Fahrenheit 451 Character Changes

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.

In Ray Bradbury’s futuristic novel Fahrenheit 451, Montag, the main character is influenced by one person who changes his life completely. Clarisse McClellan, Montag’s new next-door neighbor, introduces Montag into an alternate world where it was believed that firemen once saved houses from burning instead of starting fires. Clarisse is an odd seventeen-year-old with some very peculiar thoughts about society. She is not the only odd person in her family, her whole family, mom, dad, and uncle are all very odd. They stay up at night talking while all the other families are sleeping. Clarisse, the beautiful girl, introduces Montag to the world’s hidden beauty and meaning, through her innocent self and her curious nature. Through a couple of conversations

The professor showed Montag that books have details, significance, and are valuable. Through Montag’s encounters with Clarisse, the old woman and Faber, he realizes that the time he had spent burning books was wrong. This persuaded him to change his life.

The consequence of this behavior could send Montag to prison, which Montag does not care about. After reading several books Montag talks with his close friend, Faber, and says to him "We have everything to be happy, but we're not happy" .What Montag tells Faber at that moment is really an expression of how he started analyzing more after starting reading books. Although Montag's love life changes and his view of society are changed too, this is not the only change Montag must admit. In the start of the book Montag is delighted in the work of burning illegal books and the homes of where they are found. However, as the book progresses, Montag becomes increasingly disgruntled, as he realizes that he has an empty, unfulfilling life. A point that shows that Montag in the start of the book is happy about his job is when he hangs up his helmet and shines it; hangs up his jacket neatly; showers luxuriously, and then, whistling walks across the upper floor.

Thesis Statement: As the protagonist, Montag undergoes many changes throughout the book due to several characters that function as catalysts in his life.

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!

Captain Beatty is the captain of the fireman station. Montag and Beatty is at Montag’s house, and Beatty is threatening him in a mocking way with a mythical allusion. Bradbury wrote, “Old Montag wanted to fly near the sun and now that he’s burnt his wings, he wonders why” (Bradbury 107). Beatty was informed that Montag had books and he knew not to have possession of any. Beatty didn’t care for Montag personally.

Therefore, through books, Montag becomes conscious of the monotony of his previous life, and now rebels against the very foundations of his society. Due to this intellectual illumination, Montag begins to acknowledge the details of the world around him, details he had once ignored: ‘”Bet I know something else you don’t. There’s dew on the grass this morning.”’As enlightenment dawns on Montag, he finally begins to realise the power within books (i.e. they hold the key to power through knowledge) and this is his ‘crime’ against society: ‘There must be something in books, things we can't imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house...’ Despite his newfound interest, Montag is still struggling to understand the concept of literature. Once again however, Montag is pushed in the right direction by Professor Faber. Under Faber’s guidance, Montag recognises that ‘There is nothing magical about [books] at all. The magic is only with what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment.’ This quote exemplifies the fact that although books are the combination of mere ink and paper, it is the beliefs and the knowledge within a book that are so incredibly powerful.

Have you ever read a book you enjoyed a lot? Well if not read Fahrenheit 451. The author of the book is Ray Bradbury. There are many characters, but one of the main, main ones is Montag. Montag is a person who changes quite a bit throughout the story. Montag goes from being conservative to being a rebel.

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 Montag failed to show up for work, his fire chief, Beatty, paid a visit to him. Beatty explained that "it's normal for a fireman to go through a phase of wondering what books have to offer," he also explained how books came to be banned in the first place. Beatty told Montag to take about twenty-four hours to see if his stolen books contained anything meaningful and then to turn them in for incineration. Montag began a lengthy and frantic night of reading.

Montag grows consistently dissatisfied with his life and work the more he talks with Clarisse. He starts to ponder if perhaps books aren’t so bad, and even snatches one from one of his book burning missions. Meanwhile Clarisse disappears, which I assumed she was dead and his boss, Captain Beatty, is growing suspicious. He lectures Montag on the potential hazards of books and explains the origin and history of their profession. Far from rejuvenated, Montag feels blazing anger and becomes more dangerously rebellious than ever. He spends one afternoon with his wife reading his secret stash of books he’s been storing behind his ventilator grill and decides he needs a teacher. He takes a Christian Bible and tries to memorize some of it on his trip.

This is where Montag begins to see his job differently and begins to think differently. He starts to see in the eyes of Clarisse and take in some of the things she has told him regarding the importance of books. Montag is starting to notice what is going on around him and opens his mind to the questions about literature. He had been burning books for years now, but this one lady that had been burned with

He realized why the elderly lady died for her books. He figured out that these religious books taught ideas that were sadly long forgotten. The books are now priceless tools needed to transform the new world. After he starts to obtain books the electronic hound gets immediately suspicious of him. This then leads Captain Beatty to be suspicious of Montag. Montag at first tries to memorize the books but learns that this will take too long to do. He then decides to run away with his new friend Faber.

Montag’s point of view really starts it transformation when his neighbor Clarisse asks the simplest, yet complicated question when they first meet. She asks simply,”Are you happy?”(Bradbury 7). Montag answers with, “Am I what,” but she was gone (Bradbury 7). After Clarisse questioned his emotions he begins to too. Bradbury puts it in this way,“He felt his smile slide away”(Bradbury 9).It was the first question that he was dwelling over because it went deeper than the surface, it meant more. Before Clarisse, Montag went on with his day without question. Never doubting his role as a fireman, husband, or friend. Always with the same point of view. Bradbury takes us through an ordinary day of Montag's life, “he flicked the igniter and the house jumped up in a gorging fire...While the books went up in sparkling whirls… He knew that when he returned to the firehouse, he might wink at himself, a minstrel man, burnt-corked, in the mirror. Later, going to sleep, he would feel the fiery smile still gripped by his face