Fahrenheit 451 Summary Chapter 1 Summary

His personality is different from other firefighters. He isn’t intimidating and doesn’t necessarily think that burning books is good. I do like Montag, but I’m waiting for him to make up his mind about whose side he’s on.

Montag’s job position is a fireman, and rather than putting fires out Montag starts fires. He enjoys his job and sees it as a privilege.

A society needs the knowledge in literature to succeed. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, is about a society whose government deprived them of literature. A rebel fireman, Guy Montag, is trying to destroy the fireman organization who burn books to destroy them. Montag was affected both positively and negatively by people because of literature. These are three scenes were Montag was affected.

“It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed” (Bradbury 3). Towards the beginning of the novel it is noticeable that fire is praised by the protagonist and those who choose to conform to society’s rules. In this quote in particular, fire is being used as a tool against literature.

Throughout the book, the reader is challenged to decide what happiness consists of: ignorance or knowledge. As Montag grows throughout the book, he finds that knowledge is the only thing that will set him free and grant him happiness. Montag has lived most of his life unhappy, and the only thing he knows is missing is the knowledge books contain, “Nobody listens to me anymore. 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.” (Pg.82) Nobody listens to Montag because they recognize he wants to learn. Everyone in this society had been taught that knowing is bad. Montag frightens those around him into leaving him; this ultimately makes him realize that his quest for knowledge may feel lonely at times, but will end in him finding happiness. Once Montag meets the rebels he is taught about how the world used to

“’Strange. I heard once that a long time ago houses used to burn by accident and they needed firemen to stop the flames’” (Bradbury 6). In the dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Guy Montag is a fireman, someone that burns books for the government to keep a firm control on what knowledge society has. However, through a series of events populated by an attempted suicide, a young girl, and an old man, Montag is shown a life where books are treasured instead of feared and hated. Armed with a vision of what the world has been, and could be like again, Montag ultimately meets up in the aftermath of a war with others that share his vision, and they begin their mission to make fire something other than a source of fear: a healing power.

Being a fireman, Montag is often times seen surrounded by light; this profession also creates a dueling identity- a man that sees the truth and the façade he must create to disguise him when he is working. Subsequently, Montag is shown continually putting himself at risk to practice what he believes, as he knows that being found out would mean his death. The English professor Faber recognizes Montag as a beacon of hope, he guides Montag and acts a mentor much like God to Jesus. The fire captain Beatty, a well-read and charismatic man, tries to tempt Montag away from books and forces him to question his beliefs. “Hold steady. Don’t let the torrent of melancholy and drear philosophy drown our world. We depend on you. I don’t think you realize how important you are, we are, to our happy world as it stands now” (Bradbury 59), the speech Beatty gave almost caused Montag to lose hope, this acts as evidence of his persuasive abilities and supports him being a Devil-like

(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

Montag sees Mildred walk out of the house, get into a cab and leave. Beatty then tells

In part one of the book, it leads into how Montag begins to change. For example, “It was

In the beginning Montag does not doubt the rules or expectations of being a firefighter. He believes that as a firefighter his job is to burn books because they are banned. Montag follows the rules and knows that he is not supposed to own or read any books. With the pure belief in the rules he enjoys going out every day and burning books. It doesn’t bother him to see the pages go to ashes. He thought, “It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed” (pg.7).

Observation: Mildred doesn’t listen to a word that Guy says. This shows an unhealthy relationship.

2. Montag goes to Faber 's house where he learns a new hound is on his trail.

The final catalyst that convinces Montag that creativity is not to be destroyed is his last job as a fireman. He is taken to an old woman's house, and he finds hundreds of books that "fell like slaughtered birds" when the "suddenly odious" firefighters walked among them (Bradbury 35-6). Montag feels the woman's presence in the house; he feels her accusations, and he suddenly feels guilty about his actions. The firefighters pour kerosene on all the books, and when they are ready to set the blaze, the woman will refuses to leave her library. Instead she lights a match

other piece of information could provide insight into his mind. The book is divided into