How Did Montag Change In Fahrenheit 451

Montag changed his view of fire from entertainment and destruction into cleansing and renewal when an alarm, called by his wife and her friends, brings the firemen to his own home. Montag wanted to burn his house because “He wanted to change everything, the chairs, the tables, and in the dining room the silverware and plastic dishes, everything that showed that he had lived here…” (Bradbury 110). He wanted to get rid of his old life and all memories of it. Montag had even said “If there was no solution, well then there was no problem, either. Fire was best for everything” (Bradbury 110). In this aspect, fire is used for cleansing, just burn anything that is a problem. Ironically, Beatty is one Montag’s problem, so Montag follows his advice and burns Beatty alive. With the use of fire, Montag successfully gets rid of his previous life and Beatty.

At the start of the book, Montag loves fire. He sees it as something that can destroy evil and alter reality. He thinks that “It [is] a pleasure to burn” (1). When he burns the books that people illegally hide in

“It was a pleasure to burn” (1). Montag never thought much of his job, to him, it was merely his duty. Meeting Clarisse starts Montag's revision of life. Her interest and questioning is so unique that Montag is intrigued by her. He had never met someone who asks "why" instead of "how." Soon, Clarisse disappears, and is then presumably dead for the rest of the book. Shortly after his disappearance,

Fire represents change in the novel because fire allows Montag to undergo a symbolic change in which he stops using fire to burn knowledge but instead help him find it. Guy uses fire to

In Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451, fire is a recurring idea. Bradbury used the main character, Guy Montag, to present the fire motif throughout the story. Montag, a fireman, had doubts about his career and society. He sought answers and enlightenment to cure his curiosity about the truth in books. He did not have faith in his society, nor did he understand why intellect was so terrible. In his search Montag realized that fire (and books) were not so evil after all. Montag began to see fire in a different light. Therefore, fire, in Fahrenheit 451, represented rejuvenation through cleansing and renewal.

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!

In the novel Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, there are many different characters and each one plays a different role. One of the main characters, Guy Montag, is a fireman who takes pride in his work and enjoys burning books as a part of his job. His outlook about burning books changes after he meets Clarisse McClellan and Professor Faber. It’s very interesting how Montag’s way of thinking transforms overtime. He becomes very courageous about hiding books and is also curious about reading them. Throughout the novel his actions, ideas, and his feelings change as he starts to think for himself.

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

Montag knew from the time he was born that books were illegal and by him stealing them he was in the wrong and what consequences he faced. When Beatty, the fire chief, brings Montag to his own home to burn it down, he instead murders Beatty. “Beatty, he thought, you’re not a problem now. You always said, don’t face a problem, burn it. Well now I’ve done both. Good-bye, Captain” (Bradbury 121). To relate this to an example from today’s society, this could be compared to someone disagreeing with a police officer and then murdering him/her. “ … police must aggressively and constantly pursue the consent, cooperation and collaboration of citizens, never taking their support for granted” (Kelling). Though one may have a dispute with an authoritative figure, that person is still at a higher power than most which gives no one the right to take the life of someone doing his/her duty to enforce the law. Citizens know the laws; so when they decide to act against them, they have no one to blame other than themselves. “ … when you arrived you found an empty house. You weren’t hurting anyone, you were only hurting things” (Bradbury 36). Though it is not clear in the book what exactly happens to the people whose houses are burned down, Montag acted on anger and murdered Beatty, who was only doing his job. What Montag did could be put into an even broader spectrum; murdering someone just because you disagree with them is wrong. There are

Montag is a part of authority as a fireman, but he rebels. Books are banned, and if someone were to be found with a book it was a crime. Also, they burnt all the books in that person’s possession, and once they were found with books, they never had the same reputation. In one instance, Montag asks Beatty what happened to the man whose library they burnt down. Beatty replied to that by saying, “They took him screaming off to the asylum.

One night Captain Beatty randomly shows up at Montag's house to only deliver the news that Montag's house is going to be burned down. Montag was speechless. This is one of the few times Montag has ever been silent. Suddenly, Montag turns volatile and burns Captain Beatty. " You always said, don't face a problem, burn it”(Bradbury, 157).

Montag was a simple man whom had a job as a firefighter. His job was to burn the houses that had books, novels, or poetry. He was a firefighter for ten years before his whole view toward his job changed. He had taken several books from the houses he had burned and had hid them in his home. As he began to read he felt it was wrong to burn the books and should strive to change the law. He began reading in front of his wife and friends and stopped hiding what he believed was the right thing to do. At one time he did not think twice about burning the books and now has a complete different point of view and disagrees with his whole career that he once loved.

This change is dangerous for Montag, because being a fireman got him closer to books. Books were illegal, possessing them, reading them, even remembering them made other people think they were crazy. The closer he got to books, the more curious he became of them. Two things pushed him over the edge, deaths, the death of Clarisse and a random old woman who burned in her home with her books. This strengthened his curiosity and he started to steal books from the houses he burned.

By the end of the story, Montag is a completely different person. Now, he can think for himself and make decisions. A very big decision Guy made, that he could not have made before, was killing Beatty. “And then he was a shrieking blaze, a jumping, sprawling gibbering mannikin, no longer human or known, all writhing flame on the lawn as Montag shot one