How Did Montag Lose His Hand In Fahrenheit 451

Montag's desire to acquire knowledge through books is dealt with by the rulers is that Montag’s boss, Beatty, says it was normal for a fireman to go through these phases of fascination of what books have to offer. Beatty tells Montag,” What traitors books can be! You think they’re backing you up, and then they turn on you. Others can use them, too, and there you are, lost in the middle of the moor, in a great welter of nouns and verbs and adjectives.” But, Beatty is missing the point on how valuable books can be. So Beatty tells Montag to read through all of the books Montag has stashed to see if the books contain anything worthwhile, then the next day turn them in to be burned.

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.

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

The author uses imagery to develop the characters Montag and Beatty. At first Montag was able to do his job (burning books) without giving a second thought. Throughout the story Montag grows an appreciation for books. This dramatic change is shown in the first paragraph of the passage as Montag’s burning of books is described. The

Throughout the book, Guy’s hands appeared to control itself. For instance, “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.” (p. 35). To me it showed Guy’s true intentions because subconsciously Guy was curious and thought differently from what the government wanted.

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!

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.

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.

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

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

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.

Montag is referring to the books that he has in his possession, which can only lead to something horrific. He is unwilling to stop even though it can cause him his death and he does it for his love of reading just like other people are addicted to drugs because of the way it makes them feel. The article also states that “some substances are more rapid and intense change in mood” and that is something that happens to Montag. Because when he would hear the other people talk about how they saw things he said, “Go home and think of your first husband divorced… and think of the dozen abortions you’ve had...and your children hate your guts.”

In Montag’s society, because a significant aspect such as knowledge was restricted, technology played a detrimental role in the lives and development of people. As people began to procure mass technology they read less while the technology became significantly advanced. By the twentieth century there was a rise commercialism, and the establishment of the television impacted the development of people, which was reflected in the novel. Although books weren’t appreciated within the society they were significant because they “have quality and pores” meaning one can “find life under the microscope… and the more pores, the more truthfully recorded details of life”(79). In other words, books represent the reality that many are afraid to experience.