, to prevent the spread knowledge. But a series of events cause Montag's mind to change, and result in him breaking free from his society. The internal struggle of dynamic character Guy Montag, as to whether he should go on believing the lies his society has told him, or risk his life for something as simple as words on a page, brings readers into the corrupt society of Fahrenheit 451. In the novel Fahrenheit 451 author Ray

At the end of the novel, war has begun and a bomb has destroyed Montag's city. From a distance, the intellectuals watch the flames of destruction and determine they will go back and rebuild a new society, where books and new ideas are not only permitted, but eagerly welcomed. As the novel closes, they are seen walking toward the bombed out ruins to begin their task; the hope of their recreating the city is the one bright spot in the entire novel.

The lights of the town were veiled in darkness, a mere inverted shadow amidst the gloom of the night. Distant thunderings, as those brought to mind with Dies Irae or the distant chattering of a great blaze could be heard, drawing nigh upon the trembling hands of the people frantically seeking a shade for the lights that would soon propagate should their brilliance stretch to the skies, but found difficulty locating even their hands at arm’s length, due to the cloud over the town, in the streets, as real and thick as the blanket of golden and crimson extending toward the town at a propeller’s rate, silencing the natural beauty of the countryside amid the sounds of death and destruction.

In Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag is one man attempting to turn his society upside down. After discovering for himself the injustice of his society as it shuns all literature, Montag relentlessly fights to fix this corruption and endures large amounts of persecution in the process (Bradbury). Meanwhile, in his autobiography, Narrative in the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass recounts his past as a single slave doing his best to right the evils of southern slaveholders. Although one takes place in a fantasy and one during 19th century America, both works portray individuals going against the unjust grain of their societies, and persevering through extreme opposition in the process. After escaping the grip of slavery, Douglass recounts his life story to a curious, yet most-likely privileged audience in an intelligent and revealing manner. Throughout his narrative, Douglass praises the surprising resilience of the human spirit even in the midst of constant hardship.

As they story continues to unfold, Montag begins to develope his curiosity about books. Later on, Montag and the fireman get a call that a lady has been keeping books in her house. It's the firemen responsibility to burn those books. But before the firemen get the chance to do anything, the lady starts a flame that engulfs the books and as well as herself. This event effects Montag's well being, making him question the importance of the books and what would make the lady go as far as burning herself alive. When Montag arrives home he explains to

Montag has grown to be a smarter and a more thoughtful person. He used to be like everyone else. Unaware, dumbed down, dull, and not being able to think to the best of his ability. The government likes to keep it that way. They allow for no progressive and interesting thoughts from the citizens. That all changed when Montag met Clarisse. The odd one out that made him understand what he could really be capable of and what books could be for humanity. He started going to work, noticing what was really happening. In other words, he changed for the better. As he continues to act more “strange” then the rest of his society, they start to see him as weird and confusing. Montag goes home and yells at Mildred and her friends. “Maybe the books can get

Blood streamed till it was dried on the road, and the bodies were stuck there, like driftwood after the flood” (12). Death is describing the time when Himmel Street is bombed, killing almost everyone. This description sets a dark mood by emphasizing the bloody carnage and destruction of the disaster. “Smoky sky in those places. The smell like a stove, but still so cold” (349).

The smell of burning flesh is repugnant. It lingers on every street corner, on every piece of cloth, in every shallow breath. The sky is red. Glowing through black clouds that are heavy with the ashes of those who have stopped screaming. More than three thousand tonnes of high explosive bombs are dropped. Again. Again. Again. Just like dust caught in a sunbeam, the ash swirls a slow descent. The air pulls in. Pauses. Pressure building. The blood in your veins almost recoils, your brain bruised in your skull. A moment of vertigo. Then nothing but noise. Loud. Angry. Ringing. And pain, so much pain. Screams rise, the crescendo approaches. Hellfire rips through the buildings, the sky, the people, your heart. This city is a firestorm.

Imagine traveling to the future to discover the disappearance of the principles and ways of life that once were. In this futuristic world, firemen start fires to burn books instead of extinguishing them. Likewise, today’s common notion that people should read books and educate themselves reverses to the opposite where books have become illegal. The government tries to make the people believe that books only cause pain and suffering but, on the contrary, they enlighten the ignorance of the unknowing. The idea of happiness shrouds the people of this time when their euphoria is just blindness towards reality.

Throughout the story of Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury uses science fiction to convey his ideas of what a technologically advanced society holds in the future. Bradbury takes an approach of science fiction to show people of future technologies and how these could lead them to their destruction if they continue to neglect the past and become more absorbed with current and future technologies. Bradbury makes a very strong statement throughout the entire story about what the future holds if the past is forgotten and shows that there is a way to prevent future mistakes, but society has to look towards the past and remember their mistakes in order to do so.

It makes people think burn it; it is different burn it, but if it is fake and thinks for us keep it. These are the ideas expressed by Ray Bradbury in his novel Fahrenheit 451, where firemen burn books and tv is a person's "family." In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury suggests television can take away people's ability to think freely and express themselves. He uses symbolism, characterization, and dialogue to demonstrate people are controlled by fear and technology thinks for people. In Fahrenheit 451, fire destroys, technology thinks, and people do nothing but follow the directions.

Montag could see the millions of little crumbles and bits of building that at one time in history were considered modern and original. Montag saw the remains of the building like they were all the rules and standards of society, holding him back in his past. He was startled, confused, and almost refreshed by the perspectives he was receiving from just a long glance at the remains. The thoughts flowing through his mind caught him completely off guard, almost like being slammed with one, bold, enormous brick. They left him feeling empowered and wise, like he all of a sudden understood all the unanswered questions flowing through his mind, even the ones that were nonsense, and he felt free, from the chains, the locks, and the bolts, locking

Most people do not consider that committing suicide or bullying people is “fun.” However, in Montag’s society, they do enjoy doing those activities. In Ray Bradbury’s novel “Fahrenheit 451”, a firefighter named Guy Montag lives in a society where having books are considered against the law, and he realizes that this city needs books and tries to change people’s opinions. Montag molds from a person like everybody else in this world into an outlaw trying to bring books back into people’s life tying it with the theme of this novel and is impacted by the conflicts he faces in the dystopian society.

The aftermath of battles lost. The ground was covered in mud and shattered glass, pieces of broken concrete, twisted steel and the men, many dead, their bodies half buried, others crawling or being pulled out of the mud, from under the he debris, or like him stumbling from behind cranes and forklifts, dazed and disorientated, making their way, not away, but back towards the bridge, towards the wreck. The slab, cracked and broken, everything in its way ground to ash and powder finally stopped falling. Like a beached battle ship, all power and momentum lost, it was now sinking into the river. But there were several fires, their angry red flames blocking the path to the slab to the men buried underneath it and other men as dazed as him staring at the