Fahrenheit 451 In the book Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag lives in a society where the government is working to brainwash its citizens by shutting down all opinions and thoughts. One of the ways the government achieves this is through a law that restricts citizens from owning stationery of any kind. Montag, being a firefighter, plays an important role in the book because his job in society to rid of all stationery by burning all books, magazines, etc. As the story goes on, Montag's character begins to realize the truth behind what he's doing and change his views from right to wrong. Montag’s character faces many challenges in his effort to save the books the government has ordered to be burned In the beginning, Montag is not fully aware of …show more content…
Another character that helped Montag understand the truth behind society was Faber, an old professor who stayed out of trouble by keeping all opinions to himself. Faber’s wisdom helps Montag understand the importance of books because of the information they contain. In the book he states, “It’s not books you need, it’s some of the things that were once in books.” (page 82) Faber helps Montag fulfill his curiosity about books and put their messages into reality. Without Faber and Clarisse Montag may never have became interested in learning about the importance of books. By the end of the story Montag’s view on books has changed completely. It becomes clear to him that the world would be a much better place with them. Now that he knows the importance of the information written on each page, he takes on the responsibility of changing other characters’ minds too. In the book he states, “We’ve got to start somewhere here, figuring out why we’re in such a mess, you and the medicine nights, and the car, and me and my work.” (page 66) Montag starts by trying to convince his wife to look at the book’s he saved from the fires to show her how the information inside could help them. As Montag continues to learn more about books and their importance, he becomes willing to risk his life in order to collect as much information from them as he can. As he continues to collect information the risks get higher. “Montag did
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.
People can change due to the influence of other people. Guy Montag changes from being a book burning monster to an independent knowledge seeker due to the influences of Clarisse McClellan. Montag in Fahrenheit 451 by: Ray Bradbury shows how he acted before he changed, after meeting Clarisse, and after meeting Faber.
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!
Faber is an English professor who encourages Montag to start reading books. Faber mention “’Do you know why books such as this are so important? Because they have quality’” (pg 83). Faber tells Montag that books are important because they have quality. He helps Montag to read and to understand why books are important. Also, Faber believe ‘”we do need knowledge… The books are to remind us what asses and fools we are’” (pg 86). Through Faber’s suggestions
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
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.
The reader receives information through a limited third person narrator. This is shown when the narrator talks about how Guy Montag feels and what he thinks as he is burning a house, but when talking of Clarisse McClellan, the narrator only says, “The girl stopped and looked as if she might pull back in surprise...”(Bradbury 6) and that she spoke thoughtfully. The reader also gets no indication of what the other characters might be thinking other than observations made by Montag. This narrator is reliable because of the objective nature of a third person point of view. Most important ideas are first received via dialogue. For example, the first conflict is caused by Clarisse McClellan, an eccentric teenager, who asks if Montag is happy with
Montag first changes when he meets Clarisse, opening his eyes and being able to see his own faults and those of the society. He then proceeds to further change when he questions himself and thinks about his lifestyle after learning how powerful the meaning in the books are when the woman insists on dying. Montag learns the importance of books in the society when he meets Faber, learning how the meaning in books can be applied to what is happening in society. Finally, killing Beatty shows his change from being a passive reader and spy to an active
Subsequently, Faber monumentally influenced Montag and his decisions he made throughout the novel. Faber was a retired English professor and he is the second mentor that Montag comes across. He was one of the few people who is not like everyone else because he, just as Clarisse, are intellectual beings. Faber met Montag in a park. A short discussion revolving around small-talk like the weather quickly escalates to a deeper topic and Montag and faber soon find themselves discussing Faber’s past and the history of books. They talk for hours and their conversation ultimately ends with Faber leaving Montag his contact card and Guy soon contacts him when he discovers his love for books. In Faber and Montag’s conversation, Faber says, “Do you know why books such as this are so important? Because they have quality.” (83). The significance of Faber
In the novel, FAHRENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury, Guy Montag lives in an inverted society, where firemen make fires instead of put them out, and pedestrians are used as bowling pins for cars that are excessively speeding. The people on this society are hypnotized by giant wall size televisions and seashell radios that are attached to everyone’s ears. People in Montag’s society do not think for themselves or even generate their own opinions; everything is given to them by the television stations they watch. In this society, if someone is in possession of a book, their books are burned by the firemen, but not only their books, but their entire home. Montag begins realizing that the things in this society are not right. Montag is influenced and
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.
In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, there is a story of the character Guy Montag who is a fireman in a dystopian society, a society in which people get entertainment from giant TVs they call “Parlor Walls” and houses have been deemed fireproof. Since fireman do not need to run around and eliminate fires, they start them. The job of a fireman in this dystopian society is that they burn books and the places that contain them, all the while being the official censors of the state. But there is something different about Montag, he used to be a proud fireman, he had the look of one: “black hair, black brows... fiery face, and... blue-steel shaved but unsaved look” as it states on page 30, the feel of one: “It was
The first character in the novel Fahrenheit 451 who influences Guy Montag is seventeen year-old Clarisse McClellan. The first time Guy and Clarisse cross paths occurs when Guy is walking home from work close to midnight. They meet on an empty sidewalk and quickly begin conversation. As they continue talking, Guy notices that Clarisse is not an average teenager because of the deep questions and thoughts she has. Clarisse questions Guy’s contentment and makes him realize the absence of love and pleasure in his life. Clarisse acts as a goad to push Guy towards a much needed self-examination that later helps him overcome his fear of bringing out the books he has collected over the years and start to look for the meaning in them. Because of Clarisse, Guy is able to transform into a more self-aware man who can now decode his feelings and realize what he needs to have a flourishing life. The second character I chose who impacts Guy Montag is Professor Faber. Guy met Faber in a park a year before this novel takes place when Guy suspected Faber of having a book. When Guy finally builds up his interest in wanting to know more about his secret books, he calls Faber for aid. With Faber’s knowledge, Guy is able to understand viewpoints from different authors and eventually escape the city after he is reported for having books. Alongside Clarisse, Faber is able to help Montag from being completely molded into an average city citizen who is isolated from the knowledge that books are,