Fahrenheit 451 Dialectical Journal

Montag feels at the begining of the novel that the communication is greatly lacking in society. People are becoming very ignorant and turning reallife realationships aside. They now turn to their "tv families". One victim of neglecting real life realtionships is Mildred, Montag's wife. Montag truley hates this. "Nobody listens any more. I can't talk to the walls because they're yelling at me. I can't talk to my wife; she listens to the walls. I just want someone to hear what I have to say. And maybe if I talk long enough, it'll make sense. And I want you to teach me to understand what I read." (2.125). Montag hopes that his wife and him can rejoin their connection through the books, but is sadly wrong and must find some one else, Faber.

The first time Montag and Clarisse meet, Clarisse shows that she is very curious by questioning everything. Many of these questions insult Montag or make him angry. Some make him wonder and question things that he has always known. In the very first conversation Montag and Clarisse have, Clarisse asks “'Are you happy?'she said.” (Bradbury 10). At first, Montag thinks this is a stupid question. Then after he goes home and ponders this question, he realizes that he isn't happy at all. Clarisse also tells Montag of a time when

In this passage in which a conflict between Beatty and Montag results in Beatty’s death, Ray Bradbury uses imagery, dialogue and pace to develop both characters. Bradbury develops Montag as a character who finds a new appreciation for the deeper meanings within the forbidden books of his society. Beatty, on the other hand, is developed as a character who is closed minded and considered the norm of his society.

Beatty uses his knowledge to attack Montag after the fireman has made the decision to join the radicals and to oppose the burning of books. Montag returns to the fire station in order to surrender a book, creating the illusion of conforming to Beatty’s expectations. Before Montag has an opportunity to speak Beatty begins to confound him with contradictory statements from

Montag’s Wife, Mildred, is a negative influence on him, trying to push him away emotionally and physically. She does not know who she really is and lives in an illusionary world with her obsession of television shows and believing they are real. He is so confused because she tries to ignore it ever happened thinking about all the bad things; “fire, sleeping tablets, men disposable tissue, coattails, blow, wad, flush...Rain. The storm. The uncle laughing...The whole world pouring down..." (19). After this incident he looks at Mildred in a different light and is someone who he can’t relate to. Another way she separates herself from Montag is through her "family", which is a television show. Montag constantly asks Millie “[if that] family loves [her]… love [her] with all their heart and soul" (83). Her world isn’t based in reality; they are clearly on different paths. Hers is one of illusion and his is becoming that of a totally self-aware person. She blocks everything and everyone out that is around her and lives within the show. Mildred opens Montag 's eyes to the real world and shows him that most people are uncaring and narcissistic.

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

Later Captain Beatty, Montag’s captain, stops by Montag’s house to talk to him. While Beatty is there Montag just lies in bed trying to conceal one of the books he took from the house

When Mildred left, Montag killed Beatty. Montag and Beatty got along in the beginning of the novel, but towards the end it didn’t seem that way. When Montag had the books for a while, his warning that Beatty gave him was sending a mechanical hound to his house. Books in this society are not even allowed, but because Guy Montag was a fire fighter, he was aloud to have it for 24 hours and then required to turn it. It is almost as if Beatty wants Montag to kill him. If Montag wouldn’t of killed Beatty, he would’ve been arrested. Captain Beatty continues to lecture Montag on the importance of books in this society, and returning them. Beatty wants to know why he didn’t return them in when the mechanical hound came to his house. Montag knew that he couldn’t get away from Beatty. The mechanical hound would trace his scent and come get him. As ordered to, Guy Montag burnt his house down with the flame thrower that Beatty had gave to him to do so. Once he watched his house burn, he just stood there. Although, at this time, Montag still has the flamethrower. It was silent. Beatty ordered Montag to hand over the flamethrower. “Montag shut his eyes, shouted, shouted, shouted, and fought to get his hands at his ears to clamp and to cut away the sound. Beatty flopped over and over and over, and at last twisted in on himself like a charred wax doll and lay silent.” (Bradbury 121). Montag switched the flip on the flamethrower and proceeds

Sadly for Montag, Mildred and her both of her friends called the firefighters to his home. When Montag and his co workers show up to his house everyone is a bit confused. Beatty tells Montag to burn down his own home, instead Montag continues to have a conversation with Beatty. Beatty notices the earpiece in Montag’s ear and knocks it out with a strike to Montag’s head. Beatty picks the ear piece from the ground and examines it and says, “I saw you tilt your head, listening. First I thought you had a Seashell. But when you turned clever later, I wondered. We’ll trace this and drop in on your friend”(112). At this point Montag was frantic. They can make him get in trouble, but he didn’t want to be responsible for Faber getting in trouble. Instead

Montag is a conformist in the totalitarian society in which he lives.  He, in the beginning of the story, loves his job.  However, he is manipulated repeatedly by his nemesis, Captain Beatty.  Captain Beatty is a manipulator who is expert in being able to aggravate Montag into a verbal duel that is basically one-sided. Montag and Captain Beatty seem to have a relationship where the boss is always trying to pin an untruth onto one of his employees.  Montag becomes discontented at work.  He becomes complacent by going through the motions by not really concentrating on the job at hand.

1. Montag gives the books to beatty, while beatty tells him qoutes from the books to confuse him.

The exact quote Beatty says “There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats, for I am arm’d so strong in honesty that they pass me as an idle wind, which I respect not!”(119) This shows that even Beatty was reading books for quite some time. This is where the similarity between Montag and Beatty ends, and where their stories take different routes. At this point, Montag stood up for what he believed in and risked his life. This could have gone another way, Beatty’s way, Montag could have sucked it up and stayed a fireman and lived a lie like Beatty had.

“And we were thinking about doing something for you, just to get you out of this slump you’ve been in.” Joe explains.

Montag lives with his wife, Mildred (Millie). One late evening Montag is strolling home from a long day at work. While on his normal route home, he meets a young girl named Clarisse McClellan. Engaging in conversation she mentions she is only 17 years old and he wonders why she is out that late for her age. Seeking to speak with Motag she introduces herself to Montag as his new neighbor and asked if she could walk home with him. Arriving at their homes, he notices all the lights are on at her house, and all the other homes were dark. Curious he asked Clarisse why are all the lights on and she said, “Family is over and they’re talking.” “What do you talk about?” he asked. Shocked, she asked, “Are you happy?”(Bradbury 7) She was gone before he could even respond. Arriving home, he sees his wife face down on their bed with the whole bottle of pills empty on the floor. Realizing she wasn’t breathing well, he calls for emergency help. Amazed that his wife would take her life he sat up all night lost in thought.

“Yeah, Belich, is a bum,” Manny laughed. “I can’t stand that guy and his boring lectures. You would think history would be fun with all the wild stuff that happened before the volunteers, but Belich always finds a way to make it as dull and numbing as possible.”