Fahrenheit 451 Character Analysis

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.

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

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.

    In Fahrenheit 451, Montag believed in something everyone in the city did not believe in and he was judged and treated badly by others around him because of his own beliefs and opinions. Throughout the beginning of the book, Montag had always followed the code and conduct of the firemen by burning books because I was apparently a crime to read or have any books in the house. After he talked to a girl named Clarisse, she completing change his opinion of books and encourages him to start reading it. Mildred his wife, starts to treat him badly and starts to lose her love for him because of his views and beliefs toward books after someone helped him understand how books could give you knowledge and wisdom. When Montag got caught for reading books, he was hunted, chased by the

Montag forms a connection with anyone who receptive to true friendship. Professor Faber, a former English professor, confesses that the current state of society, is due to the cowardice. Faber still has some rare books but considers that could put him in danger. “Mr. Montag, you are looking at a coward. I saw the way things were going, a long time back.” (Bradbury, 78). Captain Beatty, chief of the firemen hates books, but previously had a passion for them. “Once, books appealed to a few people, here, there, everywhere. They could afford to be different. The world was roomy. But then the world got full of eyes and elbows and mouths.” (Bradbury, 51) Many tones of irony are set throughout Fahrenheit 451. An example of ironic style is where Montag is introduced as a fireman. As the reader, we naturally think of firemen putting out fires, however Bradbury generates Montag as a fireman who starts fires. As the novel goes on, we see that several characters go against the law. Without books, distinctiveness is lost in the characters. This happens to be relevant to today’s society because books are becoming less popular, while technology is taking over. Books can be used as a helping tool, however our society today has become very lazy. Through over usage of technology it is easy to forget the true value that books

Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451 and various other short stories once said, "Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations," and his observation is a perfect analysis of the importance of characters in fiction. The actions of characters in stories are what guide the most beloved ones. When a story is beloved it is most often driven by love of the characters, but the real question is why do readers love and relate to fictional beings. The types of characters that are most loved in fiction have roots in reality, and traits that make them more relatable to the reader.

“Then, moaning, she ran forward, seized a book and ran toward the kitchen incinerator. He caught her, shrieking. He held her and she tried to fight away from him scratching,” (63). In the novel Fahrenheit 451 follows the protagonist, Guy Montag, and his interactions with society discouraging and encouraging his discovery of the illegal books. Along the way he understands who are the poisonous people in his dystopian world and who are not; changing his perspective to lose trust in his wife Mildred, from previous quote, and finding safety with Faber, a retired professor he came by one day in a park. In the novel Fahrenheit 451 the author demonstrates the idea that when there is censorship in the world, ignorance will follow because when a subject is hidden from one anything they do regarding it is under the impression of their lack of knowledge surrounding the topic, this becomes more relevant when Ray Bradbury acknowledges the emotions of people who have read books and whom haven't and their general opinions of them.

Fahrenheit 451 states, “The woman on the porch reached out with contempt to them all, and struck the kitchen match against the railing” (Bradbury p. 37). The unnamed woman, who undoubtingly set herself and her books on fire, shows that the knowledge within books has great importance. The woman decided to sacrifice her life for books instead of accepting the consequences for owning them because she would rather die than to live in a world where books do not exist. Montag thinks, “There must be something in books, things we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing” (Bradbury p. 48). This quote shows how Montag begins to question the beliefs of the controlling administration. Montag establishes the belief that the woman attempts to make a stand against the banning of books because she believes there would be more to life and self-happiness with books being in society. Montag states in the book, “And for the first time I realized that a man was behind each one of the books” (Bradbury p. 49). Guy Montag is also beginning to realize that a common person like himself wrote each piece of literature. The writers of the publications lived through the horrid events and took the time to write about them. The roaming intellects at the end of the novel also took the time to memorize peculiar parts of various books which demonstrates that there is value within

