Fahrenheit 451 Hands Quotes

The use of hands was very apparent throughout our adventure with Montag in Fahrenheit 451. Rafeeq McGiveron says that Bradbury uses the imagery of hands to reflect conscience.(177) Even Bradbury states “ his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning to bring down the tatter and charcoal ruins of history” (3). In the begging of the story Montag does not realize his profession causes such destruction. Montag find a little pleasure in burning books at first and that reflects the emptiness he starts to

In the beginning of the book, Montag goes to burn down an ordinary house that is found with books by the mechanical hound. When talking to the innocent women, “Montag’s hand closed like a mouth, crushed the book with wild devotion.. they fell like slaughtered birds and the woman stood below, like a small girl, among the bodies. Montag had done nothing. His hand had done it all, his hand, with a brain of its own…” (35). At first glance, Bradbury portrays this passage as just another ordinary mission. That is not the case as the harshness of Montag and the rest of the firemen allude to the motif of hands, as they were once a sign of beauty and are now a symbol of destruction. In a conversation with the women, Bradbury highlights that the woman’s books which she extols “lay there like great mounds of fishes left to dry” (35). This highlights

On page 7 Bradbury writes “But I know something else you don’t. There’s dew on the grass in the morning.” He suddenly couldn’t remember if he had known this or not, and it made him quite irritable. “And if you look”---she nodded at the sky---”there’s a man in the moon” (Bradburry 7). He hadn’t looked for a long time.” Montag has been brainwashed by the government to think that TV and electronics are everything. This makes Montag start to understand what has been forgotten in life. He is starting to understand that he doesn’t want to do what the government is making him do. Later in the novel Montag gets stuck in predicament. Page 48 notes, “You weren’t there, you didn’t see,” he said. “There must be something in books, things we can’t imagine, to make a women stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing” (Bradburry 48). Montag is forced to kill the innocent women because she is in possession of the books. He is starting to have rebellious thoughts. When Montag finally starts understanding that the government is being unlawful, he acts on the situation. On page 115, Bradbury types, “You always said, don’t face a problem, burn it. Well, now I’ve done both. Goodbye, Captain. And he stumbled along the alley in the dark” (Bradburry 115). Beatty and the government have been forcing Montag to burn books, houses, even people to show power. But Montag realizes it

In Montag 's case, he understands that he is unhappy with the way he is living, and he begins to rethink his ways of destruction. In like manner, a literary criticist, Rafeeq McGiveron, gives a good analysis of the character of Montag when he says that Montag has a “blithely clear and pathetically blank conscience” towards burning books until he relives his childhood through walks with Clarisse (p.6). Clearly, Clarisse tugged and Montag 's heart and helped him understand the heartlessness of burning books. Most definitely, it was Montag 's hand and not his brain or mind that was the true monster. In another example, the reader sees Montag 's private life during a conversation between he and Mildred, his wife, when she says, “when can we have a fourth wall television put in? It 's only two thousand dollars” and Montag responds by saying that two thousand dollars is one-third of his yearly pay (Bradbury 33). The example presented adds more depth to the grim life of the main character because Montag is married to a woman that is selfish and has no interest for any part of Montag 's life. Similarly, because Montag is faced with unhappiness in both his professional and private life, he is quick to accept the words of Clarisse that there is a better and brighter life possible for him. Overall, Bradbury successfully acomplishes a sense of sympathy for Guy Montag by revealing the

Firstly, Montag faces the conflict of having to burn down a house with a woman in it, which led him to thinking that something important may be hidden within the books that could be different from what he has learning in this new version of society; Montag becomes more curious through this event and starts to wonder. Eventually, the protagonist is so deeply engrossed in his curiosity that “his hand closed like a mouth, crushed the book with wild devotion, with an insanity of mindlessness to his chest” (Bradbury 34). This quote illustrates

Montag is wondering what is inside books that could further his ideas since he has been hooked to clarisse’s world. The significance to the claim is that Montag wants to be lively like clarrise instead of boring fireman, and there is no other way to be like that without the imagination and creativity in books. “ Not if you start talking, the start of talking that might set me burnt for my trouble” (Bradbury 87). Montag is starting to notice his speech is more developed like a book reader, Beatty is catching on! The significance of this quote is that Montag is starting to be like Clarisse and he likes that a lot. Montag likes being free, and calm with the world and books gave him

Montag is now at the point where his views are being tested and new beliefs of life are being created. “Montag had done nothing. His hand had done it all, his hand, with a brain of its own, with a conscience and a curiosity in each trembling finger, had turned thief” (35). Here Montag sees a plethora of books inside of Mrs. Blake’s house and seemingly of its own accord Montag’s hand takes a book. He has now broken a rule that everyone in Montag’s society knows, never to take or read books. Mrs. Blakes, instead of coming with the firemen out of the house decides to burn with the books. This confuses Montag and piques his curiosity to figure out what inside the book could drive someone to die with

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!

