Fahrenheit 451 Character Analysis

Many people talk about how the world is slowly caving in as people are desensitized emotionally. Opposers suggest that it is technology’s fault for sucking a person’s mind into oblivion twenty four hours a day. However, it is the people themselves who are going to bring about their own destruction. In the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the actions of the public perfectly exemplifies a worst-case scenario of the future coming to mayhem. In this world, books not accepted by the law are burned by “firefighters” so that everyone is taught the same information. Nobody strays from the “truth”, and this way, everyone is treated equally. There is no nerd and there is no bully. The public is encouraged to listen to live streams of people talking in headphone devices called seashells. Yet for one man in particular, Guy Montag, he struggled between fitting in with the public or pursuing an “itch” he has always had. These feelings started when he had a short talk with his neighbor, Clarisse McClellan. In school, Clarisse has always been seen as an outcast, yet by Montag, her strange facts of realization intrigued him. She knew curious information that he did not, and this made him angry. It was not until she mysteriously disappeared that he really started to understand the depth to her words. She knew more about life, and he was determined to find the same information in the forbidden books. Ironically, Montag was a firefighter, but he

Picture living in a society where books are banned. In Guy Montag’s society, that’s how citizens live. With no books and only technology to learn. In the novel Fahrenheit 451, author Ray Bradbury stated the idea that censorship and family had a negative impact on citizens way of life, this becomes clear to readers when people in the society start trying to commit suicide, families split apart, and people don’t have the right to learn in their society. In the novel if a book is found the whole house gets burned. The main character is Guy Montag. He was a fireman whose job was to start fires. Montag then meets a unique girl who changes his perspective on his society, and books. He then becomes

Montag begins to question every aspect of his life, “I don’t know. We have everything we need to be happy, but we aren’t happy. Something’s missing. I looked around. The only thing I knew was gone was the books I’d burned in 10 or 12 years. So I thought books might help.” (Pg.82) Censorship puts Montag in the dark; a place he no longer wants to be. Montag wants to be passionate about something worth fighting for. That passion leads him on a hunt for knowledge, guides him to books, and sets him free.

It is impossible to lead a complete life without knowing pain or offense. Yet some societies attempt to do just that. In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury rights of a society which, due to political correctness and a desire for constant entertainment, have effectively eradicated any thought that could potentially cause offense or negative emotions. While this was originally a choice made by the public, the government eventually made it compulsory. To do this they repurposed firemen to burn books containing this undesired knowledge. One such fireman, Guy Montag, eventually sees the error in this and attempts to reform the society. In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury uses cultural surroundings to exhibit the negative consequences, including promotion of rashness, lack of respect for that individual, and ultimately calls inherent traits of mankind into question, a society that discourages serious thought has as it shapes an individual.

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.

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

“Well, wasn’t there a wall between him and Mildred, when you came down to it?” (Pg. 44) This quote indicates that Montag has a poor relationship with Mildred. Mildred is unfaithful to Montag and gives him a lack of attention. Because of this lack of attention, Montag would show no emotion or cry if his wife passed away. Also, when Montag was conversing with Mildred about Clarisse’s death, Mildred had knowledge of it. Clarisse was hit by a car, but Mildred forgot her death and only told Montag when she remembered it. This emphasizes that Mildred was absorbed in her TV shows and was only thinking about herself and what was occurring in her fantasy

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.

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.

In the first half of the book Bradbury demonstrates the theme through showing the emotions of others regarding to other people, focusing on Mildred in particular. In the beginning of the book Montag runs into Clarisse, a person who is not like the rest and cares about the deeper meanings. He grew fond of her, later to find out that he would never see her again, since she was dead. The news was given by Mildred in a way that seemed unpresented sympathy, “‘Four days ago. I’m not sure. But I think she’s dead. The family moved out anyway. I don’t know. But I think she’s dead,’” (44). Mildred delivers the news late and without any sympathy, instead she is unsure if her information is true. She was ignorant to how Montag felt about Clarisse; numb to the pain and this was only a product of society and their need to hide this stress in order to preserve contentment. For instance they programmed behaviors into the different ‘families’ that other homeowners own, to normalize happier emotions while sadder, melancholic emotions were discouraged to the point that it was a surprise that people felt this way in any other setting than the presence of an illegal action. This false idea of what is human became

Fahrenheit 451 is a novel by Ray Bradbury, which portrays Bradbury’s prediction of how one day humans will forget the joy of reading. This story takes place in a future dystopian city, where any actions related to books are illegal. The novel’s protagonist, Guy Montag, is a fireman, whose job involves burning books for a living. Throughout the story, the citizens live their mundane lives, which includes watching parlor walls (television) and having minimal connections with their friends or family. In part three of the novel, Bradbury writes about Guy Montag and how he is on-the-run from the officials of the city because of the many crimes he has committed such as reading books, hiding books, and the act of murder against his boss. Montag then joins a group of literary enthusiasts who are also hiding from the officials. The group is suddenly shocked to see a bombardment happening in the city. As the bombs fall, the passage shows Montag’s inner thoughts, emotions and his perspective on the explosion. This passage may seem like an average action scene at first glance, but through a deeper analysis, one can find Ray Bradbury’s use of contrasting words, variety of languages, and allusions, to suspense readers and foreshadow a new beginning to the meaningless lives of the citizens.

As Mildred and Montag are reading, Mildred bursts out, “‘Books aren’t people. You read and I look around, but there isn’t anybody.’” (69) This quote shows just how uneducated and shallow the people of this society are. They have no idea how to interpret these books because they have never been exposed to it, yet they are being hypocritical. Mildred later claims that her ‘family’ are real people, but in reality they are the same as books in an animated or human form with less depth. Montag himself cannot understand it either, but he is curious and this conflict with Mildred helps him realize that he wants to understand. If anything, Mildred is motivating Montag’s new desire. Instead of wanting to know what is in the books, he want to know why and how they are so important. He takes a step forward with his curiosity when he asks Faber, an old friend’s, help to decipher the meaning of these books. His dynamic character shows through when days before he wouldn’t even consider touching a book, let alone reading them and wanting to understand them. This conflict relates to the theme; when you are too busy focusing on material items,

In the present, firemen are supposed to put out fires and prevent them from causing harm. In a futuristic world, the firemen are supposed to create fires and burn books, which are perceived as terrible and unnecessary. Fireman Guy Montag believes this until he witnesses an innocent woman’s suicide in protest in order to keep her books, and his opinion entirely changes. He sees that books aren’t that bad and he even steals a few to read; unfortunately, Montag has to keep this a secret from his fellow firemen, or they will burn down his house and his books. In the futuristic novel, Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, the firefighter realizes that society, which is dependent on technology, is incorrect, and that books are actually important sources of information.

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.

In Ray Bradbury’s ‘Fahrenheit 451’ (1953), media has overrun the population, and television has replaced spending time with friends, family and time away from the screen. The “firemen” instead of putting out fires, they go around the town, and light people 's’ books on fire. Books aren’t relevant because they make people use their brains and think. People who sit in front of the television all day are sponges who absorb all the information they are getting, while reading causes people to create their own “version” of the story. Guy Montag, the protagonist is a firefighter, and this essay will state how Montag developed and changed throughout the book, such as finding a mind of his own, to