Themes In Fahrenheit 451

The theme of the novel Fahrenheit 451 is incredibly complex and completely entwined with almost every description and word choice the author chose to employ. On the surface, it appears to be simple commentary on the incompetence of those unwilling to cooperate with the system and the agitation they caused by their socially-aberrant behaviors, i.e. Clarisse McClellan’s love for talking about unconventional topics and a deep appreciation for nature. Yet, once one looks deeper into the metaphorical wording and progression in the novel’s character-arcs and shift in tones, you come to find it is instead exploiting the deeper, sicker behaviors of those in charge and the silencing effect they have on the public. An example is the burning of

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

Juan Ramon Jimenez once said, “If they give you ruled paper, write the other way”. This quote shows the challenge of authority, like Montag and his society. Just like challenging the normal, or doing the opposite of what seems to be right by “writing the other way” on a lined piece of paper, Montag chooses to challenge authority by instead of burning books, reading them, remembering them, and comprehending them. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury takes place in a dystopian society in the twenty-fourth century and the main character is Guy Montag. He is a fireman whose job is to burn books and start fires instead of putting them out.

“There must be something in books, something we can imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing.”(Pg. 51) Main character Guy Montag is a servant to a society that is controlled by censorship and the fear of knowledge; Montag has spent his life burning books, to prevent the spread knowledge. But a series of events cause Montag's mind to change, and result in him breaking free from his society. The internal struggle of dynamic character Guy Montag, as to whether he should go on believing the lies his society has told him, or risk his life for something as simple as words on a page, brings readers into the corrupt society of Fahrenheit 451. In the novel Fahrenheit 451 author Ray

Juan Ramon Jimenez once said, “If they give you ruled paper, write the other way”. This quote shows the challenge of authority, like Montag and his society. Just like challenging the normal, or doing the opposite of what seems to be right by “writing the other way” on a lined piece of paper, Montag chooses to challenge authority by reading, remembering, and comprehending books, instead of burning them. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury takes place in a dystopian society in the twenty-fourth century and the main character is Guy Montag. He is a fireman whose job is to burn books and start fires instead of putting them out. Moreover, he lives in a society which just listens to government propaganda and follows whatever they are told; the citizens do not think deeply about aspects in life but rather focus on mind-numbing activities, that does not take any deep thought process. Books are banned but Montag takes the risk to start to read books, hoping they will bring him happiness in the dark world he lives in. In his journey he has three mentors who help him, Clarisse, Faber, and Granger. The protagonist, Guy Montag, changes as a result of the conflict within his dystopian society and this change connects to the novel’s theme of government censorship over its citizens.

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.

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

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

We must break the status quo—stop simply accepting that things are set in stone—and just tread from the norm. Fahrenheit 451 is a book with that clear idea. In the future, of some sort of dystopia, books are illegal; they are burned. Freethinking is unheard of. Fahrenheit 451 is about Guy Montag, a fire fighter, who challenges the norm—though dangerous and extremely illegal—and becomes a freethinker himself.

books in their possession, the books will be burned and the owner imprisoned or killed.

Guy Montag’s point of view on books at the beginning of the book changes throughout his time meeting new people and understanding what his job is actually doing. In the book it states, “You weren’t there, you didn’t see,” He said. “There must be something in books, things we can’t imagine, to make a women stay in a burning house; there must be something in there. You don’t stay for nothing.” Shown by the quote Guy Montag realizes that there has to be something very special about books, that it is worth the risk of your life. This probably makes Guy interested in books, to investigate what is so special about them, and to see if his job his wrong. Throughout Guy Montag’s time with Clarisse he found the true

Montag’s entire system of beliefs changes when Guy meets a couple of people with unique perspectives, Clarisse McClellan and Professor Faber. Clarisse McClellan is a seventeen year old girl who Montag met while walking down the street one night. She claims she is crazy and always seeks out the answers to questions that nobody else thinks to ask. Faber is an ex-professor who is old enough to have watched the decline of intellectual life in his country. Montag once met Faber in the park carrying a book of poetry on his person and quoting it. Nevertheless, Guy does not turn Faber in to the authorities for possession of a forbidden book, but keeps Faber’s personal information. These two people alter Montag’s perspective on the world and the stories concealed in it by the media and government. By the ending of the story, Montag transforms into a completely different person who, desiring more out of his life, discovers that he can save his burning society by bringing back books and poetry. Therefore, Montag changes throughout the course of the story by beginning to question authority and doubt the ways of his life and society. From the beginning to the ending, Montag transforms through the influence of the people in his life.

Humanity is afraid. We hear it all the time that the reason to be alive is to be happy but when we are not happy and are simply living, we get scared. We do not like to be sad nor contradicted. Humanity is so afraid of the unknown and the pain that we try to numb ourselves by knowing as little as possible. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, we see a dystopia that proves the point. In the book, everyone lives in a hurry because it´s the law and they do not have moments of silence. No books are allowed neither, they are dangerous because they contain ideas that make people think and question their lifestyle.

In Fahrenheit 451’s dystopian society, the possession of books is considered criminal. A once proud fireman who regularly burned books turned a new leaf and began to understand and value the importance of literature. Multiple characters in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 impact the ex-firemans, Montag, life in a way that changed him forever. Throughout the novel Montag discovers a different outlook and perspective on the society in which he lives and how he perceives books. From a fireman to an outlaw, a few specific characters greatly impact Montag. Montag meets a young woman who perceives the world in a different way which affects Montag’s outlook on society. Also, a retired English professor gave Montag confidence and the comprehension of books. A character close to Montag, his wife, shows him how the loss of importance of books would affect his life . When Montag goes outside, he comes across a young woman who does not seem like the others in the city. Montag begins to talk to her and his life changes in a major way.