Once Montag begins reading the book that he took from burning the books at someone’s house in the past, he realizes how censored the world he is living in is. He thinks about the whole issue with Faber, a professor, about everything that is wrong, along with the fact that they are not happy because the world they are living in censored. Montag later returns back to his wife who was watching “her family” on television, when she discovered that he had a book. He talked to her all about the restriction in their world, then went to work. When he arrived, he got ready to go to the next house to burn the books, and it was his own. He thought through everything and decided he would live a happier life away from all of the censorship, so he decided to run away. In the end, the whole city ended in a war, in the search for Montag, all because of the censorship that took place, causing all of this to happen. The people living in the novel thought that they were happy, but their lack of knowledge made it hard for them to see how miserably they were living. The novel Fahrenheit 451, displays the dangers of censorship, and the fact that people should be living in a world where they are

Montag began wondering why his society strongly believes in the burning of books, and why his society is the way it is. Montag puts time and effort reading and trying to understand books that he steals when on duty. This is the beginning of Montag’s quest to uncover everything that is being hidden from him. Montag becomes interested in books and goes to speak to Beatty regarding his job: “Was-was it always like this? The firehouse, our work?”(Pg. 31). Bradbury shows the reader that Montag is hesitant when asking the question, this is obvious in the way Montag was asking Beatty. Montag expresses to Beatty his curiosity about the past when asking this question. Bradbury uses this quote in Montag’s speech to assure the reader that Montag is changing his views and is exposing his curiosity. In the novel Beatty strongly believes in the burning of books, and the fact that Montag chose to open up to Beatty and ask such a question shows Montag’s interest to find out what is going on in the world he lives

When Montag reveals his secret stash of books in the attic, she nearly faints and tells him that he must burn them in the incinerator immediately. Throughout the novel, Montag struggles with individuality and making a difference despite dealing with his mind-blocked co-workers who quickly target him as the outsider and turn the Mechanical Hound loose on him. “There must be something in books, things we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing” (Bradbury 51). He develops a plan with Faber, a man who remembers what the world was like before firemen began burning books. This plan just might be the key to regaining the people’s rights and restoring books to their rightful place in society. Firemen eliminated the people’s ability to express one’s own opinion when they eradicated books and free knowledge from the world. In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury explores this idea of censorship and the fact that it bans individuality and the ability to express one’s

In Fahrenheit 451, Montag’s interactions with his career as a fireman, his conversation about books with Clarisse, and his past when meeting Faber cause his growth as a character and helps develop the theme that uncensored knowledge is the only way to overcome an oppressive government. While Montag’s occupation as a fireman is initially viewed as an honorable job, as Montag begins to read books. he discovers that books, and by extension, knowledge, can be powerful. In this dystopian society, the government demands the firemen to burn books because the government believes that knowledge can spark rebellions and an upheaval of the government. Being a fireman makes Montag burns books unaware of the true power and knowledge that books contain.

Thesis: The author of Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury, uses Montag’s change throughout the novel to warn the reader of the dark and unjust societies created from censoring books.

Now on both of their behalves they really did not have the same view into the dystopian society. Montag believed it was wrong to burn books, and Mildred did not care about nothing including Montag and them books. “It is easy to read the women in Fahrenheit 451 as stock, one-dimensional characters, set up only to illustrate the opposite poles between which Montag struggles.” Montag does not realize he struggles to see the differences in him and women. “Although Montag has not yet recognized the problem with this reduction of happiness to a step below hedonism, a kind of vicarious hedonism, in which even sensation is often artificially provided, Beatty seems aware of it." Beatty realizes something different before Montag has the chance to. “Before Montag can begin to recognize his connection to others and to his inhuman society, however, he needs to reconnect with himself, reestablish his relationship with the world.”

In Fahrenheit 451’s dystopian society, the possession of books is considered criminal. A once proud fireman who regularly burned books turned a new leaf and began to understand and value the importance of literature. Multiple characters in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 impact the ex-firemans, Montag, life in a way that changed him forever. Throughout the novel Montag discovers a different outlook and perspective on the society in which he lives and how he perceives books. From a fireman to an outlaw, a few specific characters greatly impact Montag. Montag meets a young woman who perceives the world in a different way which affects Montag’s outlook on society. Also, a retired English professor gave Montag confidence and the comprehension of books. A character close to Montag, his wife, shows him how the loss of importance of books would affect his life . When Montag goes outside, he comes across a young woman who does not seem like the others in the city. Montag begins to talk to her and his life changes in a major way.