(STEWE-1) Montag comes to a conclusion that what he does and his own job are wrong,”Montag only said, We never burned right, and then he was a shrieking blaze”(113). This symbolizes that Montag knows they never used fire the right way, they used it to burn when it should be used for something else. Causing Montag to react by killing Beatty. (STEWE-2) While Montag is trying to escape his society. “Watch for a man running… watch for the running man… watch for a man alone on foot, … watch. Yes, he thought where am I running”(118). While running away Montag commits a crime towards the society by putting a book in a fireman’s house and calling in the alarm, just like him and Faber had set up. “And now since you’re a fireman’s wife, it’s your house and your turn, He hid the books in the kitchen and moved from the house again to the alley”(123). Montag has started to commit crimes against the state and run away. (SIP-B) Montag fully rebels against his society and escapes it. (STEWE-1) Furthermore while on the run Montag drops in on Faber to explain to him what is going on, Faber suggests to Montag to go to the river. “One of the rare few times he discovered that somewhere behind behind the seven veils of unreality, beyond the walls of parlors and beyond the tin most of the city”(135). Montag now realizes there is more to everything beyond the robotic

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

The Montag that is introduced at the beginning of the novel seems quite similar to Mildred, while he does manage to utilize his hands, they are only employed for cataclysmic purposes. Bradbury describes Montag’s hands as "the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning to bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history" (1). Montag seems to exemplify destruction in this passage, his hands, however, are the enforcers, acting as a completely separate organism. The Mechanical Hound, Mildred, and Montag’s hands have all been described in the same way; as being both alive and deceased, ironically all three objects with that connotation have proven to be extraordinarily disastrous. As time progresses, and Montag manages to maintain control over his own bodily functions, his actions become more positive. This change in him is provoked by his realization of the importance that novels hold, Bradbury explains that his “hands had been infected, and soon it would be his arms. He could feel the poison working up his wrists and into his elbows and his shoulders, and then the jump-over from shoulder-blade to shoulder-blade like a spark leaping a gap. His hands were ravenous” (38). This is the turning point for Montag; he has been infected with his own harsh reality. His hands have been affected and altered from the way they had been before; independent and dominant. Montag is gaining control over his own actions, this is a metaphor for how the government is losing its power over him now that he understands the truth. The less of a grip the government has on Montag, the greater chance he has to create a legacy for himself. At the end of the novel, after the decimation of the entire city, there is no longer a government to constrict Montag and his ideas for

Among all the people who influenced Montag, the old woman is the one who influence the most about books. The old woman said to Montag ‘”Snap out of it! The people in those books never lived. Come on now!’’’ (pg 38). The old woman impresses Montag with her passion. Also, through her, Montag gets confused on the truth of the society. She cannot leave her books, therefore “The woman on the porch reached out with contempt to them all and struck the kitchen match against railing” (pg 40). Through the old woman’s action, Montag decides to read a book himself. She had to influence him the most by doing this. ”’so it was the hand that started it all… his hands had been infected, and soon it would be his arms… his hands were ravenous.’” Montag portrays his action and he thinks that it was the action, but he had to do it over the curiosity about book. He felt he is the last on to read a book.

“That’s awful! ...Why should I read? What for?”(Bradbury, 73) Mildred hates the fact that her house and her ‘family’ would burn down if Beatty and the other firemen found out about Montag and his books. Mildred doesn’t understand why Montag wants to reason with her and what he finds so special in books. Mildred is a selfish woman who cares only about herself and her friends. As long as nothing happened to her ‘family’, she’d be fine.

She refuses the entertainment that society offers, such as watching television. Instead, she prefers to wonder, sit, and talk about things, most particularly with Montag. Furthermore, she is not intimidated by the government like the rest of society. All of this enlightens Montag to reveal all the goodness that is being hidden in this blind society. Clarisse never tells Montag what to think; she just shows him that thinking is an option. She simply asks Montag questions such as “How long’ve you worked at being a fireman?” (8) and “How did you get into it?” (22) Such questions awaken him to realize why he really “enjoys” doing what he does, to a point where he realizes he really does not admire starting fires, and burning books. Montag grows extremely dissatisfied with his life and work as he talks more with Clarisse. She instigates him to wonder if perhaps books are not so bad, and so he even steals one from a book burning. In Fahrenheit 451, it states, “So it was the hand that started it all . . . His hands had been infected, and soon it would be his arms . . . His hands were ravenous.” (41) The reader is able to see here that Montag is becoming more and more influenced by Clarisse. The more time he spends with her, the more he begins to contemplate. This phrase clearly shows how Montag is being “infected”, but in a positive way. His thoughts are taking control over him all because of his conversations with Clarisse. She invites him to

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.