Guy Montag: A Modern Anti-Hero

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

But, books were illegal in this day and age, so he must keep the city protected. While watching the senior burn with her books, he learned that these books are so important to some people- there has to be something special about these books. As a result of this, he stole some of her books and took them to his home to read. This example proves that the old lady develops Guy Montag’s character considering he went from being fearful and weary about owning books, to becoming curious and wanting to learn the importance and significance of books. He begins to become intrigued, going against the law and putting his job- and life- at risk.

Guy Montag is a fireman who is greatly influenced in Ray Bradbury's novel, Fahrenheit 451. The job of a fireman in this futuristic society is to burn down houses with books in them. Montag has always enjoyed his job, that is until Clarisse McClellan comes along. Clarisse is seventeen and crazy. At least, this is what her uncle, whom she gets many of her ideas about the world from, describes her as. Clarisse and Montag befriend each other quickly, and Clarisse's impact on Montag is enormous. Clarisse comes into Montag's life, and immediately begins to question his relationship with his wife, his career, and his happiness. Also, Clarisse shows Montag how to appreciate the simple things in life. She teaches him to care about other people and

Guy Montag, on the other hand, is a fireman who starts fires, rather than stops them, in order to burn books, which are banned. Anyone caught with books are reported and their house and sometimes the people themselves are burned to the ground. People in his society don’t read books, enjoy nature, spend time by themselves, think independently, or have meaningful conversations. Guy is struggling with the meaninglessness of his life. His wife doesn’t seem to care and when he meets a seventeen year old girl named, Clarisse McClellan it opens up his eyes to the emptiness in his life. After this Montag becomes overwhelmed because of the stash of books in his house that he stole while on the job. Beatty, the fire chief, says that it’s normal for every fireman to go through a stage of wondering what books have to offer. Beatty gives Montag the night to see if the books have anything valuable in them, and to return them in the morning to be burned.

One thing that is crucial to understanding the main character, Guy Montag, is that he doesn’t wish pain on those who don't deserve it. In this passage where Montag is talking about his wife he says that he won’t feel sad if she dies, but he still does not want her to die in the bombing. Even though she was an awful wife who put Guy through hell, he does not want her to be in pain. The fact that he was hurting a woman who had never done anything wrong but own a book is the turning point for Montag’s change of opinions about books. If this woman had not felt strongly enough about her books to die with them, then Montag wouldn’t have believed that they had valuable information in them.Without this quality, Montag would not have killed Beatty, and he would have died in the bombing. In summary, Guy Montag would not hurt anyone who he didn’t think deserved it. Because of this quality he is alive today.

I was surprised to see Guy Montag’s personality change throughout the story. In the beginning, he was an ordinary firefighter who had despised books. However, as the story escalated and he met Clarisse, his perspective upon books changed. With Clarisse’s talking and Mildred’s television family, he begins to believe that books are what are missing from his life. His view on books changes from hating them to desiring them. This change surprised me because Montag’s description from the beginning of the text about fire convinced me how deep his hatred for books is. This is significant in the story because it labels Montag as a dynamic character.

Unquestionably, all novels can convey multiple meanings depending on a variety of factors with the most important being the manner in which the audience interprets the author’s words. More importantly, to professionally draw conclusions concerning the message the author demonstrates throughout a text, it is essential to discuss and apply the five literary elements of literature to the text. In greater detail, when a work itself is criticized or evaluated, usually one literary element is focused on to prove an argument pertaining to a novel. To bring the topic into focus, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 possesses many points that could be argued in contradictory ways based upon factual

In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Guy Montag is a very interesting and unusual character. Not only is Montag a curious character, the story itself is also far from traditional. While the storyline of the novel does follow the typical Hero’s Journey path, Montag himself does not possess the qualities and characteristics of a hero. The contrast between the way the story is a monomyth, while Montag is not, can be seen throughout the book and makes for a captivating, sometimes confusing read.

To what extent would you go for entertainment? Something I found interesting was the extremes the people would go simply to entertain themselves. A fast pace lifestyle demands for high risks, thus leading to poorly thought out decisions. People seek excitement and the thrill of death.

Guy Montag- (protagonist; determined) Guy Montag, an unhappy, conceited man, has been a fireman for ten years. He meets Clarisse and finds that her perspective on life and the world is imaginative. He then suddenly realizes the emptiness of his life and starts to find a way for meaning in the books that was supposed to be burnt.

Guy Montag is a man that cannot think for himself and enjoys following the government’s orders. The novel introduces him with one of his thoughts, “It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed” (Bradbury 1). On his way home from work one day, Guy meets a young girl named Clarisse McClellan. She’s the only person who questions his actions and challenges him to start thinking about why he burns books. Clarisse asks Montag if he ever reads the books that he burns, Montag laughs and says, “That’s against the law!” (Bradbury 5). Montag has been so brainwashed and ignorant about burning books, but Clarisse gives him new ideas by continuing to create doubts in his mind. She talks to Montag about the firemen from the past and how they were different then they are now. Clarisse says to Montag, “Is it true that long ago

The novel Fahrenheit 451 is an acclaimed depiction of a dystopian world that employs firemen to destroy literature and the printed word. The protagonist, Guy Montag, faces internal as well as external conflicts during the novel. His character is constantly evolving throughout the course of the text. Fahrenheit 451 is essentially a bildungsroman due to the fact that the protagonist is so dynamic in character and continually changing.

In a conversation with his wife, he said, " ‘There must be something in books, things we can't imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don't stay for nothing’ “(Bradbury 51). By saying this, he is showing that the old woman really got to him. The woman challenged his viewpoint of books by staying in her house because she believed the books were more valuable than her own life. After witnessing this, Montag begins to steal and read the books that he is supposed to burn, and starts to understand their purpose. The old woman’s actions challenged his viewpoint which started his character change. Ultimately, through the first part of this novel, Guy Montag is depicted as a law-abiding citizen but later starts to change when an old woman challenges his viewpoint of books.

Ray Bradbury originally wrote his novel, Fahrenheit 451, as an indictment against the censorship evident during the McCarthy era of America, and it has since become one of the few modern science fiction books that can be considered a classic. The adulation of this novel is due to its plethora of symbols, metaphors, and character development. Bradbury's character development is singularly impressive in this book because he shows the evolution of the main character, Guy Montag, "from book-burner to living-book" (Johnson 111). His maturity is displayed by his growing understanding of the world in which he lives and by seeing the flaws in his society. Bradbury illustrates Montag's metamorphosis with him changing from a mindless burning drone

Guy Montag is a round character because he changes from a fireman who burns books to stopping others from burning books. He goes to Faber’s house so he can help him understand what’s in books. They talk about helping others understand books because they don’t like the society they live in. “I don’t know. We have everything we need but aren’t happy. Something’s missing. I’ve looked around. The only thing I positively knew was gone was the books I’d burn in ten or twelve years. So I thought books might help” (78). This quote shows that Guy Montag wants to change and learn